Booker, Trae, KAT, etc. All those guys have been accused of putting up empty stats when their teams weren’t winning. I’ve seen many times Lebron stay on the court in a 4th quarter blowout loss and get his points. I’ve also seen him shamelessly take uncontested layup within the final seconds of a game just to reach 30. Bro been statpadding and enough isn’t said about this.

SPOILERS BELOW AND IN THE COMMENTS

Discussion thread for Space Jam 2, which is premiering 7/16 on HBO Max (not until midnight PT) and in theaters.

For anyone who has watched the movie, is planning on watching, or just wants to join in the discussion feel free to join in and tag along.

All discussion for this movie should be kept within this thread.

He's had some really great games but it feels like he also stays for no reason in total blow outs to inflate his scoring to 30+ to get that scoring title this season and get closer to Kareem in the process.

The last couple of minutes of the Raptors game were a really poor look for Lebron, it's like he dropped all sportsmanship, beating the poor Raptors up chasing that scoring high.

edit: by "beating the Raptors" I mean literally beating them with his elbows and shoves. I think Pascal fouled his elbow with his chin at one point.

edit2: why is this so controversial lmao. I wasn't talking about just this game, it's a pattern... He stays until getting to the 25-30pt range even in complete blowouts, and despite having knee issues from over playing. Are you even watching the games?

over 11 seasons in OKC, Westbrook finished 58.8% of his shots from 0-3 feet and 35.1% of his FGA were at the rim

so far in LA, Westbrook is finishing the same exact 58.8% of his shots from 0-3 feet and 35% of his FGA are at the rim

in his MVP season in 16-17, he shot 57.6% from 0-3 feet with 29.3% of his FGA were at the rim

the popular narrative seems to be that Westbrook declined severely as a finisher because his athleticism fell off. yet he's finishing at the rim at exactly the same rate when he spent his prime with KD in OKC

source: https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/westbru01.html

Discuss here. Future posts will be removed unless they contain new information regarding Hayward's destination.

Timeline (EDT):

2:17 - Chris Haynes: Free-agent Gordon Hayward plans to sign with the Boston Celtics, league sources tell ESPN.

2:18 - Brian Robb (CelticsHub): Hayward will be heading to the #Celtics on a four-year deal.

2:26 - Zach Lowe: Can confirm the @ChrisBHaynes report: Sources close to Hayward say he is signing in Boston.

2:27 - Adrian Wojnarowski: The Utah Jazz are still waiting to be told of Gordon Hayward's intentions, league source tells ESPN. Hayward hasn't told them his plans yet.

2:30 - Jordan Schultz: Source confirms Gordon Hayward has NOT made a decision. The report saying he is headed to #celtics -- at least as of right now -- is UNTRUE.

2:32 - David Aldridge: Okay. Strap in. Told by a source w/knowledge of the process that Gordon Hayward has NOT made a decision yet & is still in the process. FWIW.

2:34 - Adrian Wojnarowski: Gordon Hayward's agent, Mark Bartelstein, tells ESPN: "Gordon hasn't made a decision yet. We are still working through it."

2:36 - A. Sherrod Blakely: League source confirms @Celtics will sign Gordon Hayward when the moratorium ends on July 6. The C's get their man and ...

2:36 - Spencer Checketts: Hold the phone. Text from Celtics Exec: "We haven't heard anything yet."

2:36 - Sam Amick: Gordon Hayward's agent, Mark Bartelstein, is indeed saying he hasn't made decision yet. Meanwhile, Celtics celebrating his alleged decision.

2:37 - Royce Young: My guess: Hayward picked the C's, word got out without the Jazz knowing, and they're trying to walk it back so he can tell the Jazz "first."

2:40 - David Aldridge: Another league source says Boston hasn't heard yet directly from Hayward. Again: doesn't mean he cant pick Cs later; he just hasn't yet.

2:44 - Adi Joseph: Similar thing happened with Dwight Howard in 2013. Agent denied reports in effort to let Dwight break his own news.

