It’s that time of year again, where turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, and all the fixings mix with family to create a gluttonous mass that’s only awakened out of their food coma by those Black Friday discounts and the knobby elbows of other customers. The holiday season is upon us, which means the NBA season is underway and there are plenty of things for NBA fans to give thanks for. Here are 10 wide-ranging reasons the people at Dime are thankful for the NBA this season.
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The Ever-Expanding Role (and Waist) of Boris Diaw
What am I most thankful for? Boris Diaw. Yes, you read that right… Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod. I want to know what makes up Diaw’s diet. All jokes aside, what is he eating… post-game crepes maybe? What else does a Frenchman eat? The point is, instead of spending the offseason after a crushing Finals loss cutting calories and getting into phenomenal shape as his age progresses, Diaw embraced his weight. Boris has defied the odds! He’s a role model for anyone battling weight issues!
Diaw’s ballooned into a 6-8, 250/60/70/80 pound pleasantly plump big man. Now in his 11th year, his mini-resurgence with the Spurs has allowed Popovich to rest Tim Duncan more often, and Duncan’s sprightliness is a key reason San Antonio remains a contender out West. Sure, Kawhi Leonard might be the future in San Antonio, but he hasn’t exploded this year the way many expected. Boris is putting up 11.2 PPG on 55.9 percent shooting so far this year. Seriously though, he is the key to the Spurs’ title chances! His versatile game (excellent passer and quality long range shooter for a big) makes him an important cog in the well-oiled Spurs machine. I can imagine Popovich preparing a full Thanksgiving spread for Diaw after the Spurs game Wednesday night in OKC. He’ll pat the Frenchman on the back when Diaw sits down, and say proudly “you’ve earned it.” Never stop eating Boris!
-IAN FLICKINGER
Kevin Love’s Reemergence
The White Mamba has given us bearded white folk hope with his off-the-charts play this season. After only appearing in 18 games last season, Kevin Love is stuffing the stat sheet in Minnesota with an almost nightly double-double while averaging 24.6 PPG and 13.8 RPG. Especially since the NBA seems to lose more big men than Turkey’s lose family members this holiday, it’s huge to see him healthy. Since this is Thanksgiving and our favorite pastime today is eating, lets recognize that Kevin Love’s PIE (player impact estimate) rating is 19.0 percent (second in the NBA behind LBJ). While we are all digging into some pumpkin or apple pie, Kevin Love has been digging into his opponents all season.
Love is fourth in the league in scoring and first in rebounding. Minnesota has some cold winters, but with the All-Star production from Kevin Love and his band of brothers, the temperature will be rising. Arguably the best all around player in the league, I am thankful for Kevin Love’s reemergence as the top power forward in the NBA.
-DREW CORRIGAN
Russell Westbrook Is Back With OKC
Well, the NBA and Oklahoma City Thunder fans saw a brief glimpse of what life was like without Russell Westbrook, and for OKC, it wasn’t pretty. Sure, the Thunder still had one of the best players on the court in Kevin Durant. But without Westbrook’s presence in the lineup, the team’s entire dynamic changed. OKC scraped by with a win in their season opener against the struggling Utah Jazz, backed by a 42-point effort from KD. Then the void from Westbrook’s absence was truly felt in their 19-point loss to the Timberwolves in their next game. OKC became one dimensional offensively in their brief stint without Westbrook on both ends of the court.
Westbrook surprisingly made his return to the lineup after missing just two games. It was assumed that he would miss the first month of the season due to two offseason surgeries to repair his lateral meniscus. While Westbrook remains one of the most criticized players in the NBA today, his value and importance to OKC, to Durant’s game, and to the NBA, is no longer debatable. Since his triumphant return on November 3, OKC has gone 8-2 (as of Tuesday) while he has posted 21.6 PPG and 5.1 APG. OKC has that fire, passion, and drive that ignites and spreads from Westbrook’s energy and panache. As ESPN’s Scoop Jackson said, “Without him, [the Thunder] are incomplete. Without him, the NBA is less interesting.”
-ELIZABETH BENSON
LeBron James’ Decision
The NBA has been good to me over my short 19 years. I have witnessed some of the greatest moments in the game’s history during my life, but the moment I am most thankful for would be the day LeBron James announced he was joining my favorite team, the Miami Heat. I was aching for another NBA championship… 2006 was so many years ago. Since The King graced South Beach with his royal presence, he has elevated his game to the next level, a level that not many have ever seen. The greatest part is LeBron keeps finding ways to bring his game to new heights.
LeBron is currently coming off his second consecutive NBA championship, and he is trying to lead Miami to their fourth title in franchise history. To all the NBA fans out there, put personal feelings aside, be thankful for legendary talent like LeBron. He and his ilk not come around very often.
-JOSEPH DURUAKU
Monta Ellis’ Efficiency
My goodness, I’m a fan of Monta Ellis. Always have been, always will be. He’s consistently been one of the league’s most exciting scorers, even if it took him 30 shots to get 30 points. However, Ellis is finally gaining some credit because of his improved efficiency, which is a direct correlation to Dallas’ early success this season.
Prior to 2013, Ellis was probably known as the player who said he couldn’t co-exist with rising star Stephen Curry in Golden State. But now he’s showing out in Dallas, scoring over 18 PPG this season and averaging 26.8 over his last five. He’s also shooting just under 50 percent while averaging five assists per game, showing that he’s more than a hungry guard, ravenous for buckets.
Beautifully, Ellis is still taking the same shots as before, he’s just knocking more of them down. Credit for the change must go to coach Rick Carlisle for putting Monta in the right sets and giving him enough free rein to maximize his abilities.
A smarter, more effective Monta? Now that’s something I’m grateful for this NBA season.
