More than any other
professional sport, the NBA is driven by its individual talent. The great and
unique aspect in this is that this doesn’t necessarily just mean superstars.
While LeBron James drives TV ratings through the roof, there are a host of players
out there who are must-watch in their own right. And so we arrive with Daniel
and Elijah’s ranking of the most entertaining players in the NBA for this
2014-15 season.
Daniel made
his debut on Bases and Baskets about a month ago with some bold predictions for the
new NBA season and is ready to follow it up by going head-to-head with Elijah’s
heavy-hitting opinions (jokes, people...). Seriously though, this should be fun
with his Kobe homerism and my (proud) Kobe hating tendencies.
We broke a quantitative
ranking of the most entertaining NBA players into three categories. Each
category was on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the most entertaining in that
category), and were the following:
Star Factor
Michael Jordan,
Magic Johnson, Larry Bird. These guys transcended just the game on the floor.
These are the guys you tell your grandkids you watched play. Those guys fall
around a 10 give or take nothing. Some guys have pull just because of their
name. For perspective, Klay Thompson and Ricky Rubio are around a 5 or a 6.
WTF Factor
This is the Dennis
Rodman/Ron Artest factor. There are always those guys that are ticking time
bombs, you never know when they’re going to take a trip to North Korea or jump
into the stands and beat up a fan. Also could apply to a “WTF just happened
Kobe scored 20 in the third quarter against the Warriors”, or “WTF, could a
random guy on the street have a legitimate chance to shoot a higher percentage
from 15 feet or beyond than Ricky Rubio?” This is an all-encompassing WTF.
Unique Factor
Some players do
things you just shouldn’t be able to do. Vince Carter jumps through two gyms.
Anthony Davis can block a shot, dribble the length of the floor, and pull up for
a jumper. Dwight Howard’s shoulders could level a small car. Players that score
highly in this ranking are those who want to watch because you might never see
another guy like him.
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We had some ties, so this top-10 is actually a top-11, but
let’s jump right in.
10. Kyrie Irving
Daniel Fotinich: We agree! I can’t even believe it. Maybe
this column will be more boring than I was anticipating! Kyrie is a pretty
simple case of entertaining - he’s an electric point guard who can get to the
rim in a flash at any moment. For three years, he played on a team that totaled
78 wins and didn’t sniff prime time because his best sidekicks might’ve been
Dion Waiters, Tristian “making an extra $15m because I hired Dan Fegan three
years ago” Thompson, and Andrew “I actually shot from beyond the half court in
a practice scrimmage just to get cut” Bynum. Now that he’s on a team with
LeBron and Kevin Love, seeing Kyrie in the playoffs is a virtual certainty for
us! Are you excited yet?!
But seriously, one
of the most exciting subplots of the season is how will Kyrie mesh with James.
Kevin Love seems like a simpler case - he’ll be getting less touches (but
shooting more 3s), while rebounding as he did normally, which seems like the
way it’s playing out thus far. Irving is more complicated. He’s spent the past 3
seasons as by far the primary ball-handler for the Cavs, essentially dictating
the entire offense. Imagine you play a pick up game and you’re playing on a
team of scrubs, so you basically get all of the shots. Next game, a really good
player joins your team. Wouldn’t you feel a bit weird suddenly giving up the
ball to him? Now imagine instead of one pick-up game like this, you’ve played
226 straight on a team of scrubs. It’s a pretty major adjustment
Elijah Abramson: I wasn’t entirely shocked that we agreed on
someone like Kyrie. There’s no doubting his stardom, I dropped him in as a
top-25 player in 2015 in my latest ranking. His ball-handling and scoring make
him an incredibly entertaining player and I scored him an 8 for the “WTF
Factor” just because he can break you down quite literally. Brandon Knight’s
ankles are still healing from the moves the Cavs guard put on him in 2013:
Zach Lowe made a
great point on The B.S. Report with Bill Simmons on the 11/11 podcast that I
think is at least partially valid: Kyrie could be destined to be this era’s
version of Stephon Marbury or Steve Francis. All three of those guys are
incredible basketball talents who were me-first players to a fault. You know
who this reminds me of… Kobe Bryant! The difference is that the all-around
skillset that Kobe brings to the table supersedes the My-Way-or-the-Highway
stars a la Franchise or Starbury.
