Around the NBA: 2020-21 Season

[dice]

I think the diva narrative is way overblown just bcuz its the mainstream media hot takes.

At every stop former teammates are still on good terms with them (Steph and KD, Kyrie and Smart etc). They may both have “weird” or unconventional personalities, but that in and of itself is grossly represented in a way Id characterize as slander. We dont see the media saying Lebrons a bad teammate for wanting to trade the entire team for AD just 2 seasons ago didnt we?

i'd say that KD is clearly much more hypersensitive than he is a diva

as for kyrie...why did he ask to leave cleveland? why did he leave boston? i think that any reasonable answer to those questions leads to a very fair categorization of diva. though there's some humility as well as evidenced by his apology of sorts to lebron ("harder than i realized to be a leader" or whatever it was)

I dont doubt that KD is sensitive, but so are most of today’s superstars save for Kawhi. Its a byproduct of social media and today’s world.

few of them create burner accounts to respond to random critics

As for Kyrie, he was and still is disrespected too much for the heavy lifting he did as a Cav. Also knowing how Lebron jumps ship once every 4 years, I think it was absolutely the right decision to leave Lebron before Lebron could ditch him.

kyrie left because he wanted to be "the man" on a good team. he got his wish in boston and couldn't handle it

[andrewww]

i'd say that KD is clearly much more hypersensitive than he is a diva

as for kyrie...why did he ask to leave cleveland? why did he leave boston? i think that any reasonable answer to those questions leads to a very fair categorization of diva. though there's some humility as well as evidenced by his apology of sorts to lebron ("harder than i realized to be a leader" or whatever it was)

I dont doubt that KD is sensitive, but so are most of today’s superstars save for Kawhi. Its a byproduct of social media and today’s world.

few of them create burner accounts to respond to random critics

As for Kyrie, he was and still is disrespected too much for the heavy lifting he did as a Cav. Also knowing how Lebron jumps ship once every 4 years, I think it was absolutely the right decision to leave Lebron before Lebron could ditch him.

kyrie left because he wanted to be "the man" on a good team. he got his wish in boston and couldn't handle it

The Kyrie take is an oversimplistic one full of outsider speculation at best.

If burner accounts are whats holding back KD, then sign me up. At least he isnt throwing teammates under the bus by trying to trade everyone for AD, or exaggerating an injury with a cast or lobbying for a suspension on a teabag move he initiated...guess this generation really struggles with identifying tanginble character flaws in their stars...

[Southpaw]

The Nets look damn good. Easily the best in the East.

[dice]

I dont doubt that KD is sensitive, but so are most of today’s superstars save for Kawhi. Its a byproduct of social media and today’s world.

few of them create burner accounts to respond to random critics

As for Kyrie, he was and still is disrespected too much for the heavy lifting he did as a Cav. Also knowing how Lebron jumps ship once every 4 years, I think it was absolutely the right decision to leave Lebron before Lebron could ditch him.

kyrie left because he wanted to be "the man" on a good team. he got his wish in boston and couldn't handle it

The Kyrie take is an oversimplistic one full of outsider speculation at best.

as opposed to your compete fan fiction idea that he wanted to leave before lebron left him? that one doesn't even make sense. he would have had the exact same ability to request a trade had lebron left first. he didn't want to play with lebron anymore. that much is obvious

If burner accounts are whats holding back KD, then sign me up

nobody said anything was holding him back

At least he isnt throwing teammates under the bus by trying to trade everyone for AD, or exaggerating an injury with a cast or lobbying for a suspension on a teabag move he initiated...guess this generation really struggles with identifying tanginble character flaws in their stars...

wtf are you going on about? did i say a single word about lebron james? i wasn't aware that we were comparing character flaws of stars...and i'm 43. they're ALL ridiculous if you ask me

[andrewww]

few of them create burner accounts to respond to random critics


kyrie left because he wanted to be "the man" on a good team. he got his wish in boston and couldn't handle it