-QUENTON NARCISSE
One-And-Done’s
The NBA’s age limit and subsequent one-and-done philosophy continues an incredibly senseless and hypocritical system. It forces athletes away from their own economic interests for the entertainment of the collective amateur hoops watching public. The better argument is the free market should allow these freshmen to jump directly to the Association, where some appear to belong already, rather than torching conference opponents. On a logical level, I completely understand and agree with that argument. But as a lover of college hoops, it’s difficult to argue against these folks dominating a year in the college game rather than the alternative: a spot on an NBA bench and a lot of sloppy basketball. This NCAA season is going to be an absolute delight because of the cadre of NBA talent at Kentucky, Andrew Wiggins at Kansas and Jabari Parker at Duke. For that, I’m thankful that this hypocrisy exists. Now pass the remote.
-TJ HATTER
The Rise Of Future Stars With The Injuries Of Today’s Stars
The NBA and its fans have plenty of things to be thankful for this holiday season. Sometimes you have to dig through the bad to find the most rewarding. Derrick Rose is out for the season. Kobe Bryant has yet to step onto the floor for an NBA game this season. Deron Williams has been banged up and his play has been suffering as a result. Marc Gasol is out indefinitely with an MCL sprain. So why are these things to be thankful for?
With major names in the NBA going down, it has made room for some likely and unlikely players to steal the spotlight. DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis have taken their games to new heights, becoming two of the league’s best post players offensively and defensively [Eds. note: Boogie still needs some work on defense]. Damian Lillard, Arron Afflalo and Monta Ellis are all having career years, outshining bigger names on their respective teams. Michael Carter-Williams and Evan Turner currently have the 76ers sitting in the playoff picture.
Before you start to look at the negatives that have come as the result of injuries over the past couple of seasons, look at the rise of players whose play no longer goes unnoticed. It will give you a new perspective and more joy for the rest of the NBA season.
-GABE BAIN
The Western Conference
With all the talk of tanking, another season-ending Derrick Rose knee injury and the horrid starts by the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets —MSG and YES! are getting permanently blocked in my house — the one storyline that has been fun to follow is the depth of talent in the Western Conference. We are finally getting to see the Minnesota Timberwolves stars at full health and they’re producing wins and an MVP-caliber season from Kevin Love. The Portland Trailblazers, at 12-2 as of Tuesday morning, are the hottest team no one is talking about [Eds note: some are, to be fair].
After an active offseason with many questioning the personnel decisions in offering three-year deals to Monta Ellis and Jose Calderon, the Dallas Mavericks have turned the tandem of Dirk Nowitzki and Ellis into an unstoppable pick-and-roll of death (okay maybe not death, but you get the point). The San Antonio Spurs are fending off Father Time for the umpteenth year, the Golden State Warriors are even better (and I’m strongly hoping the injury bug that’s been going around Oakland has to face off against the elbow-swinging Andrew Bogut), Russell Westbrook’s early return and the performances from their young role players has steadied the Oklahoma City Thunder. Barely a month into the 2013-14 NBA season, the Western Conference playoff race is shaping up to be one of the best in NBA history, one that could surely come down to the final days of the season.
-BRANDON JEFFERSON
At Least The Knicks Are Playing
As a Knicks fan, things have been tough. But bad basketball is better than no basketball. At least this isn’t two years ago during this time of the year. I was miserable. This season, I am thankful for a treat. There’s a chance we get to observe the difficult task of a three-peat. On the other side, we also get to watch and see if anyone — the Pacers, the Thunder, the Spurs — can ruin a third straight title for LeBron James and the Miami Heat. The NBA is also stockpiled with talented players that make almost every game fun to watch. Overall, I’m thankful this year has been chock-full of story lines to keep NBA fans on the edge of our seats instead of reading about BRI and collective bargaining negotiations between millionaires and billionaires.
-STEVE SCAFIDI
Various NBA Bric-A-Brac
Kevin Love’s two-handed overhead outlets; Monta Ellis’ aerial contortions when the second line of defense rotates in time; James Harden‘s audible “s**t” when he’s beat backdoor while ball watching; Hack-A-Dwight’s seemingly karmic justice; Kawhi Leonard‘s artful baseline double team coming from the opposite block; Eric Bledsoe‘s first step; DeMarcus Cousins‘ glower; the anticipation when Chris Paul is near midcourt with a streaking Blake Griffin a half-step in front of his defender and the rim; LeBron’s skip passes for a wide open corner three-pointer; Dwyane Wade‘s post game; Chris Bosh‘s countenance; Rasheed Wallace wearing a whistle and doling out advice; Brandon Jennings (!) losing confidence in his jumper; half-court shots; brave mascots; the guy who sells beer; Drake’s ambassadorship; the gleaming incisors of Michael Carter-Williams when the Sixers beat someone they have no right beating. Victor Oladipo dribbling the ball off his foot; Victor Oladipo splitting the double team for a reverse layup; how a Ray Allen three-pointer slows down even at full speed; Joakim Noah‘s shooting form; a Dirk step-back from 20 feet; a triple-double; a 5×5; Anthony Davis‘ outstretched arms; every period when Carmelo realizes he’s quicker than his defender; a DNP-old; Stephen Curry third quarter 30-footers; Stephen Curry’s release on his jumper; Stephen Curry everything; Zach Randolph‘s glee at contact; Tony Allen‘s running commentary with himself; Rajon Rondo‘s Connect 4 face; Milwaukee’s new court; Isaiah Thomas never playing poorly enough to get less than 20 minutes; a 14-point fourth quarter from Nate Rob; Andrew Bogut‘s interior passing; Mark Jackson‘s proselytizing; Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and yes, even Shaq.
-STL
Happy Thanksgiving!
What are you thankful for in the NBA this season?
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