No doubt that the
Kyrie-LeBron dynamic is one to watch throughout the season for this very
reason. Hopefully Kyrie’s peak isn’t as the best guy on a 44-win team (as Lowe
suggested), and David Blatt can make it work. If he can’t, GM LeBron will have
Kyrie shipped out to sea.
Fotinich: We’re barely 300 words in and Kobe is already in the conversation?!
That definitely speaks to his star power (more on this later).
I’m excited to see
what David Blatt cooks up in Cleveland. So far, the results have been uneven to
say the least, but the first few games of a season rarely mean too much
(besides for the 76ers, who should be eliminated from the playoffs for the next five years after that game against Dallas). Isn’t it phenomenal that a 6’8” small
forward might actually be better at playing point guard than Kyrie? Should they
actually let LeBron play point at times?
Regardless, I think
this team could win the East based on talent alone. They’re actually getting
-140 odds to win the East even though they’re 5-4! Nobody in the league is as
stacked as the Cavs – they have a top-4 PG, a top-3 power forward, and the best
player on Earth. Save for Oklahoma City at full health, they are by far the
most talented team in the NBA right now.
10. John Wall
Abramson: John Wall and Russell Westbrook are in a category of their own in
terms of athleticism and basketball talent. These guys slice through defenses
like, in the words of the great Wiz Khalifa, it’s nothin’. And it’s fun to
watch.
Derrick Rose would
be in this Wall-Westbrook conversation as athletic-basketball freaks but I find
Rose’s recent comments disgusting… Worried about his knees and ankles for
meetings and his son’s graduation?? Are you kidding me?! This guy is making
tens...maybe eventually HUNDREDS of millions, and he’s worried about his knees?
I don’t even want to start talking about how ridiculous this is. I’m with
Charles Barkley, these comments were just plain stupid. This is veering off
topic but I just had to say something about him and didn’t want to write a full
column on it. Thankfully he won’t grace this ranking of the NBA’s most
entertaining players.
Fotinich: I haven’t caught too many Wizards games this year, but I watched them
slice up Chicago last year before succumbing to the reincarnated-for-one-series
Roy Hibbert in round 2. One thing that I noticed is that Wall has excellent
court vision; he seems to know when a shooter is going to be open for a corner
3 about 5 seconds before it actually happens, and he hits that pass every time.
Not to mention that he’s an athletic freak who gets to the rim at will. He can
even shoot 3s now (after shooting 7.1% in 2011-12)! Hold on, how is it possible that 2010
Kentucky had John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Eric Bledsoe on one squad and
didn’t even make the Final Four?
I couldn’t agree
more about Rose. After experiencing knee surgery recently I wouldn’t wish
chronic knee problems on anybody, but plenty of people work who in oil fields
and copper mines suffer from chronic respiratory conditions (among many other
issues) for years after they retire while making less than 1% of what Derrick
Rose will make this year. I feel sorry for Chicago fans. Every single
projection about Chicago as a top-tier contender includes the phrase “if
Derrick Rose is healthy”, and his attitude doesn’t give me a bit of confidence
that this day is coming.
9. Ricky Rubio
Abramson: Ricky Rubio??? This one is all you. You ranked him five spots ahead
of me. More entertaining than Klay Thompson? Melo? Kevin Love, sure, but
there’s no way I’d rather watch Rubio than Melo or Klay. Ditto for the two guys
tied for 10th in this ranking. Rubio’s flashy passing will get a fair share of
oohs and aahs but there’s no way I’m putting much stock into a career 37
percent field goal shooter. I may be a Warriors fan but let me quickly give my
reasons for Klay: vying for a spot in the league’s scoring leaders, stellar
perimeter defense, and an ability to drive and finish at the rim. Plus, an entire episode on
Comedy Central could be devoted to nothing more than a montage of his facial expressions.
Rubio is in
double-digit assists for the first time this year which is far from a surprise
but that’s really all he can do. I’ll pass this one off to you because Andre
Iguodala’s classic did-I-really-foul-that-guy pose is about how I’m feel on
this Rubio ranking.
