I'll start

And the Western Conference has had 7 different conference champions in the last seven finals.

Good or Bad mentality?

I read that Amare went through rigorous training for months and it wasn't just given to him based off who he is

Is 2026. It's been 6 years. But I can't get the fact that Jimmy Butler started an overpriced coffee business in Disneyland while making it to the finals with the Heat. I forgot he made it to the finals, but I remember the coffee.

PTS: 29.2
REB: 5.6
AST: 3.8
STL: 1.6
MIN: 40.2
Efficiency: 53.3% FG | 33.3% 3PT | 90.9% FT (58.5% True Shooting)

Game 1: 27 PTS, 5 REB, 9 AST (LAL wins 89-85)
Game 2: 22 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST (LAL wins 101-71)
Game 3: 30 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST (SAS wins 103-84)
Game 4: 28 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST (LAL wins 93-91 on the road)
Game 5: 39 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST — 17 points in the 4th quarter to close out the series (LAL wins 100-92)

Total dominance.

Robert Wadlow stood 8 ft 11 in (2.72 m) tall. I wanted to visualise just how extraordinary his height was by comparing his proportions with a regulation NBA basketball hoop.

The rim is 10 feet (3.05 m) above the floor. This reconstruction shows Wadlow standing beside the hoop with his arm extended overhead, using the standard hoop and backboard dimensions as a reference.

His estimated maximum standing reach is nearly 11.5 feet, which would put his fingertips well above the rim.

Obviously, this is a proportional reconstruction rather than an actual photograph of Wadlow performing this measurement. I thought seeing the scale alongside something familiar like a basketball hoop would make his height easier to comprehend.

How surreal would it have been to see someone that tall in the NBA?

The best bucket to never make the HOF. He also had more points in a single season than Shaq and walked on 30 PPG grounds.

FYI, Stack scored 2,380 pts in 2000-01 and Stephen Curry scored 2,375 pts in 2015-16 the unanimous MVP.

Mine is that fan obsession with "ring culture" has completely ruined how we evaluate individual greatness, and an elite player's legacy shouldn't be penalized just because they didn't happen to play for a historically competent front office.

Won MVP near unanimously, led the league in total points, led the league in total rebounds, led the league in win shares. All-NBA and All-Defensive first team. In the playoffs, had one of the best game sevens ever (32 points, 21 rebounds, 4 steals, 5 blocks) to take an extremely weak & injury-rife Minnesota roster to WCF.

In 2012, Karl Malone also said he’d choose Pippen over Jordan to build a Dream Team lineup.

In 1992, Nate McMillan said Scottie could do everything and pondered if MJ felt more pressure to prove himself due to Scottie’s ascension.

John Salley once said in a DJ Vlad interview (I’ll link if I find the clip) that the Pistons keyed in on Scottie instead of MJ because they were “cutting the head of the snake”.

Anyone who says this dude wasn’t a clear-as-day superstar/MVP candidate in his own right during his heyday is just lying. Yes, people say this. No, I’m not lying.

When Shai’s Supermax kicks in something like 80% of their salary will be Shai, Williams, and Chet.

The Thunder have a solid big in Hartenstein and Mara has been looking stellar in the pre-season.

They have the best GM in the league and an unholy amount of draft capital.

Chet has proven he’s a solid player but not up to facing off against the best big men in the league and will be below average against Wemby, Jokic, Giannis, and likely even guys like Kessler and Duren. He was a big reason they lost in the WCF. He’s also not filling out physically.

The Thunder have shown they are about trying to create a dynasty with a fresh rotation of young players so they don’t get caught in the Bucks/Nuggets/Cavs overpay trap.

Chet would have value on the market for a team in need of a big, and would likely bring draft capital and a couple of meaningful pieces from a team looking to bolster their defense. If Mara plays well this year I think Chet is gone next summer.

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In 1973-74 he averaged 31/15 on 5 stocks per game (a two-way player rivalring 1988 Michael Jordan in statistics). That season he also passed the eye-test, hitting multiple clutch-time shots in the Eastern Conference semifinals over the reigning MVP Dave Cowens, and leading the league in FG% (54.7%) with a highly respectable FT% of 80.5 for a center. Á la Charles Barkley in 1990, Bob McAdoo led MVP voting in first-place votes that season but Kareem had more total votes, narrowly winning the award.

In 1975 Bob McAdoo came back with his magnum-opus season, ready to prove himself as the best player in the world. Rounded up to the nearest full number, he averaged 35/14 on 51.4% shooting, joining 1961-62 Wilt Chamberlain as the only player to average 35/14 with 50 FG% in a season. He led the league in Win Shares, and averaged a jaw-dropping 37.4 PPG (incl. a 50/21 performance) in the Eastern Conference Semifinals that season but fell short due to a subpar supporting cast. He won the MVP award by a landslide because Kareem was out. That 50/21 game is still an anomaly, since no one has had a 50/20 playoff game since.

In 1976, McAdoo won his third straight scoring title, averaging 31.1 PPG, along with 12.4 RPG. On Nov. 20 1975, he clutched up a 23-point overtime deficit nearly by himself, again with a 50/20 performance. On April 18 1976 he led the Buffalo Braves to their first playoff series victory ever, and throughout the season he became a significantly better passer averaging 4.0 APG and landing second in MVP voting.

Throughout this 3-year stretch, he introduced the first real stretch-big archetype (gaining the nickname "one-man revolution"), won three straight scoring titles and landed top-two in MVP voting every year. In 1974 he became one of three scoring leaders ever to average (rounded up to the nearest whole number) 5.0 SPG+BPG, and followed up the next four years by showcasing proto-KD playstyles, and being a god of the midrange with remarkable efficiency. All in all, his accomplishments are still unprecedented today.

The New York Knicks’ frontcourt depth has taken an unfortunate hit just days before the regular season. Center Drew Eubanks sustained a torn pectoral muscle during training camp activities and is sidelined for an extended period of time.

Because Eubanks was on a non-guaranteed training camp deal and fighting for the final 14th roster spot, the Knicks intend to waive him to preserve their flexibility under the strict second luxury tax apron. This sudden exit heavily clears the path for James Wiseman to secure the final open backup spot behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond.