I. Re-Opening
With its bold historic “Restart,” the NBA resumed its foreshortened regular season on July 30, with an eight games per team slate for the twenty-two of thirty teams that still had mathematically legitimate playoff aspirations. The opening promo’s juxtaposition of Shaquille O’Neal’s ad for Frosted Flakes with cascading footage of street protests in support of Black Lives Matter seemed to typify the NBA’s perfect arranged marriage of marketing brilliance, athletic prowess- to-the-point-of-genius, and, arguably inspired progressive politics. But think again: almost any meme would have sufficed. Laud Adam Silver. Fuck Donald Trump. We’re back, baby, we’re back!
Back, yes, but without live fans, a source of chagrin to most, though not for me. Far from missing crowd noise, I thoroughly enjoy the feel of a playground run, hearing the players’ comments and freestyle banter. But as the first round droned on, and blended into the second, the slogans on the backs of jerseys began to seem silly, and the relentless run and shoot play came to partake of the repetitive quality of too much time in the playgrounds. Like the new trope of “playing downhill,” meant to connote getting up a head of steam, the incredible skill and high speed play of the game as currently practiced was–to my complete surprise–coming to feel boring.
II. Phase I: July 1-August 26: Smooth Sailing
The structure of the NBA’s two and a half month extravaganza mimicked that of playoffs past, with the addition of the warm-up two weeks to determine playoff pairings, while ushering out the six teams that failed make the cut. As such, the first two weeks allowed the top teams to get into shape gradually, while a string of contenders battled for the final (eighth) seed in the West. Among them were the New Orleans Pelicans, who fared poorly, though many believed that the inclusion of those extra six teams was largely motivated by the league’s desire to capitalize on the outsized marketing appeal of celebrated rookie Zion Williamson, considered by many to be the heir apparent to Lebron James.
Now closer to 36 than 35, King James showed no apparent de-conditioning effects from the extended layoff: after all, he has his own gym, and now has Anthony Davis to help him actualize his uncanny passing creativity, which he now gets to deploy from the point guard position. With James presiding, Davis, for all his breathtaking skills, often seems an enormous puppet, with Lebron operating the strings.
The imposing presence of James and Davis notwithstanding, the brightest stars in the two week play-in period were Portland’s Damian Lillard and Phoenix’s Devin Booker. Booker led his Suns to a perfect 8-0 record, putting them within a single missed shot (Brooklyn’s Caris Levert’s missed jumper at the buzzer) of ousting Portland before the play-in game for eighth place in the West, whereas Lillard’s consecutive games of 51 and 61 points at the critical time for Portland’s playoff run made him the bubble restart’s MVP, and me a devoted fan [1,2].
In the eight preliminary games, the remarkably humble Lillard averaged 37.6, and 51.3 for his last three, while shooting 44% on threes, many launched from beyond thirty feet. Usually calm and minimally demonstrative, Dame was moved to celebrate an especially deep three with a modest shimmy to the loudspeaker’s rendition of Too Short’s “Blow The Whistle,” which he dubbed the “East Oakland Anthem.”
III. Phase II. Round 1 and its Interruption
There were so many brilliant young stars on display (some with their strength enhanced by the enforced four month break) that it seemed urgent to locate them, many of them “unicorns” [3] within their appropriate lines of descent.
For the ever-amazing Luca Doncic, no sooner had I settled on Larry Bird as his true ancestor than I heard him described as a combination of Bird and Jason Kidd, with the ante soon upped by ESPN’s Mark Jackson to a combination of Bird and “Magic” Johnson, his arch rival and co-conspirator in transforming a dying league into a worldwide multi-national behemoth [4].
The first round, along with its preliminary two weeks, served to compress time and supply the missing historical pieces from a season that seemed to have suddenly died [5], but we quickly went from starving to overfed: in the Utah-Denver series, Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray (with the names of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor emblazoned on his sneakers) were staging an epic duel, with off the chart numbers [6], rivaling or surpassing the respective feats of Lillard and Doncic. This incredible series was decided only by a missed shot at the buzzer of Game Seven!
Remarkably, there had not been a single incident of COVID-19 in the two months since the NBA convened its troops! And all the smoothness, love, and remarkable success of the bubble environment were being exhibited in the context of a politicized environment.
Could this parade of prowess roll on? Suddenly, there was unexpected game-changer. Midway through the Mitchell-Murray shootout, the pristine love-fest, was interrupted by the decision, triggered by the Milwaukee Bucks, to suspend play indefinitely—for what turned out to be just three suspense-filled days–in protest of the Kenosha, Wisconsin police killing of Jacob Blake.
