The 2015-16 regular season has come to a close and this season has been special for a lot of varied reasons. If the cover story of the season has the rise of a transcendent superstar in Curry, the summary needs to include the Warriors hypnagogic run and Kobe's swansong.
So, yes if the season was a roller-coaster the end was one that ensured we have the climax the journey deserved. The Warriors created history with their 73-win season and Kobe signed off in the only way that one would want the Black Mamba to go out, firing.
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The time is now to take a pause and reflect on what has been a truly remarkable season and then speculate on what promises to be an intriguing post-season. And as part of this reflection, it is imperative that we try and post judgments on whom we believe have been the best players in the game. The time to decide on who should make it to the All-NBA teams.
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Before we get to the first team, it is apt that we do make an honorable mention to the players who just missed out on being named the best players in their respective positions. The All-NBA second team if you may say so.
All-NBA Second Team:
Guard: James Harden (29.2 ppg, 7.5 apg, 6.1 rpg and 1.7 spg)
Guard: Damian Lillard (25.1 ppg, 6.8 apg, 4 rpg and 0.9 spg)
Forward: Kevin Durant (28.2 ppg, 5 apg, 8.2 rpg and 50.5% FG)
Forward: LaMarcus Aldridge (18 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, and 1.1 bpg)
Center : DeMarcus Cousins (26.9 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 3.3 rpg and 1.4 bpg)
ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM:
Center: Draymond Green
Curry is the face of the Warriors. Green is the heart and soul for the team. Green is the quintessential all-round player who does everything from setting up plays, doing the dirty work down low, locking down players much bigger at his position and facilitating the Warriors run-and-gun game.
Green’s importance to the Warriors has often been undermined as beyond the high-flying shooting display the Warriors still remain a gutsy defensive unit and a team that has the character to eke out scrappy wins too. If show time is Curry’s fete, the character and drive of the team is Green’s signature.
At 14 ppg, 7.4 apg and 9.5 rpg, there aren’t many players in the game who compare to Green’s holistic gameplay. The only contention is whether you can have him at Center. Well, Green has played his share of minutes at the 5, and for sure the Warriors are at their offensive best when they have a Center who can rebound the ball and push it down the floor.
This in fact, might very well be the template of what the league might develop into with the further evolution of small-ball and the rising importance of versatile big men. This is how the best team in the game has won most of their games and if Green is good enough to be the Center for the best team in the game, I guess he is good enough to be the Center in the All-NBA team.
So, yes it may still seem unconventional to have a 6’7” guy at Center but I guess it is about time we accept the greatness rather than contest the change.
Forward: Kawhi Leonard
Many people have already declared CJ McCollum as the most improved player in the league, but as is with almost every Spurs player, Leonard might have gotten a raw deal on this one. Leonard’s rise and evolution into becoming one of the top 5 players in the game has been nothing short of astounding.
Compare his game now to the skill-set he entered the league with. The difference is staggering. An excellent rebounder for his position and the best defensive player in the league, Leonard has evolved into a primal offensive option for the Spurs.
His numbers in 2014-15 : 16.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 47% shooting from the field and 34% shooting from beyond the arc. In 2015-16, he averaged 21.2 ppg, 7rpg, and most critically his three-point shooting percentage has jumped to 44% and his field goal percentage to 51%.
He is one of the better shooters in the game now and from a 3-and-D guy he has transformed himself to become the best two-way superstar in the league. He may still be a dark horse in the MVP voting but if anyone has been the backbone of the Spurs 39-1 home record and their season till now it has been Leonard.
Forward: LeBron James
This might very well be the year of the decision for King James. His decision to come home was the biggest story in the NBA last year and his joining forces with a youthful promising core of Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson as well as the addition of the best stretch forward in the game in Love, seemed a situation perfect for him to walk into.
Last season’s loss to the Warriors was tough and many expected the Cavs to be on a tear in their pursuit for revenge. They are still the favorites to come out of the East, but they seem a much-worsened team as compared to where they were last season.
