You can just point to multi all-nba winners but not quite at an MVP level who had no memorable deep playoff runs and were just completely overshadowed by someone superior in the same era: Amar’e Stoudemire, Lamarcus Aldridge, Alonzo Mourning, Blake Griffin, Carmelo Anthony, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarcus Cousins, Domas Sabonis, KAT,
Jamal Crawford and Shawn Kemp. They are not Hall of Famers yet and probably never will? But top 75 when it comes to highlights.
Accolades speak for themselves. Peak-wise, Steph is in a GOAT conversation in a short spurt, but I will take Duncan’s two way performance in 2003 finals over Steph’s 2022. Duncan and his spurs teammates may not have outstanding individual offensive stats because they prioritized efficiency and fast ball movement. He still had elite stats and was the cornerstone of one of the most dominant defensive teams in the most defensively dominant era.
I think LeBron and Jokic are self-explanatory. They are an all-around offensive hub who elevates everyone around him. 2012-14 LeBron over Jokic is lil iffy but those were LeBron’s peak shooting season where he shot mid-ranges as well as threes well as well as his defensive peak. Curry can be by far the most unfair, most broken, most overpowered offensive force when he gets hot, but in terms of consistency, he needs a handler/playmaker at minimum to unlock his obscene potential.
Popovich has always showed tremendous respect to other countries and been against American exceptionalism so this is pretty much in line with his belief. Nothing surprising.
What’s surprising is players like Durant who has been exposed to multiple cultures and befriended with a ton of international players can’t even have a capacity to be open-minded to this idea and acts like he’s played basketball in the small corner of Texoma his whole life.
I honestly feel like they don’t hate the idea. They just hate the messenger himself. Which is why they have no problem with Popovich or Giannis who essentially gave Lyles a seal of approval.
A very tough 1st quarter for Sheplard. No Cam Whitmore really affected his passing. His 3pt struggle is also a bit concerning as the only game he shot well so far was against Bronny.
There’s a difference “Steph is top 10 ever and it’s set in ston” and “Steph is in the convo”
Admittedly, Steph is a difficult one to gauge. He can be the greatest offensive player ever in a 20-minute stretch when he gets hot, and it happens it a lot. That, along with his accolades, is more than enough to put him in the convo. But he looks telestial when he’s in slump. And his defense is definitely lacking in top-10 standards. Without these ‘buts’, he would be a consensus top 10.