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Unusual players have had success in the NBA. Bird & Magic come to mind. But has any team had multiple "unusual" players?

Jokic is perhaps the most unique center in the history of the NBA.
Bol is an unusual player.
Campazzo is also rather unusual.

Let's hope Bol & Campazzo are even half as successful as Jokic.

NuggetsWY wrote:Unusual players have had success in the NBA. Bird & Magic come to mind. But has any team had multiple "unusual" players?

Jokic is perhaps the most unique center in the history of the NBA.
Bol is an unusual player.
Campazzo is also rather unusual.

Let's hope Bol & Campazzo are even half as successful as Jokic.

To me the truly unusual players as you call them, change the NBA. They create players that try to play like them, and teams that try to build like their teams. Bird I would argue is what spawned Jokic, his passing and overall skill is what many european teams try to develop in players. Magic spawned the fast break teams of the late 80s. A ton of players came into the league from the mid 90s on who wanted to be iso players like they thought Jordan was. The Warriors had Curry and Thompson, who not only shot more from 3 than any backcourt in NBA history but did it with incredible accuracy, and a large majority of the league has spent 5 years trying to copy the WArriors model.

Bam and the Heat run Jokic type plays, they are trying to copy Jokic. I would argue that if you ignore height Bol tries to copy Jokic as well. If we win a championship or two than a lot more around the league will be trying to teach their centers how to dribble and pass.

I don't see Campazzo as that unusual, I think he is more of a throw back to guys like Jason (white chocolate) Williams.

David "Skywalker" Thompson and Julius "Dr J" Erving, with their athleticism changed the league to an above-the-rim game. Also, The Round-Mounf-of-Rebound, Charles Barkley certainly could've been credited as the original small-ball PF, he was only like 6'5-6'6".

skywalker33 wrote:David "Skywalker" Thompson and Julius "Dr J" Erving, with their athleticism changed the league to an above-the-rim game. Also, The Round-Mounf-of-Rebound, Charles Barkley certainly could've been credited as the original small-ball PF, he was only like 6'5-6'6".

I think the original small ball PF was actually Calvin Natt of the Nuggets who was also 6'6". He played a few years before Barkley and was just as much a force in the NBA until his knee injury. He played on a great team with Fat Lever and Alex English.

Don't forget Michael Porter jr, a 6'10 *small* forward with very rare skillset combination for that size.

THE J0KER wrote:Don't forget Michael Porter jr, a 6'10 *small* forward with very rare skillset combination for that size.

Actually his game is very similar to 6'11" Kevin Durant.

The Rebel wrote:

THE J0KER wrote:Don't forget Michael Porter jr, a 6'10 *small* forward with very rare skillset combination for that size.

Actually his game is very similar to 6'11" Kevin Durant.

But how many KD's (and MPJ's) are there

The Rebel wrote:

THE J0KER wrote:Don't forget Michael Porter jr, a 6'10 *small* forward with very rare skillset combination for that size.

Actually his game is very similar to 6'11" Kevin Durant.

But Kevin Durant was previously known as a unique player.

You can compare Bol Bol with Porzingis too, but KP is called "Unicorn" because he was unique. If you are similar to some unique player, you are an unusual player for sure.

Jokic is so unusual that you could make the case that he is in a class all by himself. The first true point center.