Initially, I supported that decision and was moved by how smoothly and seamlessly it was made, but then questions arose: we the converted might applaud, but would this create further fodder (forgive me, Groucho Marx) for Republican hate-mongering? Occurring during the GOP convention, how successfully might it be weaponized by the right? Might some undecided voters be put off by this display of politicization of sports, or persuaded by outlandish Republican interpretations of it? And could the excitement generated by the restart be rekindled in full force after play resumed?
IV. Phase III: Determining the Regional Finalists
Denver had stormed back a 3-1 deficit to Utah, with twin stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray being supplemented by the inconsistent but sometimes brilliant Michael Porter, Junior. Watching Jokic and the Nuggets was an antidote to my sense that the game had become too predictable. His passing and orchestration from the center position put me in mind of Bill Walton as no other player has in the many intervening years.
But one could only have dreamed Denver might achieve the same result after digging themselves an identical (down 3-1) hole against the heavily favored L.A. Clippers, with their vaunted Kawhi Leonard-Paul George combination, which everyone expected would soon do battle with Laker superstars Davis and James. And the remarkable way they did it, coming back from double digit deficits in all three of their improbable victories! When Michael Porter, Junior was in rhythm, the Nuggets had that third star that experts believe separates great teams from good ones.
With these two stunning playoff comebacks, Murray and Jokic had suddenly become yet another bubble superstar duo, but a very different pair of aces. This one, with the wildest of jokers and perhaps the most fascinating and unique of all the young unicorns, seemed like it might have the answer to James’ ability to dominate and control games. (Though it may be fanciful to imagine there is any such answer.) Could it be housed in the slow moving body of a 7’ 284 pound Serbian giant whose mind moves as quickly as Lebron’s?
Jokic carries the mantle of the dying breed of massive center, redeeming–for those of us who mourn the race of regal giants–the unfulfilled promise of Joel Embid, who has never really been in top shape at any time in the past two seasons. For Jokic too, conditioning had been an issue, but, like Carmelo Anthony, he used the four month hiatus to slim down sufficiently to maximize his potential impact upon a game. Never fast, he nonetheless increased his endurance and counteracted his tendency to fatigue.
He became able to control a game by slowing it down to his preferred pace. And Jokic is not just able to impact a game, but to swallow its essence. He dominates with his multi-faceted skills and uncanny intelligence, reminiscent of Walton’s—that other great white center who directed traffic from on high and made the game so much more fun to watch. And Jokic adds an arching three-pointer that all but brings rain, making him perhaps the most unique unicorn of them all.[7] You can head downhill as fast as you want, but it’s another matter when the Big Guy’s waiting. Your bubble might burst.
But alas, dreamers: L.A. had not only James, but, in Davis, a great big man all its own, a unicorn to boot. As much as one might have wished otherwise, on the true superstar level, this series was two against one, with the group of two including Lebron James. Fair? Maybe not. As great as Jamal Murray had proved himself to be against Utah and the Clippers, he is a very clear fourth in the company of James, Davis, and Jokic.
Murray and Jokic had played the most minutes of any two players in the bubble, and both seemed–at different times–to run out of gas.
Jokic dominated occasionally, and almost won the critical Game Two by himself, until Davis’s heroic three pointer rescued the Lakers and kept Denver from evening the series at 1-1. Perhaps worn down by the brilliance of Davis in combination with the roughhouse intimidation tactics of Dwight Howard, Jokic stopped looking for his three point shot, played inconsistently, was often in foul trouble. He began to seem tentative, make poor decisions, and commit silly fouls, as the entire Denver offensive flow lost its cohesion. In the critical fourth quarter of Game Four, they gave up far too many easy offensive rebounds, while being held scoreless for the last four minutes.
Down 3-1, Denver had already won two Games Fives, but the Lakers had also played two fifth games, both times closing out successfully after leading 3-1. This immovable object had the power to resist any force a compromised Nugget effort could muster. Sadly, Denver’s last two games were almost as dispiriting as their earlier ones were exhilarating.
Throughout the series, Davis was spectacular from the outside, and remarkably consistent as a scorer, tallying 37,31,27,34, and 27. Off the Laker bench, wily veteran Rajon Rondo, once considered a gamble, proved the perfect complement to James, allowing The King to cede ball handling responsibilities occasionally, freeing him to concentrate on scoring. Lebron’s nine straight fourth quarter points gave him a triple double of 38-16-10, ensuring a decisive117-107 win. Simple conclusion: Lebron still rules.