The Kyrie take is an oversimplistic one full of outsider speculation at best.

as opposed to your compete fan fiction idea that he wanted to leave before lebron left him? that one doesn't even make sense. he would have had the exact same ability to request a trade had lebron left first. he didn't want to play with lebron anymore. that much is obvious

If burner accounts are whats holding back KD, then sign me up

nobody said anything was holding him back

At least he isnt throwing teammates under the bus by trying to trade everyone for AD, or exaggerating an injury with a cast or lobbying for a suspension on a teabag move he initiated...guess this generation really struggles with identifying tanginble character flaws in their stars...

wtf are you going on about? did i say a single word about lebron james? i wasn't aware that we were comparing character flaws of stars...and i'm 43. they're ALL ridiculous if you ask me

I said that todays stars are all sensitive not just KD. You responded saying not all of then use burner accounts. Logically, your response infurs/could be interpreted that you disagree with my premise, to which I said if burner accounts are the sign of a character flaw or leadership flaw then sign me up. The Lebron examples are clear examples of what I interpret as being “sensitive”, again in response to the “well only KD uses burner accounts” response by you.

Kyrie wanted no part of playing with Lebron after the 2016-17 season which we both agree. Wanting to be the man is one possible motive of Kyrie’s but ultimatelu neither you nor me know the exact reason he wanted out. Does that make Kyrie a headcase? To me its a definite no and people get overworked with his flat earth comments. Who gives AF honestly, he can believe what he wants hes not hurting anyone etc.

[Hangtime84]

Jamal Murray still looks very streaky. And MPJ loves to shoot first.

[dice]

The Kyrie take is an oversimplistic one full of outsider speculation at best.

as opposed to your compete fan fiction idea that he wanted to leave before lebron left him? that one doesn't even make sense. he would have had the exact same ability to request a trade had lebron left first. he didn't want to play with lebron anymore. that much is obvious

If burner accounts are whats holding back KD, then sign me up

nobody said anything was holding him back

At least he isnt throwing teammates under the bus by trying to trade everyone for AD, or exaggerating an injury with a cast or lobbying for a suspension on a teabag move he initiated...guess this generation really struggles with identifying tanginble character flaws in their stars...

wtf are you going on about? did i say a single word about lebron james? i wasn't aware that we were comparing character flaws of stars...and i'm 43. they're ALL ridiculous if you ask me

I said that todays stars are all sensitive not just KD. You responded saying not all of then use burner accounts. Logically, your response infurs/could be interpreted that you disagree with my premise, to which I said if burner accounts are the sign of a character flaw or leadership flaw then sign me up. The Lebron examples are clear examples of what I interpret as being “sensitive”, again in response to the “well only KD uses burner accounts” response by you.

lebron and KD are not the only 2 stars. i think that almost everyone would agree that KD is an unusually sensitive individual

Kyrie wanted no part of playing with Lebron after the 2016-17 season which we both agree. Wanting to be the man is one possible motive of Kyrie’s but ultimatelu neither you nor me know the exact reason he wanted out.

it's not like his motivation is some great secret. whether there was a specific incident that was the tipping point is the question. i doubt it. it would seem that whatever discontent kyrie was feeling about being part of the lebron circus just accumulated and one day he decided to tell his agent that he wanted out. there's clearly no deep personal animosity

Does that make Kyrie a headcase? To me its a definite no and people get overworked with his flat earth comments. Who gives AF honestly, he can believe what he wants hes not hurting anyone etc.

no argument there. i think he's a bid odd and not much of a leader, but it's not that important. it's not like i'd be opposed to him being on my team depending on the circumstances

[PrimzyBulls81]

Giannis says they are better this season, but I dont see it.. They dont belong to the ECF, I have Nets, Celtics, Heat in front of them.
Bucks bench is too weak and starting lineup has Holiday who really isnt such a push them over the hump difference maker.

