[NBA] Comments that don't warrant a thread (DEC)

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hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
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She said (paraphrasing) that Jalen Brunson is too small to be the best player on a championship team.
Who's the smallest player to ever win a championship as the best player on their team? Isiah Thomas maybe? Steph Curry is around the same height as Jalen Brunson too. I can see the argument being that he's not quite good enough to win a championship as the best player on his team but going after his size is a little unfair.

It does also occur to me -- and I don't know the context of the quote here -- but Becky was a PG and her record in the WNBA Finals during her playing career is 1-9 (with the only win coming in her rookie season when she was a bench player) so maybe she's telling on herself a little bit?
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
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Who's the smallest player to ever win a championship as the best player on their team? Isiah Thomas maybe? Steph Curry is around the same height as Jalen Brunson too. I can see the argument being that he's not quite good enough to win a championship as the best player on his team but going after his size is a little unfair.
Jalen Brunson is listed as 6'2". Stephen Curry is listed as 6'3". I feel like Curry's program height is closer to his actual height than Jalen Brunson's is, but that's neither here nor there. The point is that, in the seventy-seven some-odd year history of the NBA there have been exactly two players listed at 6'3" or smaller who have ever been the best player on a championship team, and I don't think that Jalen Brunson is going to be the third. Frankly, I have a hard time believing that anyone outside of New York City does.

It does also occur to me -- and I don't know the context of the quote here -- but Becky was a PG and her record in the WNBA Finals during her playing career is 1-9 (with the only win coming in her rookie season when she was a bench player) so maybe she's telling on herself a little bit?
I mean, if anyone would know...
 
Jalen Brunson is listed as 6'2". Stephen Curry is listed as 6'3". I feel like Curry's program height is closer to his actual height than Jalen Brunson's is, but that's neither here nor there. The point is that, in the seventy-seven some-odd year history of the NBA there have been exactly two players listed at 6'3" or smaller who have ever been the best player on a championship team
I think you missed Chauncey
 

hrdboild

Moloch in whom I dream Angels!
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Jalen Brunson is listed as 6'2". Stephen Curry is listed as 6'3". I feel like Curry's program height is closer to his actual height than Jalen Brunson's is, but that's neither here nor there. The point is that, in the seventy-seven some-odd year history of the NBA there have been exactly two players listed at 6'3" or smaller who have ever been the best player on a championship team, and I don't think that Jalen Brunson is going to be the third. Frankly, I have a hard time believing that anyone outside of New York City does.


I mean, if anyone would know...
Not to belabor the point unnecessarily, but size is more than just height is it not? Jalen Brunson might be an inch shorter than Steph barefoot according to pre-draft measurements but he also weighs more and has a slightly longer wingspan so if you average it all together that effectively makes them the same "size" as far as I'm concerned. He's also averaging 46% on 6.6 three point attempts per game which is nearly Steph Curry level production as well...

I don't think New York has much of a chance either but that's because of the quality of the supporting cast not because Brunson hasn't been a worthy #1 option this season. By this same criteria, the Kings won't be a contender either unless they get a better #1 player than D. Fox and I just don't believe that. Not in the era of 40+ 3pt attempts per team per game. You can win with an elite guard in 2023 and it's really really hard to win without one.
 
No the hell I didn't. Chauncey Billups wasn't the best player on that team, he's just the one who got the credit in the Finals.
Well, I said you missed him, I didn't say you forgot him ;). Most win shares on the team, and highest PER at 23, along with the unquantified clutch factor.

I would also submit Jo Jo White as a contender, though I think that's more of a hot take.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
... I don't think New York has much of a chance either but that's because of the quality of the supporting cast not because Brunson hasn't been a worthy #1 option this season. By this same criteria, the Kings won't be a contender either unless they get a better #1 player than D. Fox and I just don't believe that. Not in the era of 40+ 3pt attempts per team per game. You can win with an elite guard in 2023 and it's really really hard to win without one.
I don't know whether I believe that either one of them can be the best player on a championship team, but I do tend to believe that, between the two of them, Fox's productivity is less likely to be a fluke, and I feel like his style of play is better suited for the playoffs. Also, and this is just my opinion, Fox, to me, plays like a "big" 6'3". Brunson does not play like a "big" 6'2".
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
Well, I said you missed him, I didn't say you forgot him ;). Most win shares on the team, and highest PER at 23, along with the unquantified clutch factor.

I would also submit Jo Jo White as a contender, though I think that's more of a hot take.
I'll put it to you like this, and you can take it for whatever you think it's worth: there's one guy on that team who's in the Hall of Fame, and his name is not Chauncey Billups.
 
I'll put it to you like this, and you can take it for whatever you think it's worth: there's one guy on that team who's in the Hall of Fame, and his name is not Chauncey Billups.
Don't you think Chauncey will make it eventually?

Big Ben was awesome in his day, but also one of the most unorthodox players NBA history, so he had novelty on his side.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
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Don't you think Chauncey will make it eventually?
Eh. He'll probably get in, but he wouldn't have my vote.


Billups also retired a couple years after Wallace; there's a natural advantage there.
To the extent that this is true, it'd carry more weight if Wallace had gotten in on the first ballot. Billups has been retired long enough that, if people thought he was a lock Hall of Famer, he'd be in already.
 
Queta just dropped 14 pts / 12 rbs / 3 ast in 23 min for Celtics in their domimating win over the Clippers. No Porzingis and he stepped up. We gave up too soon on that guy. Happy for him though.
 
To the extent that this is true, it'd carry more weight if Wallace had gotten in on the first ballot. Billups has been retired long enough that, if people thought he was a lock Hall of Famer, he'd be in already.
Neither of them made the more selective 75th anniversary team. And IMHO neither of them were lock HoF candidates. I just wanted to make the point that present HoF status isn't a definitive way to distinguish the best player between the two.
 
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