The NBA’s regular season has come to a close, and on Saturday, the 2018 postseason will officially get underway. But before we get to the start of those games, we wanted to look back on the 2017-18 campaign as a whole (and peek into the crystal ball to tell us what they expect to see during the NBA Playoffs).
To give us a hand, we had a chat with our pals over at The Starters (Leigh Ellis, Trey Kerby, J.E. Skeets, and Tas Melas) the day after the season ended when they were fresh off their end-of-season awards show, The Starties, and primed for the playoffs (which they’ll cover every weeknight on NBA TV).
Favorite Regular Season Game
Ellis, Kerby: Philadelphia 132, Cleveland 130 [Friday, April 6]
Skeets: Minnesota 112, Denver 106 [Wednesday, April 11]
Melas: Houston 113, Los Angeles Clippers 102 [Monday, January 15]
Three of the four selections are from the final week of the season: Philadelphia and Cleveland’s instant classic in a matchup for the leg up in the race for the three-seed in the Eastern Conference, and the postseason play-in game between the Timberwolves and Nuggets.
“There was quite a bit at stake,” Ellis said of his selection. “Still, the Cavs and the Sixers were sort of battling over that third spot in the Eastern Conference, and you sorta thought in the first half that the Sixers [were] gonna run away with it, and then at the end you saw it, LeBron’s gonna pull off some magic.”
As for Melas’ selection, well, he has one heck of a reason for going with a Rockets-Clippers game from January that was decided by 11 points.
“Whenever the words ‘secret tunnels’ comes up, or the phrase ‘secret tunnels’ comes up in a basketball game, I think we’re all winners,” Melas said with a laugh.
Funniest Player
Ellis: Joel Embiid
Skeets: Kelly Oubre Jr., Dirk Nowitzki
Melas: Lance Stephenson
Kerby: Steven Adams, Joel Embiid
Determining the funniest dude in the NBA is tough because it’s a league that encourages players to let their personalities shine.
Ellis and Kerby both decided to shout out Embiid, the 76ers’ star and a well-documented goofball who has embraced being a goofball.
“He provides so much entertainment off the court,” Ellis says. “He is really about… he uses it in a funny way. He engages his fans. He engages with his opponents. He engages with his teammates.”
In addition to the love he gave Embiid, Kerby shouted out the quirky Adams and gave extra praise to his sign off at the end of press conferences: “Fare thee well, golden horses.”
Melas is a big fan of the unintentional comedy that has become an inadvertent trademark for Stephenson. He’s a player who’s all over the place, capable of throwing a highlight pass on one possession and rocketing a ball into the 10th row after high-stepping up the court the next. As for Skeets, he’s a fan of the way Oubre dresses and some of the videos he’s made on social media, but at the end of the day, he respects the Mavericks’ legend.
“I think the funniest player overall is Dirk Nowitzki,” Skeets says. “I find him just hilarious, any of his answers and comments and reactions to things. But that’s maybe more his career work.”
Quote of the Year
As we’ve established, the NBA is full of some absolutely tremendous quotes. We had the group pick their favorites, and as you can guess, they’re all as funny as they are memorable.
Ellis: “Let’s play some basketball.” — Fergie at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game after her performance of the national anthem.
Skeets: “My wife tells me all the time I’ve got big nuts, I put my nuts on the line tonight.” — Markieff Morris after hitting clutch free throws; “Might be a couple Arthurs going out tonight.” — LeBron James after a win.
Melas: “I mean, he didn’t die, mate.” — Steven Adams on the Thunder trading Enes Kanter.
Kerby: “I kept hearing someone named Dirt, like with a ‘T,’ so I was like ‘Why is there a dude named Dirt in the league?'” — Dennis Smith Jr. on his first memory of Dirk Nowitzki.
Most Heartwarming Moment
Skeets, Melas: Andre Ingram’s long-awaited NBA debut.
Ellis: DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Love, and Kelly Oubre, and others open up about their battles with depression.
Kerby: Dwyane Wade scores 15 points in the fourth quarter and hits a game-winner after the Parkland shooting.
The NBA can be silly one night and intense the next, but when it comes to creating moments that tug on a person’s heartstrings, it’s the best sports league in the world. We saw a handful of those moments this year, ones that went beyond sports to create unforgettable moments.
Skeets and Melas picked a moment from the final week of the season, when longtime NBA G League player Andre Ingram made his way up to the Los Angeles Lakers and put on a show, scoring 19 points and making it rain from downtown in his debut.