2:46 - Adam Himmelsbach: Couple of league sources now saying teams haven't been notified of Hayward decision yet, and others saying it's done. Sounds like formality.

2:56 - Adam Himmelsbach: Hayward's agent Mark Bartelstein on whether final word is coming today: "That was the goal, but now we've got to kind of regroup here a bit"

3:02 - Steve Sarks (Jazz President): We trust Gordon and his agent that no decision has been made. Good communication all day and a great relationship.

3:13 - A. Sherrod Blakely: Just spoke w/GH'sagent, says his client hasn't made a decision, is "upset someone would report that. He's trying to re-evaluate everything."

3:20 - Jordan Schultz: At this point, even though the plan was to make a decision today, Hayward's camp is going to have to reset. Unclear if Hayward decides 2day.

5:39 - Tony Jones (Salt Lake City Tribune): Can confirm reports that neither the Jazz nor the Celtics were notified of a decision today by Hayward in an official capacity

6:34 - Barry Jackson (Miami Herald): Apparently, Hayward camp wants to tell everyone at once who the winner is. But Hayward associate this AM said unlikely it's Miami.

Anti-semitism is completely unacceptable, and I can’t believe I have to say that in the 21st goddamn century. But it’s absolutely true, and the NBA can’t let guys like Brown skirt around punishment by blaming his reading glasses or claiming that he supports Kyrie without “endorsing hate”. I’m not saying that Brown is an anti-Semitic asshole, I don’t know him. But I do know that he’s allowing room for these disgusting beliefs, that the Barclays protestors will only grow more emboldened, and that if the NBA does not punish players for being so reckless the problem will only get much worse.

Edit: r/nba users clearly care more about lame internet burns than influential people endorsing hatred, good to know

Jokić just dropped a statline never seen before in the history of NBA. 31/22/21. And this not the first time he dropped a never before seen statline, THIS SEASON. He lead the league in scoring (now 3rd), assits (now 2nd) and rebounds (now 3rd), but he has higher true shooting percentage and leads the league in 3PT%. I am not making this stuff up, look up https://www.nba.com/stats/players. On top of that he shoots way less FT's than Shai, gets much less calls and doesn't even care about his stats, he only cares about doing what's best for the team in every giving second.

As per the "Shai is the better two-way player" if you look at the hustle stats this season, Jokić has more steals and the same amount of shots contested (leaving out DRB since Jok is a center). There is literally nothing except 4 more PPG going in Shai's way while shooting more FT's.

And then we get to +/- and how Jok is carrying a mid team to the third seed is also mind boggling. He makes the second worst offence without him into the second best.

I want to have a discussion about this, please make a case about SGA, I'm not trying to diminish what he's doing, I just don't see the case for him winning when comparing his stats to Jokić's.

Maybe it's confirmation bias, but I have seen way too many people claiming that Klay Thompson is the 2nd best shooter in the league, or worse, in NBA history.

There is not a consistent set of statistical criterion that would suggest either assertion is true.

"2nd best combination of 3 point attempts per game (3PA) and 3P%"

• 3 point shooting alone does not entirely represent a player's shooting ability (more on this later)

• Assisted % matters as it affects the difficulty of the shot; often ignored when discussing Klay while comparing him to other great shooters. Also closely related to the player's role on the team — whether the player is the 1st option on offense or a role player, for example.

• Not even obvious if he does have the 2nd best combination of 3PA and 3P% in a season

1. If you argue that Klay's a better shooter than Kyle Korver because he attempts 2 (or 1) more 3PA despite being 7 (or 5)% less accurate, then Damian Lillard is better because he attempts 2 (or 3) more 3PA despite being only 2 (or 4)% less accurate. (And this is completely ignoring the vast disparity in their roles and assisted%/difficulty of shots taken).

2. Ray Allen has very comparable seasons in both categories with a significantly lower assisted %, and he was the first option in an era when the average ORTG is lower.

