Everything NBA 2020-21

[G__Deane]

To recap: Steph last night 10/17 from three (most of them from well beyond the arc) and 49 points. Wow.

[The Great One]

He is for sure fun to watch offensive player, but Jordan actually played defense, played in a much harder/tougher league, and I think you may be forgetting just how good kobe was.

First of all, I remember Kobe very well. Second, It's all subjective. I'm a Jordan guy but Steph Curry to me is the most fun basketball player i've ever watched. He literally changed the game. You'll never see anyone like him again. In my opinion he'll go down as one of the top 10 greatest players of all time.

[KeonClark]

First of all, I remember Kobe very well. Second, It's all subjective. I'm a Jordan guy but Steph Curry to me is the most fun basketball player i've ever watched. He literally changed the game. You'll never see anyone like him again. In my opinion he'll go down as one of the top 10 greatest players of all time.

Watching 2016 steph was like an out of body experience. Dude would just spaz and turn into a video game at least twice a week.

apparently hes basically having the same quality of year this year but nobody's hyping it up, probably cause his team sucks.

[G__Deane]

First of all, I remember Kobe very well. Second, It's all subjective. I'm a Jordan guy but Steph Curry to me is the most fun basketball player i've ever watched. He literally changed the game. You'll never see anyone like him again. In my opinion he'll go down as one of the top 10 greatest players of all time.

There's no doubt he's a helluva lot of fun to watch. Talent combined with the absolute joy of playing, he's pretty much number 1. You didn't see MJ or Kobe playing around much on the court....mainly because they were thinking about destroying you. Embiid likes to have a good time too and some fans hate him for it. Prime Jordan/Bryant was a different era though.

[slaw]

Watching 2016 steph was like an out of body experience. Dude would just spaz and turn into a video game at least twice a week.

apparently hes basically having the same quality of year this year but nobody's hyping it up, probably cause his team sucks.

Just my personal bias here but I've never understood why the league has been so focused on Lebron rather than Curry. The NBA, more so than any other league, relies on its top guy to be the face of the league and carry it. A guy like Curry is far more relatable and, frankly, likable than Lebron. When I coached kids basketball a few years ago all the kids wanted to be like Curry. Think the NBA would have been far better served pushing Steph of all the players of the last 7-8 years.

[MixxAOR]

Watching 2016 steph was like an out of body experience. Dude would just spaz and turn into a video game at least twice a week.

apparently hes basically having the same quality of year this year but nobody's hyping it up, probably cause his team sucks.

It was 2016....my god 😔

[LJ2]

Just my personal bias here but I've never understood why the league has been so focused on Lebron rather than Curry. The NBA, more so than any other league, relies on its top guy to be the face of the league and carry it. A guy like Curry is far more relatable and, frankly, likable than Lebron. When I coached kids basketball a few years ago all the kids wanted to be like Curry. Think the NBA would have been far better served pushing Steph of all the players of the last 7-8 years.

Really, Steph over Lebron as the face of the NBA? Perhaps it's my bias as well, but I couldn't think of a better ambassador for the NBA than LBJ. Everything from being raised in a single parent household in a small town , to all the hype years before entering the league to smashing every expectation put before him and being a family man and outspoken member of the black community screams not just relatable but role model.

Curry was raised under different circumstances and has more of that frat boy character to him. Maybe relatable to some but not all and I don't think majority.

[planetmars]

Yeah.. I think most kids want to play like Steph over Lebron. Lebron might be the better role model and is overall the better player.. but Steph is fun, and makes the game fun. MJ was like that too.. especially when he was younger. Lebron just doesn't stylistically give you much. He can pass the ball, but isn't passing like Magic was either.

Here are the guys I've had a blast watching as an NBA fan since the late 80's:

1. MJ
2. Steph
3. Magic
4. Nique
5. Bird
6. Nash
7. Vince
8. Hakeem
9. Kemp
10. Shaq
HM: Lowry

Was never a fan of Kobe's. His "I'm too cool for this sport" attitude rubbed me the wrong way. Shaq was only fun in his first few years in the league, and stopped being fun when he became fat. I would add Barkley in there, but the only year I enjoyed watching him was with the Suns in 93.

[S.R.]

This is all super subjective but I'd argue Jordan dominated the league in a way very, very few players have. There was a feeling of inevitability in the early to mid 90's, it was just Jordan's league. He was going to win, the only question each year seemed to be who would get 2nd. Off the court, he was also a globally dominant sports and pop culture figure that was at a whole new level vs anyone who had ever come before. Jordan himself was an international franchise.

I don't think anyone since then has done that. Not that they haven't had some of those ingredients, just that there are degrees to all this and Kobe, Curry, etc. haven't been on Jordan's level re: league dominance and international stardom. I mean at his peak Jordan effectively just won ever year for 6 years. Kobe/Curry/Lebron/Shaq/Duncan all didn't do that. They were among the best each year, were MVP candidates and contenders each year, but they weren't inevitable like Jordan was every year for several years.

On that level I have MJ above those guys. Skills with the ball in his hands? Yeah, Curry is more skilled as a ball handler and shooter. His offence bends the game when he plays and shifted the whole league and that's very, very rare & is also a level above and beyond rings and MVPs. Jordan changed the game that way too, though. The league literally spent the next 20 years looking for The Next Jordan. Every star post-Jordan was trying to be Jordan.

[S.R.]

Yeah.. I think most kids want to play like Steph over Lebron. Lebron might be the better role model and is overall the better player.. but Steph is fun, and makes the game fun. MJ was like that too.. especially when he was younger. Lebron just doesn't stylistically give you much. He can pass the ball, but isn't passing like Magic was either.