The episode with Coach Blatt, the press stories of LeBron fraternizing with Wade when the Cavs were getting whooped in Miami and many such rumors didn’t help.
The city’s favorite child has been embroiled in controversies and many speculated that has had an adverse effect on the Cavs game. All this noise was disturbing up until the past month, where LeBron James just got pissed off and shut out the media.
This is the play-off warrior in LeBron that came to the fore and for the past few weeks, he has been on an absolute demolition path. His athleticism seems to be back and his rhythm just overwhelming and defining his game.
He has managed to get his legs under him and the lift on his shot just looks better. His shooting percentages are up and while question marks still remain over Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, LeBron seems ready for the playoffs and that is all that matters. When LeBron is in this mood, the rest are an afterthought.
I could go on and talk about his numbers but that is inconsequential. LeBron’s ability to fill the stat-sheet has always been acknowledged, and his value as the one of the greatest ever can’t be debated. Curry might be the best in the world, but you would be a fool to even think of writing LeBron off. The King is and shall always remain one of the premier players in the game.
Guard: Russell Westbrook
Not many have had the opportunity to witness Oscar Robertson’s triple double feats. While the debate about whether Robertson could replicate something like that in this era is something pundits can debate over, there is no debating the fact that not many players in the league have had the skill set to excel in three aspects of the game consistently.
In the last few decades, we can think of Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, LeBron James, Grant Hill and now Russell Westbrook. So in terms of just pure stature, Westbrook is already in a pretty special territory.
The Thunder guard is widely believed to be the most athletic player in the game but for long many critics have repudiated him for being a two-guard in a point guard’s body. Many have even rebuked his tendency to dominate the ball and not do enough to orchestrate the offense.
So, if anything this year has seen Westbrook almost defy his natural instinct on occasions and just run plays to facilitate the team. This gets his teammates into the game and helps the supporting cast but somewhere down the line Westbrook still needs to find the fine balance between being a facilitator and being a scorer.
Nobody complains when Durant and company feed off Westbrook but in all this rigorous attempt to be the facilitator we haven’t seen Westbrook dominate the scoring charts as only he can. I know it may seem like a case of damn if you do and damn if you don’t, but ask the Grizzlies and they will sure choose Westbrook, the facilitator than Westbrook, the beast. For now, it just seems on nights he chooses a cape and plays the role.
The fine balance between the two still remains a confounding question. He is averaging 23.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 10.4 apg on 45% shooting from the field. Yes, The Thunder haven’t been as good as hoped they would be in the regular season. They have consistently struggled to close out games, but the playoffs are a different ball-game altogether. Westbrook may not be that relenting and if he decides to be aggressive and take over a game, the ferocity of his game is too much to contend with.
Guard : Stephen Curry
MVP, best shooter ever, best point guard in the game, clutch and the baby-faced assassin. I could go on and on about how great a season Curry has had and the number of ways he has been Jordanesque this year.
I could talk about how he carried the Warriors on their historic run. I could talk about how he managed to lead the league in scoring and still be the best orchestrator in the game. I could talk about his ball-handling ability and his defensive intelligence that saw him lead the league in steals.
But, none of these things are Curry’s greatest asset. His greatest asset is his intelligence on the court and his mentality towards the game. He just seems a class above the rest as we saw against San Antonio and all this is because he is playing the game in the right way.
His ball-handling may seem outrageous but there is always a purpose to the show. He just concentrates on the game and plays with a smile. There is no talking back and cussing opposition players, he doesn’t get into your face, no over-the-top reactions.
People talk about his shooting but against the Spurs, he showed his ability to get to the paint at will and bamboozle defenders with his movement. It is a cerebral game and Curry is its greatest proponent.
As with LeBron I won’t bother with the numbers here because seriously if you want to judge Curry by his numbers you can choose to do so and still come at the same conclusion, but going by one’s eye test, he is so much more than the points and the percentages. If Curry keeps this up, I don’t see anyone even coming close to challenging the Warriors in the post-season.
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