“Everything about this guy is awesome and such a feel-good story,” Skeets says. “It’s great, because it sounds like never give up on your hopes and dreams there, and that’s exactly what he did.”
“It wasn’t just a courtesy [where] he came out and then called it a day,” Melas says. “He came out and kicked butt and hopefully… I know he’s not going to stop playing, but hopefully, he’ll play with an NBA team next year.”
Ellis shouted out Ingram in our conversation but decided to pick something bigger than one isolated moment. He instead praised the handful of NBA players (citing DeRozan, Love, and Oubre) who were candid about their mental health, opening up about how they battle with things like depression.
“They have struggles, and they have to battle through it and get over things. I think everybody, at some point in their life, can sorta relate to going through a stage like that,” Ellis says. “I like the fact that athletes weren’t afraid to admit they struggle with everyday things and I think that that sort of breaks down a barrier, that being an athlete is this dreamy carefree life. And it’s not that at all. I found that [to be] something quite touching.”
Kerby recalled Wade’s performance during Miami’s 102-101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at the end of February. Wade scored 27 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter and the go-ahead bucket in the game’s waning moments. It was a flashback to past performances that we’ve seen out of Wade (who had been traded back to Miami less than three weeks prior after a season and a half away) in a Heat uniform.
But this was much bigger than one game: Wade did this in his first game after dedicating the remainder of his season to Joaquin Oliver, who died in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Oliver was buried in Wade’s jersey.
“He had Joaquin’s name on his shoes, one of his first games back in Miami with the Heat, and he hits a game-winner to seal things,” Kerby says. “It was just a really cool night for Miami. It was cool to see Dwyane Wade, Mister Heat, come through for a city like that. ”
League Pass MVP
Skeets, Kerby: Anthony Davis
Ellis: Lance Stephenson
Melas: Nikola Jokic
Who was the player who you always made it a point to watch? For Skeets and Kerby, it was Davis, whose brilliance in getting the Pelicans to the postseason was appointment television.
“The way he took over for the Pelicans after Boogie went down, it definitely seemed like this team was going to be out of the playoffs,” Kerby says. “They’re missing one of their two best players, a guy who was in the midst of a great season, Cousins was. And then Anthony Davis just took it honestly to the big man version of Westbrook from last season.”
Ellis was enamored by the general silliness that Stephenson brings to the Pacers — as he so eloquently put it, “there’s something about Lance in an Indiana Pacer’s uniform that makes you wanna get on and see what he’s up to” — while Melas was a big fan of the passing ability of Jokic.
“It’s easy to watch him make his magic because he’s often stationary when he’s making his passes so I think everybody can understand what he’s doing out there,” Melas says. “Unlike the speed of other guys who are flying around while throwing their passes. And his passes are, he’s got so much variety. He’s probably the best passing big man in the league and again he stands out because he’s really unique.”
League Pass Team of the Year
Ellis, Melas: Denver Nuggets
Skeets, Kerby: Toronto Raptors
The guys were firmly split between two of the most entertaining squads in the NBA. With the Raptors, you have the beasts of the East, a team that changed up the way it played to achieve the best record in the conference and secure the No. 1 seed in the postseason.
“They obviously bought into what [head coach Dwane] Casey was trying to preach going into the season about moving the ball more, getting more threes, not relying so much on iso [Kyle] Lowry and [DeMar] DeRozan,” Skeets says. “It turned out to be true. They actually did those things, in terms of racking up assists, playing a more fluid type of offense, hitting threes, and they had this unbelievable bench.”
“Obviously, Canada is getting all the games,” Kerby says. But down here in the U.S., that’s mostly a League Pass team.”
The Nuggets narrowly missed the postseason but captured the hearts of fans who enjoy gorgeous, team-oriented basketball. Oh, and at center, they have Jokic, a big man with an endearingly funky game that reminds Melas of Blazers legend Arvydas Sabonis and has Ellis dropping the word “superstar.”
“I think he’s a superstar player. I think he’s going to be an all-star player next year or certainly the year after that,” Ellis says. “Something you get as well with Denver — we know that they play at high altitude there — when they get running, and when they get out of the fast break, get out and transition, they’re such a fun team to watch.”
Coach of the Year on a Losing Team
Ellis, Skeets, Melas: Luke Walton
Kerby: Kenny Atkinson
Mostly chalk here, as Ellis, Melas, and Skeets are all huge fans of what Walton has accomplished in Los Angeles during his second year at the helm. From withstanding the force of personality that is LaVar Ball to getting the Lakers to buy in on the defensive end, Walton has earned the right to be called a good basketball coach.
