My Answers to the NBA's Biggest Questions

     There are a lot of questions most people will ask regarding the NBA. Here is what I think about some of those questions.

What's going on in New York?

     Phil Jackson and James Dolan are really screwing over the Knicks. They're wasting cap space by signing Joakim Noah to a 4 year $82 million contract, trading for Derrick Rose to basically let him go after one year, and 31 year old Courtney Lee is getting $50 million over 4 years. Phil Jackson is also screwing over his own players. He's quoted as saying "We've not been able to win with [Anthony] on the court at this time. I think the direction with our team is that he's a player that would be better off somewhere else and using his talent somewhere where he can win or chase that championship". You just can’t say that about your own player when he is trying his hardest to win for you. You’re just making everything worse. Not only is he making a mockery of his star player (I’m not even sure I can call Melo a star player anymore. He’s on his way out and fast), but he’s also pissing off his other potential superstar in Kristaps Porzingis.It got so bad that Porzingis didn’t even show up to the press conference after the end of the season. Don’t even get me started on James Dolan. He gave Larry Brown (one of the greatest Sixers coaches of all time because he was able to handle Iverson to a degree) a $50 million contract over 5 years, just to fire him after one losing season. He hired Isiah Thomas to be President of Basketball Operations and General Manager. Isiah tried to retool the Knicks by trading for Eddy Curry in exchange for their pick and a pick swap, which would turn into LaMarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah (who would eventually come to the Knicks on one of the worst contracts ever). He signed Jerome James to a 5 year $30 million contract having never averaged more than 5 points and 4 rebounds per game. I haven’t even talked about the Dolan-Oakley fiasco. Oakley, who was a very good player for the Knicks in the 90’s after coming over in a trade from Jordan’s Bulls, has been shunned from the Knicks organization since he retired. One game he attended, James Dolan had an entourage of security follow him everywhere he went, including the bathroom. For no apparent reason, Dolan put out a request for the former Knick to be kicked out of the stadium. This started a shoving match and gave the Knicks a really bad rep, which they already had. As long as the Knicks have both James Dolan and Phil Jackson leading their team like they are now, the Knicks will be stuck in mediocrity and will be known as one of the more hostile and toxic teams in the league. I still believe Hinkie could work his magic and turn this team around if given the chance, but it would be a little difficult, even for him. 

How do we solve the hacking problem?

I actually did an English paper on this. This “hacking” problem became prominent with Shaq. Shaq was such a force in the paint, that most times he got the ball down low, the defender would fall him so he would be forced to take free throws. There was a better chance that he would miss the free throws because Shaq was known as a pretty bad free throw shooter. This has continued in this league with Andre Drummond (38.6%), Andre Roberson (42.3), DeAndre Jordan (48.2%), and Dwight Howard (53.3) among others. On January 20th, 2016, Andre Drummond set the record for most missed free throws in a game (Wilt Chamberlain held the record prior with 22) with 23 misses in 36 attempts (3rd most attempts behind Dwight Howard’s 39).`There is hope for the future of the NBA. In the D-League (to be named the G-League after this season because Gatorade bought the rights), there are increased penalties for intentional fouls away from the ball by awarding a free throw and retaining possession of the ball at any time, not just the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and the final two minutes of overtimes. Not only are they awarded a free throw, but they are able to pick the shooter. This would stop opposing teams from singling a bad free throw shooter and should eliminate the hacking problem in the NBA. The only reason why there haven’t been any results is because coaches in the minor league barely ever employ this rule. The NBA needs to incorporate these changes if they want to improve the game by eliminating the Hack-a-Shaq strategy. Adam Silver would be stupid not to set these rules in place within the next few year, if not this upcoming season.

How do we stop tanking?