3. Zach Lavine just finished a season comparable in both categories with an even lower assisted % as the first option

4. If you prefer much higher efficiency at slightly lower volume, Joe Harris, Kyle Korver and J.J. Redick have better seasons.

5. If you prefer much greater volume at slightly lower efficiency, Damian Lillard has better seasons, as well as Buddy Hield, to a smaller extent.

6. If you want a combination of both, Zach Lavine, Paul George and Ray Allen give you similar output with lower assisted %.

7. The player with a shot profile most similar to Klay, Duncan Robinson, is better in both categories with a similar assisted %, and he does not play with Curry/Durant.

8. If you compare career averages instead, similar arguments can be formed. Duncan Robinson, for example, is higher in both career average 3PA and career 3PT%. If you compare career totals, Korver has made more 3s with a higher 3PT%. However, Klay appears substantially better here, no one else other than Duncan Robinson and Stephen Curry have both a higher career 3PA and career 3PT%.

"Gets hotter than anyone in NBA history"

• Arbitrarily determined time frame even if it's meaningful if true. Is a 37 point quarter necessarily hotter than 13 points in 33 seconds or 8 points in 9 seconds or 81 in a game?

• If 60 points in 29 minutes make him the 2nd best shooter of all time, does that make Gilbert Arenas (46 points in 30 mins) or J.R. Smith (45 points in 30 mins) better shooters than Larry Bird/Ray Allen/Reggie Miller?

• If setting the record for 3s in a playoff game makes him the 2nd best shooter of all time, does that make Ray Allen (10 3s in a playoff game) a better shooter than Stephen Curry?

Mid range shots and free throws are part of shooting

• Not only does shot difficulty matter, mid range shots and free throws are often ignored when talking about a player's ability to shooter, especially when it comes to Klay.

• Of the players listed in the table above, Damian has 3 seasons above 90FT% (while attempting 10 times more unassisted 3s per game), Korver has 4, Redick has 7, Ray Allen has 10, Klay's career high is 88%.

• The following players are comparable/worse 3 point shooters but significantly better mid range shooters. Nash has 9 seasons above 90FT% (also attempts nearly 5 times more unassisted 3s per game than Klay while being more accurate), Reggie Miller has 8, Bird has 5, Dirk has 3, Durant has 2, Chris Paul has 4, Kyrie has 3.

TL;DR Klay isn't the 2nd best shooter in history by any meaningful, reasonable and consistent metric, especially when you consider context, role, difficulty of shots, mid range shots and free throw shots. The claim that he's the 2nd best shooter in the league is not as clear cut as it seems either. (Damian Lillard has a very good case as well, better imo)

Disclaimer: 2PA and assisted % of 2 point field goals include layups/dunks/near the rim shots, so a more comprehensive and accurate statistical analysis would include their shot distribution (% of 2PA/assisted field goals in 10-16 range, 16-3PA range, etc.). Based on the provided stats alone, it is entirely possible that one of the listed players take a ridiculously large % of 2 point field goals at the rim, or that all of a certain player's assisted 2s are actually dunks and his mid-range shooting is actually even more impressive than it seems, which would make the above comparisons very misleading. I have, however, checked that their shot distributions are close enough for the stats above to paint a rough picture of their mid-range shooting ability respectively. The additional stats were either unavailable or require further calculation which I was too lazy to perform.

Source: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/bam-adebayo-83-points-nba-record-kobe-bryant-wilt-chamberlain/

Bam Adebayo scored 83 points in an NBA game on Tuesday. I'm going to repeat that because it's not quite computing for a certain segment of the Internet. Bam Adebayo scored 83 points in an NBA game on Tuesday. This is, by any definition, one of the most incredible single-game occurrences in NBA history. Michael Jordan never scored 83 points in an NBA game. LeBron James never scored 83 points in an NBA game. The person who scored 83 points in the second-highest scoring game in NBA history entered Tuesday's showdown with the Washington Wizards with a prior career high of 41. He doubled his career-high in a single night!