“They won over 35 games,” Skeets says. “He did this with young guys in [Lonzo] Ball, in [Brandon] Ingram, in [Kyle] Kuzma, in [Josh] Hart, and he got them to play a little defense, and I think that was pretty impressive. He showed that he was obviously a good coach when he was with the Warriors and had taken over for Steve Kerr when he was out, but it’s a little different when you have the Warriors roster and you’ve got this Lakers roster. But what he got out of them I thought was pretty impressive.”
Kerby, meanwhile, went to the other coast. He commended Atkinson for what he’s achieved at the helm of the Brooklyn Nets, saying “Kenny Atkinson got the most out of Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris, DeMarre Carroll, just guys that were basically cast off from the NBA. They’re going out there playing their hearts out.”
Rookie of the Year Not Named “Ben” or “Donovan”
Ellis, Skeets, Melas, Kerby: Jayson Tatum
No controversy here, as the only unanimous answer we received was for the league’s best rookie other than, you know, the league’s two best rookies. Tatum has been tremendous during his first year in the league, averaging 13.9 points and five rebounds a night for the second-seeded Celtics.
Obviously, everyone is high on him, but Skeets went as far as to say that there’s a chance he has the brightest future in the league of any rookie right now, much to the chagrin of people in Philadelphia and Utah.
“I think there’s an argument to be made, and I know some people are throwing it around, that as much as we’ve got caught up between this [Donovan] Mitchell and [Ben] Simmons Rookie of the Year race, could Jayson Tatum, when it’s all said and done, maybe be the best player of the three of them?” Skeets asked. “And I’m high on both Simmons and Mitchell, don’t get me wrong, but I think there’s something to that. I mean, he’s very, very young, very composed. I’m excited to see what he’s going to be able to do in the playoffs.”
Postseason Predictions
As the playoffs get started, we wanted to see what the guys envisioned for the next two months of postseason basketball. The questions were simple: Which teams will make the conference finals, which teams will play for a championship, and which team will end up lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy?
Ellis: Houston vs. Golden State, Boston vs. Cleveland; Golden State vs. Cleveland; Golden State
Skeets: Houston vs. Golden State, Toronto vs. Miami; Golden State vs. Toronto; Golden State
Melas: Houston vs. Golden State, Toronto vs. Philadelphia; Golden State vs. Toronto; Golden State
Kerby: Houston vs. Golden State, Philadelphia vs. Cleveland; Golden State vs. Cleveland; Golden State
Let’s work backwards: All four guys think the Warriors are going to win their second title in a row and their third in four years. Despite Steph Curry’s knee injury that is expected to keep him out through the first round, and despite the fact that Golden State has looked vulnerable this year, no one is especially worried about the Dubs this summer.
“I think when Curry gets back, and now that they’re getting into the playoffs and these games actually mean something to them, I think we will see the Warriors of old,” Skeets says.
As for who they play, the Finals matchup we’ve all come to expect — Warriors vs. Cavaliers — was only picked by Ellis and Kerby. Melas and Skeets, however, are willing to make a more unconventional pick and give the nod to the Raptors. In what is perhaps an even more unconventional pick, Melas has them taking down the Sixers to get to the finals.
“I did grow up in Toronto and this is the couple days of optimism so I am not going with the Cleveland Cavaliers, I’m going with Raptors,” Melas says. “I’m going with Raptors-Sixers.”
Ellis took the more common route, picking Cleveland to make it to the Finals, where they aren’t quite able to conquer the Western Conference champions.
“I think it’s going to be great, but I think, ultimately, we’re still going to see the same results from last year,” Ellis says. “When the Warriors are at their best and everyone’s healthy, I just can’t see LeBron and the Cavs getting over the hump to get to the Warriors. I think it might be a closer series than last year, but I’m going with the Warriors again to win it all over the Cavs.”
As for Kerby, he wants to see a seven-game rematch of his pick for favorite game. He believes the Sixers have a relatively easy path to the conference finals, where they’re run into (and ultimately fall to) LeBron and co.
“I like the talent of the Sixers, assuming Embiid is able to come back in time to help them finish off the Heat in the first round,” Kerby says. “And then I don’t think anybody’s holding a candle to LeBron.”
Make sure you check out The Starters weeknights on NBA TV all 2018 postseason long and throughout the offseason and Summer League.