Fotinich: Less entertaining than Klay Thompson?! Watch this tape - the entire nine minutes, please:
This tape speaks for
itself. There’s a reason there is nine minutes of killer footage in just a year and a half of play (the tape was put together in early 2013). Come on, Rubio’s the most
exciting passer the league has seen since Jason Williams, forever and always
known as White Chocolate. What’s most impressive about watching Rubio is just
how quickly and nonchalantly he does these passes. If somebody asks during a
Wolves game, “Wait, did Rubio just pass that ball between Nic Batum’s legs?” I’m not the least bit surprised. Passers like this come around maybe every ten
years.
I was very surprised
that the Timberwolves extended Rubio before seeing some improvement this
season, even though the rising salary cap makes an extension far less of a
burden. I argued in my bold predictions column that the extension would occur
after the year, seeing as it made sense to wait to give $10m/year to a career
37% shooter, but the Wolves clearly thought otherwise, mainly because of his superior
passing skills. Regardless of whether he will improve as a shooter, his passing
is box-office. He probably isn’t even the best passer in the league today, but
he is the most entertaining one.
Abramson: No doubt that this guy’s passing is as entertaining as it gets. He
brings that streetball-esque play to the NBA that is definitely reminiscent of
guys like Jason Williams and Steve Nash. Like you, I gave him a very
respectable 8 on the WTF Factor. I just don’t look at him as a star (gave him a
5). Maybe a 6 was a bit strict in terms of the unique factor, but I think he’s
not on the Curry-Durant-LeBron-BG level of a 9-10.
In terms of the
extension, the inevitable spike in
the salary cap makes $13m/year look less impressive than it would in years
past. And others predictions of Rubio’s worth in the eight-figure realm made it
seem surprisingly reasonable. Amin Elhassan preached the Rubio gospel last
month on The Lowe Post, as well. Personally, I’d rather watch Klay go on one of
his regular unconscious shooting tears and much-improved aggressiveness in
attacking the rim, but I can definitely appreciate Rubio’s entertainment value.
8. Lance Stephenson
Fotinich: I seriously can’t figure this guy out. When Lance is fully engaged,
he’s a two-way demolition derby, capable of scoring 25 while locking down any
of the top wings in the league. When he isn’t engaged, you get 2 points in 27
minutes such as in the game against the Pelicans a few weeks ago. He’s one of
the most maddeningly inconsistent players out there, which definitely makes me
worry about my prediction that he will average 20/5/5 this year (his rebounds
and assists are there, but the points could use some help). He’s also a
headcase - I’d be shocked if there was a coach in history who ever said “I’d
love to coach Lance Stephenson!” - which probably cost him $15 million this
summer.
However, this is
what makes him so entertaining! He’s literally a ticking time bomb. In the past
eight months, Lance fought with teammate Evan Turner in the locker room and
blew in LeBron James’ ear, while being completely unapologetic afterwards. He’s
definitely entered Simmons’ “Tyson Zone”. What headline would you need to see
on ESPN regarding Lance to be surprised - “Lance Stephenson slaps teammate Al
Jefferson in the face after argument over a $50,000 poker loss”? That wouldn’t
shock me. And his flop against Harrison Barnes last week? It might be described
“unethical” or as “an embarrassment to
the league”... but I’d describe it as “hilariously entertaining”.
Abramson: So you’re ready to drop the ball on that 20-5-5 prediction that you
thought was a virtual lock? Or what about that virtual lock for the All-Star
team?
He definitely hasn’t
fit in as well as was expected with the Hornets, something that has a lot to do
with the fact that he misinterpreted what his role was going to be. With Kemba
Walker and Al Jefferson already having made Charlotte a viable playoff
contender, Lance’s antics weren’t going to suddenly grab the reigns and start
running the franchise (which is what Born Ready was ready to do). However, his
place among the most entertaining players is without question. We know that he
brings energy, passion, and a wild side to the floor that is capable of landing
a headline on any given night.
But for reasons like
this flop, I would argue Lance’s entertainment value has a lot to do with
self-deprecation. There’s a reason that YouTube’s second-ranked autofill to
“Lance Stephenson flop” when you type in his name. (First is that horrendous
rap he did a few months ago.) But hey, if self-deprecation is your thing,
Lance, you’re doing fabulously well in entertainment value!
Fotinich: It was a bold prediction for a reason - it wasn’t likely to happen -
but it was definitely one that I felt confident in. I’m not throwing in the
towel yet even though he’s 10ppg behind… Lance, start shooting more!