[Ice Man]

Is this the year that making the Eastern playoffs is harder than making the West? In the East, I see six teams as a lock to make the playoffs -

Nets
Bucks
Toronto
Heat
Celtics
Pacers

Which leaves Philly, Orlando, Atlanta, Washington, and maybe Charlotte fighting for the final two slots. With the Bulls, Knicks, Cavs, and Pistons outside looking in.

In the West -

Lakers
Clippers
Denver
Utah
Dallas
Portland

Which leaves Phoenix, Memphis, Houston, Spurs, and New Orleans fighting for the final two slots. With Warriors, Kings, Wolves, and OKC on the outside looking in.

Hmmm. Yeah, I think the second-tier Western playoff contenders, as well as the bad teams in the West, are better than their Eastern counterparts. But it's getting closer.

[DuckIII]

It is getting closer in general. Perhaps the closest it’s been top to bottom in many, many years. The NBA is getting deeper and we’ve had a terrific influx of talent. But the West is still better, and with stronger young talent in the borderline playoff teams in Ja, Zion, Ingram, Booker, Ayton, Fox, etc.

Free agency shifts things quickly, but the West appears to have the better future as well.

[FranchisePlayer]

Cassidy Hubbarth might be the best this game has to offer...

must've been an awful game

Watched it for about 10 mins. Disorganized, lazy or non existent D, no rhythm in the offense... Yeah, Hubbarth even wore a mask so it was pretty awful.

[MrSparkle]

I do wonder what Toronto’s gonna look like. Still an excellent organization with talent and coaching, but Lowry is no spring-chicken, and they lost their vet center anchors (not that they had much left to offer).

Do they start seeking Lowry’s successor? And what’s Pascal’s ceiling as a top option? Hit a bit of a wall since the bubble. Just curious if they continue their top-4 seed ways, or if this season ends up being a bigger struggle.

[WindyCityBorn]

I have a feeling the season is about to go crap with COVID cases if not outright postponed/cancelled.

[TheStig]

The Nets look damn good. Easily the best in the East.

Nets are clearly the most talented team in the East but also the most vulnerable to injuries and mental hiccups.

[madvillian]

6 points for atlanta in 6 minutes. huh.

[MrSparkle]

Man, still so crazy to me. Same exact rebuild time for ATL and MEM. These rosters are MILES ahead of CHI.

For every dumpster fire pick, signing and trade GarPax made, ATL and MEM made a great move.

[Dresden]

Man, still so crazy to me. Same exact rebuild time for ATL and MEM. These rosters are MILES ahead of CHI.

Yeah, the state of the Bulls is pretty depressing. We pretty much missed on Lauri and Wendell and Hutch. Imagine if both of those guys were potential buildings blocks, to go with Zach, Coby (who is still a question mark), and PWill (who hopefully is a keeper).

And the worse part is we have no one with superstar potential, as both those teams do.

[FriedRise]

Read on Twitter

[MrSparkle]

These Hawks are basically the new Splash Bro Warriors. Perhaps 1-2 years and a move away from contending. Their entire rotation besides Bogdanovic & Gallo is under 23, which is ridiculous, because they play very smart system defense and offense.

Given Mavs'' slightly dead-end roster and bad luck with Porzingis' injury, I'd bet on ATL winning a ring (22-24) sooner than DAL.

[Ice Man]

Given Mavs'' slightly dead-end roster and bad luck with Porzingis' injury, I'd bet on ATL winning a ring (22-24) sooner than DAL.

Yep. Trae is improving so rapidly that he's pretty much Luka's equal, or at least within close range, and the rest of the Hawks roster is clearly better than what the Mavs have. Of course the Mavs will improve greatly with Porzingis, but I still don't think they will be quite as good at Atlanta, and who knows how long Porzingis will remain healthy?

Trae's game is like prime Tony Parker squared. His ability to wriggle to the rim and then score with those underhanded layups and little floaters is something else.