NBA Recap: In The Midst of History
Wassup NBA world! Ya boy (it me, ya boy) is back with another recap of recent happenings in The Association.
I suppose I could begin with yet another 70-point performance, but apparently they will be so frequent now that those types of scoring outbursts will lose a bit of their luster. Unfortunately, it is human nature for a number of us to grow tired of the consistency of Greatness. At some point, we want fresh blood at the top of the league and get annoyed when the champion feels preordained. For an example, look no further than LeBron James and the Golden State Warriors matching up four straight times in the back end of the previous decade. Instead of all of us marveling at just how hard it is to reach the Finals, we rest in the mundane and then try to discount the importance of the regular season. That hypocrisy shows because we live the new storylines of upstart teams, and those can only begin with a good regular season. Look at how we feel about Minnesota and Oklahoma City this year.
The point of that is to lead into the wonderful game between LeBron and the Lakers versus Steph Curry and the Warriors. The matchups of the NBA’s Rivalry Week made sense, and we were treated to a compelling contest on January 27th. There were big time clutch shots late in the game on both sides, and LeBron hit the two free throws to give the Lakers the lead in double overtime. Curry’s 46 points were not enough as Los Angeles eked out a one-point victory. The outcome of the game does not matter as much as I’d being able to witness this high level of play from two living legends well past the ages in which they’re supposed to be this effective. As many have said, we should cherish these matchups, because we’re much closer to the end of them nowadays. I know it feels like both LeBron and Steph can play for many years, but we know that too not be the case. Eventually, they will no longer be in NBA rosters and the Association will move into its next chapter without them. So salute to them for continuously being the brightest beacons of the NBA for as long as they have.
On January 31st, Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard played against the Portland Trail Blazers for the first time. He was received warmly by the crowd of his former team, and the game was close and competitive. Dame even delivered in the clutch, hitting a three to cut the Blazers fourth quarter lead to one late in the game. However it was not enough, as Anfernee Simons and the Blazers ended up with the 119-116 victory. Lillard shot 9-23 and finished with 25 points. He also talked about seeing, “a vision” where he would be back in a Blazers uniform as his career comes to an end.
Dame’s loyalty was brought into question after requesting a trade, especially since he said he would not go play with other superstars (he even rapped about it). But after 11 years there, it was time for ideals to change as the Blazers presented new information and wanted to rebuild with younger players. Lillard’s commitment to Portland was still concrete even if he moved on, because we’ve seen superstars move on after long tenures in places—so many, that I’m sure you reading this had more than a few names pop into mind. If sports is about championships, and championships are hard to come by whether a team has multiple superstars or just one, then players looking for the best situation possible to compete for titles is a part of the landscape. This is especially true since we tend to taint a player’s greatness if they don’t win a title (I mean, we taint legacies if they do win but not in a way we want them to). My broader point is that while we all have opinions as well as likes and dislikes of things in sports, the main objective is to find enjoyment in consuming sports. The goal is to be entertained, not have some hard-lined formula for how every player should win. There are too many all-time great talents for championships to be the only criteria that matters. Look at it this way: in no sport is the player with the most championships considered in the increasingly-miserable “G.O.A.T.” debate. That means other factors, usually based around how a player makes us feel, is also added into that conversation. That makes the conversation subjective, which is wonderful for discourse, but it’ll never lead to a consensus answer as long as sorts are around and evolving.
Here are this week’s Till Takes.
The New York Knicks have had the best January of any team in the NBA, with 13 wins headed into the matchup with the Utah Jazz on January 30. Point guard Jalen Brunson already has 18 30-point games this year, and has improved on his near -All-Star campaign a season ago of be a sure-fire selection for the All-Star team in the coming days. The recent trade to acquire OG Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors had opened up the space for Brunson and the Knicks to blend better on offense and defense. It remains to be seen how far this team can go in the postseason, but the team has been impressive to start 2024 and had into February third in the East.
The scoring outputs have been so incredible recently that Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell scored 45 points against the Pistons and the fanfare was slightly more than minimal. I maintain that scoring is the easiest thing to do in basketball because it’s what we’re taught first. But being a consistent elite scorer is the hardest thing to do in hoops because really intelligent basketball people and some of the best athletes around are looking to make it as difficult as possible for that scorer to be productive. Salute to anyone in today’s NBA being capable of having incredible bucket getting nights on a fairly regular basis.