Who are the three best players in the NBA these days? Certainly, the topic is up for debate, but in my mind the answer is obvious:
Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady.
Now, some of you may want to put Shaquille O'Neal on that list but I'm looking for the league's three best players in terms of skill and talent, not weight and strength. And while Shaq may be the most
dominating guy in the NBA based on his sheer physical presence, he can't touch the trio I selected above in overall ability. I would, however, listen to arguments regarding Tim Duncan's inclusion on the list, as well as Dirk Nowitzki, Allen Iverson and maybe even Paul Pierce.
But to me, Kobe, KG and T-Mac clearly reign supreme.
Not surprisingly, these three guys have a lot in common, beginning with the fact that they're all pouring in at least 23 points per game, with Bryant and McGrady topping 30. They're each shooting better than 45% from the floor and at least 34% from beyond the arch. All three pull down nearly seven boards a night, with Garnett leading the way at 13 per contest. They each also hand out at least five assists per game while registering better than a steal and a half a night, and only McGrady plays fewer than 40 minutes per game; he logs an average of 39.9 minutes each night.
Of course, these three don't just share similar stat lines. Kobe, KG and McGrady are all genuine MVP candidates, they're all in the middle of some extremely tight playoff races, they all get very little help from their questionable casts of teammates, and they've all been ruthlessly shredding defenders since the beginning of February, with Kobe pouring in 43 points per game this month, McGrady 36 and Garnett nearly 29.
Oh, right -- all three guys also skipped college and headed straight for the NBA out of high school. Forgot about that little nugget of info.
If you've ever wondered why so many high school kids are convinced that they can bang with the pros at such a young age, look no further than Kobe, KG and T-Mac. Arguably the three best players in the game, and not one of them played a minute of college ball. Not one of them had to take Econ 101 with 200 other kids in a cavernous auditorium. Not one of them dined on the culinary ecstasy that is college cafeteria food. And yet, night after night we see Kobe drop 45 points on yet another opposing team, Garnett pull down 15 boards to go along with 25 points, and McGrady posterize some chump on his way to another 30-point performance.
Kinda makes you feel like you could hack it in the NBA too, huh?
But the truth is, together with Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal, Seattle's Rashard Lewis, Phoenix super-rookie Amare Stoudemire and, to a lesser extent, O'Neal's teammate Al Harrington, these three are the exceptions to the rule. As I laid out in a column last year, most NBA high schoolers fall on their young faces when they hit the big time. Guys like DeShawn Stevenson, Jonathan Bender and Darius Miles, plucked from high school in the first round of the 1999 (Bender) and 2000 (Stevenson and Miles) drafts, all still sport single-digit career scoring averages. Two years ago, four teenagers were taken in the first round: Kwame Brown (#1), Tyson Chandler (#2), Eddy Curry (#4) and DeSagana Diop (#8). Another high school kid, Ousmane Cisse, was taken in the second round (#47) by the Nuggets.
Now in their second NBA seasons, Chandler's progression has exploded in February (13.0 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 2.2 bpg, .558 FG%) despite mediocre numbers on the year, Brown and Curry have only marginally improved, Diop can't even find more than 12 minutes a night for a Cavs team that's won a deplorable 18% of its games, and Cisse is out of the league.
---------------------------
Garnett is playing at a superstar level this season, typified by his All-Star game MVP, but if it's the same one-and-done routine by the T-Wolves in the playoffs, KG will again be under fire.
--------------------------- |
Of course, Cisse isn't alone. Korleone Young and Leon Smith, drafted in 1998 and 1999 fresh out of high school, are also out of the league, as are Tony Key, Taj McDavid and Ellis Richardson, three high schoolers who went undrafted.
All of this failure makes Bryant's, Garnett's and McGrady's success even more remarkable. Sure, they all went through their own growing pains during the early stages of their respective careers, but no pain no gain, right?
Of course, despite how well they've been playing this year (all three are on pace to surpass their career highs in points per game while Kobe and Garnett should also surpass their bests in boards and assists), one huge hurdle awaits following the end of the regular season.
The playoffs.
Because of the continued decline in Grant Hill's health, McGrady is again a one-man show in Orlando, scoring almost 20 more points a night than the team's second leading (active) scorer, rookie Drew Gooden (12.3 ppg). Despite his efforts, though, McGrady's Magic sit at 28-29, good enough for the eighth and final playoff slot in the East, but only one game ahead of Washington and four in front of the Knicks.
For Garnett and his teammates, the problem hasn't been getting into the playoffs. Instead, Minnesota hasn't been able to get out of the first round after getting swept by the Mavericks last year, marking the sixth-straight season Garnett and the Timberwolves failed to advance to round two. People started questioning KG's heart, his ability to lead and his willingness to be the man in the clutch, saying that a true superstar will carry his team to greatness. Well, Garnett is playing at a superstar level this season, typified by his All-Star game MVP, but if it's the same one-and-done routine by the T-Wolves in the playoffs, KG will again be under fire.
And then there's Kobe, the guy who as of Tuesday afternoon had scored at least 40 points in nine-straight games, an extraordinary feat alone but even more noteworthy considering Shaq missed three of those games. I mean, stroking your way to 40 isn't nearly as tough when you've got a 340-pound behemoth getting double-teamed in the paint. But the Lakers started the year in a debilitating 11-19 hole before slowly clawing their way out in January. Now at 30-25, Kobe has LA in the West's seventh slot with Utah within striking distance (33-23) but Houston (30-26) and Phoenix (30-27) also tagging closely behind. About a month ago I said it was too early to count the Lakers out yet and I was right, but simply qualifying for the playoffs isn't enough for a team looking to pull off a four-peat for the first time since the Celtics were crowned champions eight-consecutive years between 1958 and 1966. We expect more, and judging by his astounding recent play, Kobe Bryant does too.
Unfortunately, we've now been spoiled by these high school kids who've risen to the top of the league. We've watched their progression closely, criticizing when Kobe takes too many shots, questioning when Garnett leaves the postseason party too early. But Kobe, KG, T-Mac and Jermaine O'Neal form the Mount Rushmore of NBA high schoolers, standing as a monument to all the other youngsters who dream of making the storied jump.
Guys like that LeBron James kid.
More often than not, though, instead of following in McGrady's footsteps and claiming a seat among the league's elite, these teenagers find themselves on the end of an agonizingly long bench, wondering if they made the right choice in the first place.
Guys like DeSagana Diop, who's lucky to see the floor during garbage time.
So pay close attention to Kobe, KG and T-Mac, because history tells us we're watching something truly special here. And that doesn't bode well for Mr. James.
Questions/comments? Send
all e-mails to jcodding@bullz-eye.com.
|