V. The Finals and Beyond
Denver’s incredible run was over, setting up an NBA-first October Classic between the hallowed Lakers and the Miami Heat franchise, where James had accumulated his first two NBA titles and two more runners-up in his four seminal years on his unique trail of accumulating titles and accolades.
Damn! This has been going on too long.
But what might all this bubbly action augur for the future? Could this joyful Denver team, with their impish young Serbian giant who modestly identifies effort and having fun as the key ingredients to his team’s success bring back the kind of enthusiasm that the game has come to lack, with its formulaic offenses and data-driven roster arrangements?
Might the pent up energy of the bubble have percolated in such a way to have been a kind of hothouse for a new approach to a game that is at the same exploding with talent and threatening to become regimented and repetitive?
A poem by Tony Hoagland captures the aftermath of a terrible war between man and the planet, ending with what Hoagland calls a…
PEACEFUL TRANSITION
The wind comes down from the northwest, cold in September,
and flips over the neighbor’s trash receptacles.
The Halifax newspaper says that mansions are falling into the sea.
Storms are rising in the dark Pacific.
Pollution has infiltrated the food chain down to the jellyfish level.
The book I am reading is called “The End of the Ascent of Man.”
It says the time of human dominion is done,
but I am hoping it will be a peaceful transition.
It is one thing to think of buffalo on Divisadero Street,
of the Golden Gate Bridge overgrown in a tangle of vine.
It is another to open the door of your own house to the waves.
I am hoping the humans will be calm in their diminishing.
That the forests grow back with patience, not rage;
I am hoping the flocks of geese increase
……………their number only gradually.
Let it be like an amnesia that we don’t even notice;
the hills forgetting the name for our kind. Then the sky.
Let the fish rearrange their green governments
as the rain spatters slant on their roof.
It is important that we expire.
It is a kind of work we have begun in order to complete.
Today out of the north the cold wind comes down,
and I go out to see
the neighbor’s trash bins have toppled in the drive.
I see the unpicked grapes have turned
……………..to small sweet raisins on their vine.
I see the wren has found a way to make its little nest
inside the cactus thorns.
—Tony Hoagland (1953-2018) (from 11/5/2018 New Yorker)
May the league and its fans prosper and grow back stronger.
May its life matter.
Notes
1 I now think of Lillard as the greatest small guard of all time (with pro forma apologies to Walt Frazier and Jerry West for not including them in this category).
Second year Dallas phenom Luka Doncic, just 20, is clearly too big to qualify, but his spectacular play argues for consideration in the medium-large division, with Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, James Harden, bigger guards who dominate the ball while using their size and strength penetrate both to score and to feed others.
2 LeBron James moved to the point this year, thereby re-ordering GOAT and all-time team arguments for now and, most likely, for future decades. You know, like Wilt’s weird conversion from unmatchable scorer to all-around player and later defensive center.
3 The current crop of unicorns can be divided roughly into two camps: the oversize ball handlers at the point (Doncic and Harden) and the agile giants who can also stretch the floor with their outside shooting (Kristaps Porzingis, Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid).
Reigning MVP Giannis Antetekounmpo, now playing the point at 6’11” is actually becoming a hybrid (or unicorn’s) unicorn, as his outside shot improves. Along with his second consecutive MVP award, Giannis also was named Defensive Player of the Year, but once again floundered in the playoffs. Denver’s Nikola Jokic represents a category all his own.
4 Hard to live up to that? Facing a 2-1 deficit against the powerful L.A. Clippers, Luka went into Game Four nursing a leg injury, and came out with a 43-17-13 triple double that erased a nineteen point deficit and culminated in a game winning three-pointer in overtime. This feat placed him in the 40-15-10 category for playoff games, placing him in the rarified company of Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley., with Doncic’s numbers actually the best of all!
5 Ironically, the first bubble basket was scored by Utah’s Rudy Gobert, who was the first player to test positive and kick-start the whole quarantine process. Doubling the irony, Gobert scored the winning basket in that first game.
6 Both Mitchell and Murray (each only 23 and from rival Kentucky schools) had two fifty plus point games in Utah’s first round series against D enver. Murray’s shooting percentages were off any known charts (64% on 2’s, 63% on threes), as he strung together consecutive games of 52, 40, and 50, the first time a player had exceeded 40 (let alone achieved 50 twice) in three straight playoff games.
7 Descended in the lineage of Dirk Nowitzki, Jokic and Doncic, both European unicorns with thick bodies and great size at their respective positions, have the highest arching shots in the league.