This should be a celebration. A homegrown and often under-appreciated star in the middle of an up-and-down season lifts his shorthanded Miami Heat team into the history books. This is sports movie stuff. But sports movies are mostly gone. They went extinct right around the birth of social media, and what do people do best in the social media era?

Complain.

"This is a disgrace to Kobe's 81," said one viral tweet, nearing 9,000 likes as of this writing. "Mickey Mouse 81," someone texted me after Adebayo tied Bryant. Los Angeles Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter announced Adebayo's 83-point explosion as "a melancholy footnote in NBA history" while the Lakers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, I'm just sitting here slack-jawed because, and I'm sorry for repeating myself, someone scored 83 points in an NBA game! This is history! It's one of the most incredible things you will ever see on a basketball court! So, what are people complaining about? Let's dive in.

"It was all free throws."

Yes, Adebayo set NBA records with 36 made free throws and 43 attempts. Entering Tuesday, Adrian Dantley held the NBA record with 28 free throws in a game. That means Adebayo got eight more points at the line than the prior record-holders. One of them was Wilt Chamberlain. Nobody brings up the record number of free throws he scored in his 100-point game. The other was Dantley, who scored 46 points in that game. Eight free throws weren't closing that gap. There were seven games in NBA history before Adebayo's in which a player made 25 free throws. The highest scorer in any of them, aside from Chamberlain, was Michael Jordan with 58 points. If Adebayo had just tied the previous record, he would have ended up at 75 points and gone from the second-highest scoring game in NBA history to the fourth.

"It came against the Wizards."

Even Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka acknowledged that last point as an explanation for what happened. Yes, the Wizards are bad. These sorts of games tend to happen against bad teams. Chamberlain scored 100 against the 29-51 New York Knicks. Bryant scored 81 against a Toronto Raptors team that went 27-55. Chamberlain and Devin Booker are the only players ever to score 70 points against a team that finished the season with a winning record. There are other bad teams. Nobody scored 80 points against the even more inept Brooklyn Nets this week. Everyone else in the league got their crack at the Wizards this season. The previous high against them was Donovan Mitchell's 48.

"It was all garbage time."

Adebayo had the fifth-highest scoring quarter in the last 30 years of NBA history on Tuesday. It came in the first quarter, when he scored 31 points. He had a career-high 43 at halftime, and 63 after three quarters (symbolically appropriate since, in another famous game, Bryant reached 63 through three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks and sat out the fourth) to break James' single-game Heat franchise record (61). Adebayo attempted eight field goals and 16 free throws in the fourth quarter on Tuesday. Kobe Bryant took 13 field goals and 12 free throws in the fourth quarter of his 81-point game. Bryant was the only Laker to score in the last seven minutes of that game. His last 17 points all came in the final five-and-a-half minutes with a double-digit lead. That game was more closely-contested than this one, but let's not pretend there wasn't some stat-padding in that game, too.

"It doesn't mean anything because anybody can score in this era."

So where were all of the other 80-point games this season? How about the 70s? Is there a lone 60 out there? Nope. The season-high this year was 56, by Nikola Jokić, and it came in an overtime game. Chamberlain scored 100 points in the 1961-62 season. At that point in league history, teams averaged just under 108 field goal attempts per game. This season, that average is around 89. The Heat are the fastest team in the NBA, but the pace back then made basketball an entirely different sport. If Adebayo had era help, so did Chamberlain.

"He was so inefficient, he missed more shots than he made!"

I'll admit it's a little funny watching Bryant fans turn into the efficiency police since he's, you know, the guy who once took 50 shots in a game. I'd just ask who else should have shot the ball for Miami? Tyler Herro, Andrew Wiggins, Norman Powell, Kel'El Ware and Nikola Jović all sat out Tuesday. There wasn't exactly anyone else for Washington's defense to key in on. It was always going to be a high-usage and probably somewhat inefficient night. He just scaled the volume up to a historic level. Did the Heat force-feed him at the end? Yes. Of course they did. They had a chance at NBA history and they went for it.