There are so many
“what-if’s” you can think about with Lance. What if Lance was drafted by his
hometown New York Knicks? On one hand, he would have a much larger platform for
his self-deprecating entertainment. On the other hand, would he have ever
become as good of a player as he is, or would he be too busy doing Lance
Stephenson things? To some extent, I think Lance needs to stay in a small-ish
market just to remain sane. If not, he’ll soon be being mentioned in Nicki
Minaj lyrics. Oh wait, that already happened? Never mind.
7. Anthony Davis
Abramson: I’m somewhat surprised that AD is this low in the rankings. The man
can do anything...and I mean anything, on a basketball court. Block shots,
steals, jumpers, finishing around the rim, his numbers are on par with some of
the best centers/power forwards in league history. This makes for the perfect
recipe for an entertaining player because he gives you that knowledge that
you’re going to see something spectacular...you just don’t know in what facet.
This is why I gave him a 9 in WTF Factor...because he’s the type of player that
somehow has the ability to surprise you even when you know it’s coming. Time
for you to explain that 6 you gave him in WTF...
Fotinich: His stats alone this season probably justify more than a 6. 25
points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game on 56% shooting? Those are Shaq
c.1995 numbers. I guess the reason I gave him a relatively low rating is that
when I watch him, he doesn’t quite look as dominant or physically imposing as
some of the greats. He averages those numbers as under the radar as he possibly
can. Basically, he seems like the polar opposite of Dwight Howard. He’s an
amazing player, but he’s not as entertaining to watch as those numbers might
suggest.
People usually talk
a lot about draft busts, but what about the players that turn out exactly how
they were projected to be? An
NBA draft report in 2012 summarizes the thoughts
of most analysts pre-draft, saying that he has “Fluid athleticism, incredible
length and guard agility in a 6’10 package.” Is that not the most perfect
description of Anthony Davis in the NBA? Its amazing that Damian Lillard won
Rookie of the Year in 2012-2013 as a unanimous selection.
Abramson: Not as fun to watch, eh? That’s what I like to call the Michael
Jordan Syndrome in full effect. We’ve become so accustomed and attracted to
high-flying, scoring-machine, ball-handling wizards that attention spans for
the game’s bigs has decreased dramatically since the early 90s. There are
exceptions to this rule (a la Hakeem and Shaq) but for the most part people
don’t find the Duncans and Big Al’s box office whereas guys like
Kobe/Curry/Durant/LeBron/Wade and even, as you mentioned, Oakland native Damian
Lillard are revered. Davis’ game is not even a traditional center’s game but
some people still find him not-so-entertaining! (Not me, I gave him 9-9-8 in
our three-category ranking).
This is absolutely
not to say the star guards shouldn’t be appreciated, because we all know that
they are great players and fun to watch, but the ADs of the world just don’t
get much love. As someone who watches the vast majority of Warrior games, I get
a similar thrill off of a Bogut beautiful pass as I do a crazy Steph-back
three..
Oh wait, I got a
Curry 3 and a Bogut dime off of that. I guess it’s Monta Warriors-have-it-all.
Speaking of which,
Stephen A. Smith needs to watch more than just LeBron James play if he’s going
to be considered an NBA expert. The fact that he recently called Bogut “not
Bogus” and said that “there’s actually a purpose to him being on the basketball
court” (four minutes into
this clip) is such a joke. Anyone who has watched
more than two minutes of Warriors basketball knows how valuable he is both
offensively as a playmaker and defensively as a stopper. I’ve gone so far as to
say (which I stand by), that Bogut is the Warriors second most valuable player.
Not to mention this is the same video where Stephen A. proclaims Curry his
favorite player to watch! You’d think he actually watches his favorite player’s
team play...
As for draft
projections, I disagree because I remember similar pre-draft sentiments for AD
that there were for KD because of size. People said that he was “very slender,
even for the collegiate level” in that very projection article you are
referring to. DraftExpress, on the other hand, did say his best-case scenario
was Blake Griffin meets Tyson Chandler.
Crazy as it may be,
that could be underselling him.
6. Kobe Bryant
Fotinich: It doesn’t seem like we have much to argue in regard to Kobe’s
entertainment value, though I did rank him tied for 3rd. Tim Duncan might have
an argument that he, not Kobe, is the most decorated active player, but there
isn’t a doubt in my mind who is more entertaining to watch. I’ve been watching
Kobe since I was a kid, and I still yearn for more. Although he’s never been a
physical freak such as the likes of Anthony Davis or LeBron James, he makes up
for his relative lack of size and speed with impeccable footwork and timing.
