HOMECOMINGS IN THE SPOTLIGHT ACROSS THE NBA
The theme of the next couple of weeks or so in the NBA will be focused on reunions.
On Friday night, Lebron James will face off with his close friend Carmelo Anthony for the first time in a while. Anthony only recently returned to the league and surprisingly was named player of the week in the Western Conference, which thrilled James and their other 2003 draft mate, Dwyane Wade.
James, Anthony and Kyle Korver are the only members of that historic draft class still playing in the NBA.
The bigger reunion, though, will be between Raptors fans and Kawhi Leonard on Dec. 11. There were some hard feelings when Leonard left, but it’s hard to imagine he’ll be treated like Damon Stoudamire, Tracy Mcgrady, Vince Carter and Chris Bosh were.
It won’t be all venom and a few cheers. Nor will it be the nonstop love showered on Demar Derozan. But it should be hugely positive, given he’s the best player in franchise history, and the man who led the team to its only NBA title in a playoff run for the ages.
We expect Leonard will be feted with applause and a pregame video tribute video. And then he’ll be booed whenever he touches the ball throughout the game.
Leonard’s already played the
Raptors twice: once for real and once in an exhibition contest in Vancouver. It was all love for Leonard that night.
The following night should also bring about another happy return. Though Celtics fans didn’t always appreciate what they had in Al Horford during his three years there, and even though he went to the rival 76ers, he probably won’t get the Kyrie Irving treatment. He certainly won’t be rudely welcomed the way Philly fans would treat him if the situation was reversed and he’d left them for Boston.
Another reunion is on tap for Thursday, when two of Canada’s top young players meet in New York City.
Denver’s Jamal Murray will take on R.J. Barrett of the Knicks for the first time. If all goes well, they’ll be teammates with Canada in many important tournaments for years to come.
In a couple of weeks, we’ll see Terry Rozier return to Boston with Charlotte (yawn) and Paul George head back to Oklahoma City with the Clippers (now that should be interesting).
Malcolm Brogdon will return to Milwaukee on the same day. Perhaps fans will vent on management types for letting him go, since Brogdon has emerged as a potential all-star in Indiana.
Luka Doncic’s MVP odds have gone from 20-1 to start the season to 5-2.
Doncic, 20, averaged 32.4 points, 10.4 assists and 10.3 rebounds in November. Simply ridiculous.
Not surprisingly, that earned Doncic the West player of the month nod.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was the easy choice in the East. It marked the first time two non-american players won the award in the same month.
Toronto’s Pascal Siakam was among the honourable mentions, along with King James, James Harden and others.
Memphis point guard Ja Morant and Miami guard Kendrick Nunn were named rookies of the month.
Brooklyn will be without allstar point guard Irving for at least two more games, the team said Tuesday.
Irving has missed nine games with a shoulder issue. Spencer Dinwiddie has averaged 25 points per game starting in place of Irving, and the team has been rolling, even without him and Kevin Durant, who is out for the season. The team is 6-3 without Irving after going 4-7 with him.
He’s doing on-court activities, but has not been cleared for contact.
The Nets say they can’t wait to get Irving back, but for all his talent, he also brings complications to the lineup. He’s an amazing player, but an individualist on a Brooklyn team that has crawled back from the abyss primarily by working together as a team.
Opponents aren’t feeling too bad for the Golden State Warriors, but man, what a decline.
From being the heavy pre-season favourites every year to the worst record in the league?
Yes, it’s true. The once dominant Warriors, missing Steph Curry and Klay Thompson (along with Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston from their former core) got drilled by another terrible team on Monday. The Atlanta Hawks had lost 10 straight before dropping the Warriors to 4-18.
On the bright side for Warriors fans both old and of the bandwagon variety, the team looks set to add a high lottery pick.
With Curry and Thompson both expected to be 100 per cent next season, Golden State might be a force to be reckoned with again after only a one-year blip.
As many have noted, this is similar to what San Antonio went through for only a single season when David Robinson was injured. The Spurs won one of the most important lotteries in league history and ended up with Tim Duncan.
The Warriors probably won’t get anyone as dominant as Duncan, but it’s been a while since they were in position to draft a blue chip prospect.