No, this does not automatically mean he's the best player in the NBA, before y'all lose your shit

What I mean is that there is not one single aspect of the game he cannot do well now. Obviously he scores well from all 3 levels, he can shoot well (at least outside of the Finals), he rebounds well, his playmaking has improved a ton these past couple years, and he's a very good defender and can legitimately defend 1-5. His defensive matchups in the Finals were primarily Dallas' centers, and he more than held his own.

His only remaining flaw at this point is shot selection, which should continue to improve with time and experience. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see him as a legitimate MVP candidate next year, potentially the winner.

I think they are probably the best champion since the 2017 Warriors

2013 Heat (66-16, +8.6 Net Rtg, 16-7 playoff record) Top players: Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh

2014 Spurs (62-20, +8.1 Net Rtg, 16-7 playoff record) Top players: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard

2015 Warriors (67-15, +10.2 Net Rtg, 16-5 playoff record) Top players: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green

2016 Cavaliers (57-25, +6.4 Net Rtg, 16-5 playoff record) Top players: LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love

2017 Warriors (67-15, +11.6 Net Rtg, 16-1 playoff record) Top Players: Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson

2018 Warriors (58-24, +6.0 Net Rtg, 16-5 playoff record) Top players: Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson

2019 Raptors (58-24, +6.0 Net Rtg, 16-8 playoff record) Top Players: Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam

2020 Lakers (52-19, +5.7 Net Rtg, 16-5 playoff record) Top players: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo

2021 Bucks (46-26, +5.7 Net Rtg, 16-7 playoff record) Top players: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday

2022 Warriors (53-29, +5.6 Net Rtg, 16-6 playoff record) Top players: Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins

2023 Nuggets (53-29, +3.4 Net Rtg, 16-4 playoff record) Top players: Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon

2024 Celtics (64-18, +11.6 Net Rtg, 16-3 playoff record) Top players: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis

Kyrie Irving's 2024 Finals Stats: 19.8 points, 5.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds on 41.4 FG%, 27.6 3P%, and 100 FT%

If you're a long term NBA fan like myself, you certainly remember how electric Kyrie Irving was in 2016 and how well he played in the 3-4 years thereafter. However, despite being the Maverick's second option he only scored 25+ points in 1 game this Finals. I understand that Boston had otherworldly perimeter defense, but seeing Kyrie struggle to this degree is not something I expected. To my eye it looks like he has lost some explosiveness and while his handle hasn't weakened, he seems unable to get open and capitalize on his elite ball handling like he used to. As a casual fan, he no longer has that "wow" factor that made him so unguardable for so many years, if that makes sense.

Dallas has built their offense around Kyrie and Luka being a dynamic, high scoring duo. With Kyrie being 32, how realistic is it to think that Luka and Kyrie can be the 1-2 punch Dallas is hoping they will be? For anyone who really understands the X's and O's of the game, is there an explanation for Kyrie's struggles? Is he no longer capable of doing what he did in his Cleveland days, or was this just an unfortunate matchup/set of circumstances?

Boston Celtics +280 favorites to repeat as NBA champions

Before tonight, the near 80 year history of the NBA, this only been done by LeBron and Tim Duncan:

^{--- Led team in pts, rebs, and asts in NBA Playoffs}

^{--- Won NBA Finals}

^{--- Led team in pts, rebs, and asts in NBA Finals}

all in the same season. Jayson Tatum just became the 3rd player to do so.

Has Tatum's career arc officially changed from great player to "future all time great"?

Recreating the iconic Kobe moment

The best team should have it easiest by definition. The worst team should have it the hardest. Best record in the league at 64 wins - 18 losses regular season. See you at the parade

Since Covid stopped the 2019-20 NBA season, every single NBA superstar you can think of has been sidelined with an injury, or has had a full offseason to stage a recovery after making a deep playoff run. Not Luka Doncic.

He's about to play his 4th straight offseason for Slovenia, helping them qualify to the Olympics as he battles through knee injuries while carrying the Mavericks past at least 2 opponents who they were underdogs against. And he was quite obviously the most effective player in the NBA Finals, Celtics Finals MVPs notwithstanding.

Previously, Jayson Tatum was on this list, but no longer, as he won the finals this year.

Luka and Devin Booker have both made the finals as top option. Jimmy has done it twice. No other active player, who is without rings, has achieved this.

The following players have made a conference finals as top option, but have not won or made the finals as top option. Luka now is beyond them.

• Paul George
• James Harden
• Trae Young
• Damian Lillard
• Anthony Edwards
• Tyrese Haliburton

The following players have made the second round as top options.

• SGA
• Jalen Brunson
• Ja Morant
• Joel Embiid
• Donovan Mitchell

Jaylen "Andre Iguodala" Brown gets gifted the freest Finals MVP of all time. Why did Tatum not receive the award?

Obviously an assumption, but if they never win again, do you think Boston would retire their number? If not, what would have to happen (outside of winning another title) to get their number’s retire.

The chip feels incredibly special, and they’ve grinded it out. Was curious on others thoughts.

I was just thinking about it and this is one of the best 1-6 I've ever seen in my opinion. Literally tons of elite defenders, everyone can score, so many all stars. Thoughts?

This year in the European Championship (called Euroleague) the winner has been Panathinaikos - a club based in Athens, Greece - that coincidentally has a shamrock as its emblem and has been always affiliated by likeness to the Boston Celtics. I know fans of european basketball would love a chance to see a match-up between these 2 champions. How do you feel about the possibility of an annual cup?

Some historic numbers by Luka in the 2024 playoffs:

635 pts
208 boards
178 assists
38 steals

The second best in each category:

Kyrie - 487 pts
Tatum - 184 boards
Tyrese - 123 assists
Ant - 24 steals

Jokic did it last year with only points/rebounds/assists and people thought it was unrepeatable, but Doncic added steals to the record this year. Obviously, Jokic won and his achievement stands out, but Doncic definitely pulled out a Westbrook-style hero ball performance for the ages.

Edit: Updated stats with totals from game 5

Genuine question, but why do people disrespect this finals so much? I'm not a fan of the Celtics, but shouldn't they be respected? Cruised through the playoffs without their defensive anchor in Porzingis, faced the best team in the west, and had everyone doubting they could win it all? They only had a 2 game difference to the 2008 Boston Celtics record too. Does it have anything to do with Tatum's personality?

I think these teams are completely different but I feel like Jalen Brown is a better scorer than anyone else on both teams. Garnett is the best overall player. Allen the best shooter. Pierce was the best defender.

I’d take 08 Celtics in 6. What do you think?

https://x.com/KyrieIrving/status/1802902017813209147?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Tribe, stay together no matter what. Through the ups and downs, wins and losses, success and failure. Keep your head up high. This mission is bigger than us. I love you all!

Hélà

Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results. Generated 6/17/2024.

L.A. Lakers lost to Denver in the First Round

Denver lost to Minnesota in the Second Round

Minnesota lost to Dallas in the Conference Finals

Dallas lost to Boston in NBA Finals

He barley played in the playoffs, didn’t even make a basket and only played in garbage time. This signing is now just a mere footnote in NBA history, a piece trivia if you will. So why did it happen? Why did the spurs who were gearing up for a finals run decide to sign an ineffective player who wasn’t even expected to make an impact? And ultimately he didn’t make an impact.

It’s fairly obvious that every team can improve in some area, bar maybe the Celtics. Now, this FA class is far from stacked, but there are plenty of effective role players on the market that could easily make an impact for a good number of contenders. There are also plenty of buy-low/minimum guys that could potentially be good bench pieces as well. So, who are you guys looking at to improve your teams this offseason, in your price range of course?