Lebron James

The Best Players in the NBA This Season

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The Best Players in the NBA This Season

The NBA is one of the most entertaining things to watch especially when you are watching some of the best players do crazy plays. There are lots of really good players in the NBA, but some rise above the rest and that’s what we’ll be talking about today.

 

Stephen Curry

 

Wardell Stephen Curry II, or the “Baby Faced Assassin” is undoubtedly the best shooter of all time and makes a case for MVP every year winning it twice with the only unanimous MVP. So far he’s had a really good season averaging 25 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and a steal per game which is some of the best stats so far this season. He is also playing for the team with the best record so far at 8-1.

Stephen Curry shooting before a game

 

Kevin Durant

 

KD is having an amazing season so far with the Nets, even though the team together isn’t doing the greatest, it might just have something to do with Kyrie, but that’s a different story.  So far this season he is averaging about 30 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists per game which is crazy. He’s on a team with another big scorer in James Harden, so if they both score a lot the Nets could be a threat.

KD in a game this season

 

Jimmy Butler

 

Jimmy “Buckets” Butler is another player having a really good season, with stats that aren’t as good as KD, but still, some of the best in the league, averaging 25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals per game. Butler is on a Heat team that looks really good so far this season at 7-3 with the best record in the East.

Jimmy Butler heading back down to the other side of the court

 

Paul George

 

“PG-13” is having a career year so far averaging about 27 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2.5 steals a game, all of those are his best career stats except for his points because in 2018 he averaged 28. He’s playing for the Clippers who have won 5 games in a row and seem to have got things going.

George taking the ball down the court for the Clippers

 

LeBron James

 

“The King” always makes a case for MVP and so far this season he’s continuing that averaging 25 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and a block a game. The Lakers are always a championship contender, especially when you have one of the best players of all time.

LeBron flexing in a game against the Golden State Warriors

 

Trae Young

 

“Ice Trae” entered the league only four years ago and has already impressed everyone. So far this year he continues to impress averaging 24 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists, and a steal per game. He’s currently playing for the Atlanta Hawks who haven’t been very good so far this season at 4-8 and their loss total is double their win total.

Trae Young finishing at the rim

 

 

Giannis Antetokounmpo

 

“The Greek Freak” is having a really good year on a not-so-good Bucks team so far. They are below .500, but Giannis is averaging 28 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks per game, he’s a double-double machine! Giannis isn’t just getting rebounds because he’s tall, he’s also very athletic and good at boxing out.

Giannis screaming happily 

 

Luka Dončić

 

Luka is another player having an outstanding year so far in his fourth season. He’s averaging 25 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and a steal per game. It’s not his best stats, but they are still really good and very close to his best. He’s had one of the biggest moments in the NBA so far this season when he drained a 3 pointer to put the Mavericks up by 3 on the Celtics with only a few seconds left in the game.

Dončić shooting a free throw during a home game

 

James Harden

 

“The Beard” isn’t having the best season of his career, but still has good stats. He’s averaging about 20 points 8 rebounds, 9 assists, a steal, and a block per game which is still really good. The only problem with how he’s playing is that he’s not getting the same fouls called that he was getting before, so he isn’t getting nearly as many points, but he’s still shooting really well from the field.

Harden flexing after making a play

 

DeMar DeRozan

 

DeRozan is having one of his best seasons averaging 27 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal on the year. His best game so far was when he had 38 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal, and a block.

DeRozan in a Bulls Uniform for the first year

 

Nikola Jokić

 

“The Joker” is having yet another MVP-worthy season averaging, 26 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal, and a block. He’s the reigning MVP and had an amazing year last year and is just continuing that this year.

Jokić shooting a free throw

Why is team chemistry more important than overall talent?

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Why is team chemistry more important than overall talent?

The 2021-2022 Lakers squad has had a very dissapointing start to this season, as of writing this article they are 10-11. What is the reason for their struggle, and has this happened before?

 

There are 2 keys to success in the NBA nowadays. The first one is skill and stardom. Every team should be built around a superstar, a guy you see as the future and leader of the squad. For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo is that guy. A guy who draws a lot of attention and night in and out consistently puts up very good numbers.

 

The second key is chemistry. All of the talent you may have means nothing if none of it works together. A team like the Phoenix Suns may not have the biggest stars in the league, but they still made it to the NBA Finals last season due to their impressive chemistry. A team that plays better together is better than a team that plays the best by themselves. Kevin Durant once said, “Chemistry is important. If you like your teammates, it’s going to be easier to play with them on the court”.

 

Going into this season, the Lakers were the team to watch. They were expected to match up against the Nets in the NBA Finals for a fantastic matchup. However, the Lakers have been very disappointing thus far. The Lakers are a measly 10-11, and it seems every week they play worse and worse teams and continue to lose. What is the reason for these losses, you may ask?

 

It’s quite noticeable when you watch Lakers games what their issue is: they don’t know how to play as a unit. I don’t even watch basketball, and even I can notice it. There is too much stardom in Los Angeles and not enough chemistry to go around. Guys like Lebron James, Anthony Davis, Carmelo Anthony, and Russell Westbrook all on the same team are not working well. All 4 of those guys are players to build a team around. All of them would be leading scorers on most teams in the league. All of them want the ball, and when one player takes too many shots, the other guys become useless. They need to learn how to distribute all of their talents equally around and use all of their strengths to combine them.

 

Unfortunately, if everyone can’t figure it out, they may end up trading people away. Fill some weaknesses the Lakers have and not have as many stars on the floor at once. This is the unfortunate route they may have to take, but it is very much an option.

 

Now, the Lakers are not the only example of this. In the NBA’s entire history this happens essentially every year. The Nets are last season’s example and have had the same issue this season as well. The Big 3 the Nets traded for and signed, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden have not played well together. All 3 of them shoot the ball too much. However, James and Kevin have started to figure it out, Kyrie has left them behind. Kyrie has not been allowed to play due to his unwillingness to get the COVID-19 Vaccine, and Kevin and James are being good teammates and not being negative towards Irving. Kevin says, “He’s a part of our team”.

 

It begs the question, does chemistry mean more than talent? Yes, teams that have very good chemistry have always done better than extremely talented teams. Take the 2020 Milwaukee Bucks for example. Giannis Antetokounmpo was the biggest name in the Finals for that squad, but other than that, there was not much star power. But, everyone knew their role. Jrue Holiday knew he was not going to be the scoring point guard, and so he focused on his biggest strength, that being his defense. The same is not said for Khris Middleton however, as he was expected to be the best 3 point shooter on that team, and he was. All of these parts came together and formed a championship team. Even their opponents in the Finals had great chemistry and were built similarly to Milwaukee, but the Bucks were bigger and stronger and ended up winning.

 

Time and time again it has been proved that teams with better chemistry will win more games than a team with extraordinary talent. If all the parts come together, they can form a special squad. But, the teams that have the right amount of talent and chemistry, become dynasties and can go down as some of the greatest teams of all time.

 

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