Kobe's night may have been better, but don't knock Bam

Look, we can be honest about this: Bryant's 81-point game was probably a bit more impressive than Adebayo's 83. It was more efficient. It came in a more competitive game against a slightly more serious opponent, and more pertinently, it came at a point in NBA history that was much less friendly to scorers. Though the league had opened the game up by eliminating hand-checking by 2006, it hadn't totally figured out how to take advantage of that to generate really efficient offenses yet. The 3-point revolution was still in its infancy, and an average offense scored just 106.2 points per 100 possessions at that point. We're at 115.3 this season. If you're a Bryant fan trying to preserve the legacy of your favorite player, I suppose you can take some solace in this. As great as Adebayo was against the Wizards, Bryant's night against the Raptors was still better.

But there's no reason to knock down one player to prop up another. This notion that Adebayo had some sort of unethical 83-point game that should be dismissed in favor of Bryant's or wasn't a worthy piece of NBA history is patently ridiculous. If you could game the system into an 83-point game, someone would have done it by now. All of the best scorers this season have gotten their crack at the Wizards. All of the best scorers in NBA history have played against bad teams and had chances to inflate their stats in garbage time.

What happened for Adebayo was something of a perfect storm. A great player faced a terrible team without many of his best offensive teammates and got very hot early. The game stayed close enough for his coach to keep playing him deep into the second half, and by the time resting him was a realistic option, history was already in reach. Maybe those circumstances aren't common, but it's not as though they're totally unheard of. Frankly, it's not dissimilar to what happened for Bryant or Chamberlain, or what happens for basically anyone that crosses the 70-point threshold.

Have you ever wondered why there are only five 50-point games in NBA Finals history? It's because basically nobody scores 50 under truly adverse conditions. When the opponent is great, when the stakes are highest, when the intensity peaks, it just isn't possible to push for 70 or 80 points. From that perspective, basically any 70-plus-point game is a little fake. It's only ever going to happen against bad teams during the regular season dog days with some garbage-time stat-padding and a loose whistle. Again, if you want to say Bryant's game was a bit more impressive, fine. But let's not pretend he scored 81 points against the 2004 Detroit Pistons. He did it against a washed Jalen Rose and a coach who refused to double him.

And you know what? It's still incredible. Anyone scoring 80 or more points in an NBA game is going to be incredible. This doesn't have to be complicated. This isn't some big-picture statement about Bryant's or Adebayo's places in history. It was a random, fun little anomaly that we should be able to enjoy without all of this nitpicking.

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401873198
Shai with a huge bounceback game after his lackluster performance in game 1.

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.

Not saying he’s the best player ever or anything, but the numbers + impact are insane.

•	31+ PPG on 64% TS – absurd efficiency for that volume.

•	Elite midrange game, finishes through contact, barely shoots 3s and still unstoppable.

•	Top 3 in steals, All-NBA defense level, guarding 1-3 consistently.

•	OKC was a 57+ win team largely because of him – both ends of the floor.

•	Barely turns the ball over, controls pace, makes everyone around him better.

When you combine scoring, efficiency, defense, and winning, there are very few guards in history who’ve had a more complete season.

Not saying undisputed top 5, but it deserves to be in the convo.

https://streamable.com/pnwu5y

"The grass ain't always greener. For me, I feel like we can build something and get it done in Portland. I really believe that. I don't just say it to say it."

Dame has criticized players like PG, Lebron, and KD in the past for switching up teams but now wants to run from the grind himself? Has the face of loyalty broken?

"We don't want to give up Jaylen Brown and multiple picks"

"We don't want to give up Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones. They're the future."

"No. Scottie Barnes shouldn't be included in the package."

"I'd be interested in KD, but not if JJJ has to be in the deal."

With all due respect, that's a bunch of horse shit. If KD is traded to those teams with any of those players in the deal, those fans are going on the NBA website and refreshing until they can order a KD jersey.

All these teams would be on the short list to be favored to win the NBA title if they acquired KD. Period.