What do LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant all have in common?
They’re all sitting at home after early playoff exits.
The trio has combined for five most valuable player awards and a total of seven NBA Championships since 2012 (Curry and Durant won the 2017 and 2018 Finals together).
They are the three greatest players of the last decade and hall of fame locks. That’s a given.
Currently there are four teams left in the NBA playoffs and the closest thing we have to sure hall of famers are Chris Paul and Kawhi Leonard, both of which are watching from the bench due to injuries.
Not sure why people think Paul George deserves a hall of fame nod, and calling Giannis Antetokounmpo and Devin Booker hall of famers at this point would be like enshrining Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III into Canton on 2012 NFL Draft night. We all see how well that worked out. But there is no denying the potential is there.
By no means am I the biggest fan of the National Basketball Association. A total of 21 teams averaged 110 points or better per game in 2020-21. Golden State was the only team to do so in 2015-16 and they won a regular season record 73 games. Scoring at that rate is what the game has turned into, and to me it’s a turn off. But I know good competition when I see it, and the NBA still puts on a show in the postseason. Plus, aside from this past injury-riddled season, the Indiana Pacers continue to be one of the best small-market professional sports franchises among the Big 4.
The reality is though — the change of royalty in the NBA is coming — and that’s completely OK.
The Cleveland Cavaliers comeback from down 3-1 to the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals is still one of the most monumental things I’ve witnessed in sports. And LeBron’s efforts in those three games put him in the forever conversation as the best ever. When he added a fourth championship with a third team last summer, the debate in my mind was over. Michael Jordan and LeBron James are No. 1 and No. 1A.
But everyone grows tired of the heroes. I try not to put too much stock into a couple of things when it comes to professional athletes. No. 1: Politics, we all have our opinions too, we just don’t have people lined up wondering what we think. And No. 2: Whining to the officials. I hear way more Dads whining about a high school JV game than I do professional athletes.
With that being said, LeBron’s antics are too much — and his age is forcing his ability in a downward trend. He literally said that he doesn’t think his ankle will ever be the same again after suffering a sprain this season. And is using it as an excuse. Like seriously? Peyton Manning rewrote the record books after a near-career-ending neck injury. Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open on one leg. Please, LeBron tell me more about how bum your ankle is.
James Harden? Don’t get me started.
The stars of the NBA are on their way out. And while I think Durant and Curry have a few more seasons to make a run at more championships and MVPS, it’s time to welcome a new crop of stars to the round ball game.
In baseball we’ve welcomed Mike Trout to the top, although his talented is being wasted. In football, Patrick Mahomes has taken the NFL by storm.
As a fan it’s sometimes hard to let go of the players we look up to — especially when it’s a slow process of the new ones becoming stars. I’ve previously wrote about how we need to be OK cheering for today’s stars, and that extends to the future of the sport as well.
Three of the NBA’s best young stars are still in the playoffs.
Have you seen what Devin Booker can do with a basketball for the Phoenix Suns? And we all remember what Trae Young did as a Sooner at Oklahoma and it’s been thrilling to watch him bud as a pro. I’m glad I’m not a journalist covering Antetokounmpo (can you spell it without looking?) — and while he has plenty of critics — he’s the best player on the planet currently.
He is the face of the NBA.
It doesn’t matter that he can’t shoot the 3. It doesn’t matter that he’s from Greece. It doesn’t matter that he plays for a small market team.
He’s simply the best and that’s a good enough reason to love him or hate him.
It’s time to let go of yesterday’s stars and cheer for tomorrow’s.
Jared McMurry was born and raised in Montgomery County and is the Sports Editor of the Journal Review. He can be reached by email at jmcmurry@jrpress.com and by phone at 765-918-8656. Follow him on Twitter @jaredmac26
