Denver Nuggets - NBA Champs 2023!

Congrats to the Denver Nuggets on winning their NBA Championship!

What an amazing achievement and to see how far they have come over the last few years- building, grinding and assembling and nurturing a team which has come through on the biggest stage.  Like any team, there are setbacks such as in the bubble, injuries to key players while also some luck in getting some strong pieces who stayed healthy and ready to help the team get over the line.  Truly embodying team basketball and the absolutely right collective mindset to winning.

 

I wanted to also reflect on Nikola Jokic.  The Joker has been an absolute beast in the post season and so very different last year when they bowed out to the Warriors - granted that they were missing Jamal Murray as well as a year of experience certainly made them look more like a team.

 Firstly, the sheer numbers that Jokic has been putting up has been insane - the triple doubles (and the volume in those triple doubles) as well as identifying what the team needs and going out and executing.  Absolutely ice-cool operator and definitely embodies MVP in terms of making his teammates around him better - freeing them up to be just experts in their trade.  Just spot up and score.

Not only his ability to be a point centre, but also mopping up rebounds and scoring and making the right play - without jumping out of the gym.  It is this type of basketball that makes it attractive on many levels (playing in teams from youngsters) rather than just pure individual 1v1 brilliance.  His play makes it exciting to watch and may not be "highlight reel" making the nightly Top 10 plays, but if you are a basketball fan with some level of basketball IQ it is very beautiful to watch.  In some ways, it is why the Warriors have been so popular as it is quite relatable basketball, but somewhat even more so, as they don't have insane flame throwers on their team.  Relatable as the best player was a guy who barely gets of the ground, but can impact the play in the right way.

Definitely deserves his flowers and as Coach Malone says, that he is a very nice and genuine person off the court, I absolutely believe it.  So another congrats to Nuggets and Jokic - well deserved and look forward to more exciting basketball in the future!

Lebron James - THE All Time Leader in scoring

Congratulations Lebron James.

Surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all time leading scorer in the NBA - a record which stood for 39 years, truly shows how special King James really is as a player.

The perspective of this is really quite amazing and really speaks to the longevity of his game.  He has played in over 19 seasons (so far) and still manages to put up amazing numbers that any starter on a team would be happy to have.  He is 5th ALL TIME in points per game and has produced at that level for two decades.  He is also 4th ALL TIME in assists - a crazy stat line for a scorer! 

Of course his first stint at Cleveland was a great one and he definitely carried/willed his team to the post season many of those years, before heading over to Miami and enjoying the championship glory before adding one in Cleveland and one in LA.

He is nothing short of amazing as a player both on and off the court - when you consider the hype, media attention and scrutiny he has been under since entering the league.  To be fair, I was not always a fan of his - especially his "decision", but if that's what NBA fans have to hold against him - then Lebron is definitely worthy of praise.   He made his teammates better, plays the game the right way, worked on improving the areas which were his weaknesses and loves and gives back to the game.  And yet  he is still not done.  Special.

What irritates me most of all are the so called pundits, talking heads who just hate on him or don't think he is "great" - especially those who have never played the game at that level.  Putting that into context - there have only ever been less than 5,000 NBA players (at the time of writing) - including the busts and those who had very long careers.  So we are talking about a very small percentage of the population who have really experienced what it is like to play in the NBA and then an even smaller percentage of players who ever hit numbers like that in a single game, let alone on a consistent basis.  Which is why I appreciate listening to ex-players turned analysts who understand the ins and outs of the game, politics etc rather than those who are just out to put their view out there and just try to disrespect players for the sake of eyeballs.  

I am sure that Lebron has the support structures around and in him to not lose faith in his own abilities and the mission and goals he has for himself rather than wallow in commentators just talking nonsense.  A takeaway is that it is really important to have that trunk of support, utmost belief to lift you up even then you have the doubts or if it builds up in your mind whether stemming from yourself or others.

Keep it up for as long as you can team Lebron and can't wait to see what other records are waiting to be broken!