Here are the guys I've had a blast watching as an NBA fan since the late 80's:

1. MJ
2. Steph
3. Magic
4. Nique
5. Bird
6. Nash
7. Vince
8. Hakeem
9. Kemp
10. Shaq
HM: Lowry

Was never a fan of Kobe's. His "I'm too cool for this sport" attitude rubbed me the wrong way. Shaq was only fun in his first few years in the league, and stopped being fun when he became fat. I would add Barkley in there, but the only year I enjoyed watching him was with the Suns in 93.

Agreed. Not to slight Kobe but I guess I am, he was also just so soon after MJ that watching him felt like "I've seen this before, only better." Still a great player.

Nash and the SSOL Suns were a lot of fun. That was a league getting bogged down by the 'boring Spurs' (I didn't totally agree) and the Pistons and lots of ISO ball and the Suns were a ton of fun and helped start opening the league back up into a much more entertaining product again. Curry and the Warriors finished what Nash and the Suns started.

Kemp destroying guys was tons of fun.

[The Great One]

My top 10:

1. Steph
2. MJ
3. Raptors Kawhi(if you disagree you're lying)
4. Kobe
5. Vince
6. Nowitzki
7. Hakeem
8. Ewing
9. Barkley
10. T-Mac

[G__Deane]

Just my personal bias here but I've never understood why the league has been so focused on Lebron rather than Curry. The NBA, more so than any other league, relies on its top guy to be the face of the league and carry it. A guy like Curry is far more relatable and, frankly, likable than Lebron. When I coached kids basketball a few years ago all the kids wanted to be like Curry. Think the NBA would have been far better served pushing Steph of all the players of the last 7-8 years.

Dunks and drives sell more Chinese jerseys and shoes than 3 pointers do ....

[JawsGT]

Presently, curry, jokic and doncic are the most entertaining for me, and i dont get to watch them very much. Kawhi, Harden, lillard, lebron and durant are not far behind. Historically, nash was fun to watch. Stockton and malone were fun too, and of course my boys GP and kemp. And of course Vince, he has to be top 5 all time for me, due to bias and him being such a nasty dunker.

That leads me to a question I've been wanting to ask the community for some time and it just popped in my mind.

Rank the top dunkers of all time based only on dunks made during games, no dunk competitions included, and Im thinking dunk packages here folks, not one time great dunks. Guys that posterized defenders and destroyed the rim on the regular.

I dont know my list, but I ask mainly cause I wonder where folks might place demar on theirs? Vince, kemp, 'nique, dawkins, dr. J, lots of guys to include, but man, I think demar might be top 5 all time. Have i not seen enough non-raptors players since I've been watching basketball? Have I not seen enough basketball prior to the early-mid 90s to appreciate some of the old school dunkers? I dont know, but i bet someone could put together a 5-10 min video of demars best in game dunks and it would rival any other players'. Except maybe vince cause he crammed it after clearing a 7 footer. Thoughts RR?

[G__Deane]

Presently, curry, jokic and doncic are the most entertaining for me, and i dont get to watch them very much. Kawhi, Harden, lillard, lebron and durant are not far behind. Historically, nash was fun to watch. Stockton and malone were fun too, and of course my boys GP and kemp. And of course Vince, he has to be top 5 all time for me, due to bias and him being such a nasty dunker.

That leads me to a question I've been wanting to ask the community for some time and it just popped in my mind.

Rank the top dunkers of all time based only on dunks made during games, no dunk competitions included, and Im thinking dunk packages here folks, not one time great dunks. Guys that posterized defenders and destroyed the rim on the regular.

I dont know my list, but I ask mainly cause I wonder where folks might place demar on theirs? Vince, kemp, 'nique, dawkins, dr. J, lots of guys to include, but man, I think demar might be top 5 all time. Have i not seen enough non-raptors players since I've been watching basketball? Have I not seen enough basketball prior to the early-mid 90s to appreciate some of the old school dunkers? I dont know, but i bet someone could put together a 5-10 min video of demars best in game dunks and it would rival any other players'. Except maybe vince cause he crammed it after clearing a 7 footer. Thoughts RR?

Oldest myth on RR...."Vince cleared a 7 footer"
He could have cleared an 8 footer if the guy bent down too....

[golden]

Just my personal bias here but I've never understood why the league has been so focused on Lebron rather than Curry. The NBA, more so than any other league, relies on its top guy to be the face of the league and carry it. A guy like Curry is far more relatable and, frankly, likable than Lebron. When I coached kids basketball a few years ago all the kids wanted to be like Curry. Think the NBA would have been far better served pushing Steph of all the players of the last 7-8 years.

Well the easy answer is ratings, but I think the league actually HAS been changing the rules specifically to make it easier for smaller skilled guys to score. That's benefited Curry tremendously and now Trae Young is getting help from the refs with FTs. I think the league really does want small, relatable guys like Curry and Trae to be the face of the league for exactly the reasons you mentioned. They started by changing the rules to eliminate unrelatable monsters like Shaq, but I think Lebron has just been too good for too long that he's firmly rooted as the global megastar of the league, since Kobe retired. I mean the entire NBA TV ratings dipped simply because Lebron moved to the west coast time-zone. I don't think the NBA can do anything about it...... there are people who just follow Lebron no matter what, and the networks tell the NBA that they want the ratings that Lebron generates. He's one of those iconic athletes who has become bigger than his own sport, especially with the off-court philanthropic, media and political stuff he's doing.