Guys who have been watching Kobe since they were in high school somehow still
fall for his pump fakes often enough that even in his 19th season, he’s third
in free throw attempts. He does take some (OK fine, many) misguided shots, but
when they go in, even Laker haters can’t help but be amazed. If any other
player in the NBA took the kinds of shots that Kobe makes regularly, they would
be shooting below 30% for their career. There isn’t a player in the league
right now who can hit shots on a double
team like prime Kobe did. Admittedly, 2014 Kobe isn’t prime Kobe, but he’s
pretty close.
If those words don’t
describe just how entertaining Kobe Bryant is, maybe numbers will: $48,500,000.
That is how much Kobe is getting paid over the widely panned two-year extension
he signed in November 2013. Most critics of the extension focused on how it
supposedly prevented the Lakers from signing notable free agents this summer
(as if both LeBron and Melo were coming to LA regardless), but these critics
missed a crucial point. Kobe is being paid because people pay lots of money to
see Kobe Bryant play basketball. The Clippers are a championship contender,
feature superstars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, while the Lakers might not win
25 games this season. Somehow, Laker tickets are still selling for
significantly more than Clipper tickets on StubHub. Kobe is entertainment
personified. Many people would argue he should be no. 1 on this list.
Abramson: How appropriate that we end Part I of our most entertaining players
with Kobe Bryant. It perfectly epitomizes his place in the NBA currently. He’s
in that upper echelon of second-tier players, but no longer in that discussion
of the best of the best. Kobe is incredibly fun to watch...but not really for
the same reasons as it used to be. At this point, it’s almost like watching a
soap opera rather than a basketball game. Even complete with potential
break-ups! (Kobe to the Knicks rumors pervaded NBA discussion in past weeks.)
I want this out here
for the record. He is shooting 39.2% from the field right now. 28% from three.
Basketball is a game of efficiency. I’ll save this for perhaps another column
but there’s no weasling around it...these are putrid numbers. The fact that
Kobe can make shots fading away in the corner where the ball comes from behind
the backboard is box office but serves no legitimate basketball value when he’s
making less than 40% of those types of shots.
It’s good that you
see he takes awful shots, but to say that it’s impressive when he makes a
few...not sure. Statistically speaking, he’s bound to make some of his crazy
shots. And yes, he’s third in free throws, but that’s meaningless. His usage
rate is a league-leading 36.4%!! I looked up volume in the dictionary the other
day and there was a picture of Kobe Bryant staring back at me.
One last
clarification: you meant to say that many Kobe fans (and/or Laker fans) would argue he should be no.
1 on this list.
Fotinich: I can’t
disagree regarding Kobe’s shot selection this year. I attended the
Lakers-Warriors tilt several weeks ago when Kobe scored 44 points while the
Lakers lost by 21. Since it was the first time I ever had premium seats to a
Lakers game, I wanted to get a good photo of Kobe shooting. Thankfully, I had
plenty of opportunities. Kobe took 24 shots in the first half alone - more shot
attempts than anybody else is currently averaging over an entire game -
finishing with 34 shots despite sitting out the entire 4th quarter. Plenty of
these shots were double-teamed long-two’s, deep 3s, well-covered layups,
etc..basically, the types of shots that appear in the nightmares of any high
school basketball coach and Daryl Morey.
Despite that, the
audience visible tensed whenever Kobe attempted a shot, and erupted in cheers
every single time one went in. At one point, he even got a small “MVP!” chant
while shooting a free throw (which he then missed, preventing the chant from
going for the second free throw). Realize that we are watching a player in his
19th season, after having played over 46,000 regular season minutes and coming
off of two major injuries, score over 20 points per game while competing with
guys significantly more athletic than him. This is history in the making; don’t
even attempt to find a better 19th season from an NBA player - you won’t find
one. Kobe might not lead the Lakers to any sort of relevance this year, but the
fact that he’s still able to play the way that he does is remarkable.
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Our combined scoring (60 maximum) for ranks 7-10 was as follows:
7. Bryant - 51
8. Davis - 50
9. Rubio - 43
10. Irving/Wall - 42
