“It’s not about me, it never will be about me. Whatever the team needs, whatever it is that night, I’ve got to do it and just help us win,” Derrick White
Good players want a starring role on the team.
Great players want to star in the role that the team needs.
The Boston Celtics showed how they can maximize their pressure points against any opponent with the combination of high level weapons that allow them to find a lot of ways to disrupt PnR defensive strategies.
Here a breakdown of 8 possessions vs NYK.
THREAD ⬇️
#NBA#DifferentHere
Luka Dončić turns 26 in February. He's already top 50 in career MVP shares, ahead of Anthony Davis, Jason Kidd and Dwyane Wade. He has career averages of 28.6 points (3rd all time), 8.7 rebounds (111th all time) and 8.3 assists (12th all time). Nikola Jokić (10.2), Michael Jordan (9.2) and LeBron James (8.6) are the only players in NBA history with higher box plus/minuses than Luka's 7.7. He has 1,546 points in his 50 career playoff games. Only Michael Jordan (1,814), Elgin Baylor (1,675) and Wilt Chamberlain (1,647) scored more in their first 50 playoff games.
In other words, regardless of what anyone, including the Mavericks, have to say about his conditioning, Luka is on track to be one of the absolute best players in the history of basketball. Dallas traded him to, apparently, the only team that knew he was available. It got maybe half of what it could've from other teams around the league. There's still almost a week between now and the trade deadline. Even the Los Angeles Lakers had more to offer.
At first glance, this is the worst, most nonsensical trade in NBA history. And a lot that feels pretty unlikely has to happen for that to eventually change.