It’s not that we have to stop tanking, but we need to subside it. It may seem biased, but I believe that the tanking the Sixers have done should be seen as acceptable. They traded for assets that they could utilize in the future and look to be a bright team soon. On the opposite side of the spectrum are teams like the Lakers, Nets, and Kings. The Lakers shut down Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov towards the end of the year, even though they were completely healthy. They even traded away their pick, which they were lucky to keep this year. I’m on the fence for the Lakers, but the Kings is where it starts to get bad. Vivek Ranadive and Vlade Divac are the two worst people to run a team in this league. They can not pick talent in drafts if their life depended on it, drafting Willie Cauley Stein 6th in 2015 (sure it hasn’t been long and he looks decent, but there were better prospects they could have chosen for their position), Nik Stauskas 8th in 2014, Ben McLemore 7th in 2013, and Thomas Robinson 5th in 2012. They let Isaiah Thomas walk in a sign and trade to the Phoenix Suns for $27 million over 4 years. He’s now regarded as one of the top point guards in the league after being traded to the Boston Celtics for pennies on the dollar (Marcus Thornton and a pick which turned into Skal Labissiere, who was then traded along with Georgios Papagiannis to the Kings for Marquese Chriss)  . Demarcus Cousins was traded for Buddy Hield and a protected pick (which conveyed for them at 10), which is barely anything for a superstar (they also received Tyreke Evans and Langston Galloway, but they are rarely utilized by the Kings and Tyreke is a UFA this season, with Galloway having another year on his contract). If you thought Sacramento was bad, then Brooklyn will blow your mind. They orchestrated one of the worst trades of all time. They sent the Boston Celtics Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, their 2016 (Jaylen Brown), 2017 (1st overall), and 2018 picks for 1 year worth of decent Paul Pierce, 1.5 years of a washed up Kevin Garnett, and the ghost of Jason Terry. In the first year after the trade, they did alright, beating the Raptors in the first round and losing to the Cavs in the second round (after they swept them in the regular season). After Paul Pierce left for Washington in the offseason, they imploded. Their best players are Jeremy Lin and Brook Lopez, who should only be the 3rd best player on a team at best, and are also lead by All-NBA snubs Spencer Dinwiddie, Isaiah Whitehead, Justin Hamilton, and Joe Harris (yes, all-time Cav legend Joe Harris). It’s amazing how they were able to pull 10 wins in the last month of the season. As long as teams do not tank like the Kings or the Nets, I honestly do not see a major problem with tanking. If they are able to tank to a good degree, these teams should be really well in a couple years. The Celtics somewhat tanked after trading Pierce and Garnett, and they ended up in the conference finals this year (being the first team to steal a win from the Cavs up to the finals). The Sixers have a huge amount of talent and look like they can be a force in this league as long as they keep the roster consistent and they stay healthy. Tanking just needs to be kept in check, and if it is, it won’t be that huge of a problem for the league.

Is this the era of “Hero Ball” and less post play?

Hero Ball is definitely the most prominent way of playing in today’s league, but post-play and ball movement are making a comeback. With the rise of Joel Embiid and other big men, there are more players who have a threatening force down in the paint. Embiid, with his huge frame, is able to back down many smaller defenders like Draymond Green and even bigger defenders like Whiteside or Drummond have difficulties defending him in the paint. Speaking of Whiteside and Drummond, many centers still have a big role down low, even though many are adapting to the current NBA and expanding their range. Whiteside is a force in the paint, averaging a league high 14.1 rebounds per game, followed by Drummond with 13.8, DeAndre Jordan also with 13.8, and Rudy Gobert with 12.8. Even though their are still some strictly paint players remaining in the league, it is still mainly dominated by hero ball. Names such as Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Steph Curry, and Demar Derozan come up when thinking about hero ball, and they are regarded as some of the best in the game currently. Westbrook is known for his ability to run through any defense to get to the rim to finish with a nice layup or a rim shattering slam. Harden has some of the nicest moves, including a dazzling eurostep that can confuse anyone when he drives to the paint. Curry loves to shoot, averaging 10 3-point attempts per game, and Derozan is known as one of the best mid-range scorers and a great slasher. All these players succeed the most when they have the ball in their hands and are shooting, but many, like Harden, Westbrook, and Curry also rack up a decent amount of assists (11.2, 10.4 , and 6.6 respectively). Although I just said some of the most successful and respected players in the league rely on hero ball, I definitely see the return of the dominant big man in the post. Giannis Antetokounmpo counts, although he plays mostly the forward or the point as a point forward, because he still is not a shooter and plays mainly in the post. Embiid though really shows me that there will be more dominant big men. He looks exactly like Hakeem, and his swagger will make people want to model his play-style: which is majorly in the post with shakes and crazy dunks. There certainly looks like there will be plenty of low-post players that will continue to progress, with the likes of Embiid, Whiteside, Drummond, and even others yet to come like Mohamed Bamba and DeAndre Ayton in next year’s draft. Certainly this is the era of “hero ball’, but don’t count out the dominant big men.

Is the NBA getting softer?

I believe that the NBA is actually getting softer. It’s not just the players, but the refs are allowing it to happen, too. In the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Giannis Antetokounmpo beat his chest after blocking a Demar Derozan layup, and was hit with an outrageous technical. Soon enough, it’s going to be so bad that you’re not allowed to have emotions. Oh wait, that already happened when Tim Duncan was T’d up for laughing on the sideline and was even ejected by referee legend Joey Crawford. It was so bad that Crawford was suspended indefinitely. So many little fouls are being called and star players are getting to the line consistently. Harden attempted 10.9 free throws per game, Westbrook 10.6, DeMarcus Cousins 9.3, Jimmy Butler 8.8, and Demar Derozan with 8.7. Many of these fouls called are on little contact, but the player usually adds a little spice to get the call. Harden is the master of the flop when he drives to the rim, only rivaled but flopping veterans such as Lebron and Chris Paul. Flopping has gotten so bad that they now have set rules on it. If it’s is caught in game (which I doubt it ever really has been since the refs are so bad at seeing them), the player is assessed a technical foul. If it is found after the game, the player will be fined. What also needs to be brought up is how the players are not allowed to argue the calls anymore. Sure they shouldn’t be able to get up in their face (like Montrezl Harrell did last year in a D-League game), but they should still be able to talk it out with officials. Last year in the Eastern Conference Finals, Lowry was called for a kick on what would have been a game winning 3. It was one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen, and since Lowry knew he wasn’t allowed to yell at the ref because he would get a tech, he ran away so he wouldn’t feel inclined to. He still got a tech. Players receive a tech for trying to calm themselves down and not have to yell. This league really needs to rethink its policies. Sure we don’t want another Malice at the Palace, but these refs are so awful that they sometimes need to be put in their place and players should have more freedom to speak their mind. All in all , I would say the league is mainly getting softer due to the refs who won’t allow anything. Sure, Steve Nash played that one game where his eye was literally swollen shut and Austin Rivers played last year with another pretty badly hurt eye, but you hear more about the players who sit out like when Lebron complained about cramps in the 2014 finals and players sitting for rest purposes (looking at you Gregg Popovich).

How bad are the advertisements going to look?

If the NBA plays it right, it really won’t be that bad. The Sixers’ (StubHub) and Kings’ (Blue Diamond Almonds) logos blend right in with their jerseys. The blue and white of the Blue Diamond logo looks really crisp on the new Kings jerseys and the StubHub logo does not detract from the beauty that is the Sixers’ jerseys. GE looks a little out of place on the Celtics’ jerseys since on the jersey they are green, but the logo is usually black. The worst current offender has to be the Infor signing with the Brooklyn Nets. They’re logo is a huge red square, and the Nets don’t have anything close to red for any of their colors. Teams should not be allowed to partner with companies that do not contain their main color schemes. This really detracts from the eye and will be displeasing to most people who watch. As long as the NBA keeps the patches decently sized and like what the Sixers and Kings did (have the company’s color and logo flow with the rest of the jersey), I don’t have that big of a problem with advertisements on jerseys. I honestly really like the Blue Diamond patch on the Kings’ jersey. If the NBA keeps it in check, it could be very successful for everyone in the long run.

What happened to the dominant big man?

They’re certainly still around, but taking a back seat to prolific scorers like Durant, Westbrook, Harden, etc (would you look at that, all former Thunder players). I talked about this a couple of questions ago, but that was just on big men who play in the post. This time, I can bring up the big men who are starting to expand their range like Marc Gasol, Brook Lopez, Joel Embiid (he works both ways), and Nikola Jokic among others. Not only are big men able to dominate down low, but some of them are forcing their defenders to play out farther on them. Embiid can not only Hakeem-shake any defender down in the paint and finish, but he can also hit the 3. Embiid was one of the greatest shooting big men last year, shooting 36.7% from deep on 3.2 attempts per game, and he can only improve from there. Let’s just hope he can stay healthy after missing his first two eligible years in the NBA and the last half of this season due to foot problems. Brook Lopez and Marc Gasol were both already forces in the paint, with Brook Lopez focusing on his offensive skills while Marc Gasol was an amazing defender combined with his good low-post scoring, but have added even more to their offensive repertoire. Lopez shot a career high 34.6% on 5.2 attempts per game, while Marc Gasol shot 38.8% from deep on 3.6 attempts. Sure these aren’t the typical “big men”, but they are still big, hopefully still men, and continue to dominate the league by expanding their offensive prowess. Not only are they good offensively, but many big men continue to thrive on the defensive end. Some of the best defenders play the 4 or the 5, including Draymond Green (my pick for Defensive Player of the Year), Hassan Whiteside, DeAndre Jordan, and Rudy Gobert among others. Draymond Green is one of the most versatile defenders out there, able to guard anyone on the court (as shown when he literally guarded every Trail Blazer on one play in the Western Conference Quarterfinals), and players like Hassan Whiteside, DeAndre Jordan, and Rudy Gobert are some of the best low-post defenders the league has seen in awhile. It’s not like it’s just a couple of players who are pretty good, but we have many big men who excel mostly playing defense in the paint. There are even more players who are great post defenders such as Marc Gasol (who won Defensive Player of the Year in 2013), Andre Drummond, and Serge Ibaka. It’s reasonable to say there are less dominant big men, but to say big men are not making it in this league anymore is just flat out wrong.

Will Javale McGee ever be a good player?

What do you mean? He’s already a Sixer legend.