Section 101
All-Star
I wouldn't want to be the team that breaks the streak.
[NBA] Comments that don't warrant a thread (DEC)
- Thread starter joemama
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QTNA: do we think that there's anybody besides Knicks fans who disagree with Becky Hammon?
macadocious
Starter
IRT what?
She said (paraphrasing) that Jalen Brunson is too small to be the best player on a championship team.
macadocious
Starter
He’s also not good enough. Unless 2-5 are all like 1/2 notch below him.
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?
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...
Pistons fans chanting "Sell the team!"
Insomniacal Fan
Starter
I think you missed Chauncey
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.
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.
Insomniacal Fan
Starter
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 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".
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.Well, I said you missed him, I didn't say you forgot him
I would also submit Jo Jo White as a contender, though I think that's more of a hot take.
Insomniacal Fan
Starter
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.
Insomniacal Fan
Starter
Billups also retired a couple years after Wallace; there's a natural advantage there.
Billups is a nominee this year https://www.hoophall.com/news/naism...ces-eligible-candidates-for-the-class-of-2024
Eh. He'll probably get in, but he wouldn't have my vote.
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.
coolhandluke
Starter
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.
Insomniacal Fan
Starter
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.
Insomniacal Fan
Starter
Huh, so averaging 10/2/2 gets you a MLE these days. Kudos to his agent!
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
He was really good at times in the playoffs last year
Mark Jones and a taller female color commentator, name a more iconic duo.
coolhandluke
Starter
Luka is the fastest active player to reach 10000 career points in the NBA.
iowamcnabb
Hall of Famer
If he had worded it as the most productive rookies he might have a case, but re-draft? Still going to take the longer term upside of several other players first.
coolhandluke
Starter
Metu having a great game for the Suns - 19/15/2. Love that guy.
coolhandluke
Starter
Luka with a 50-point present for Booker.
Mavs should build a statue for Vlade.
Mavs should build a statue for Vlade.
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