Having been born in 1989 and grown up in the 90’s and 00’s, I was blessed in my youth to be exposed to what I consider to be one of the best era’s in NBA history. The Michael Jordan era. The Detroit Pistons Bad Boy era. Shaq and Penny. I also have been blessed to have been a part of the era that came after. The Shaq and Kobe era. The Paul Pierce, KG, Ray Allen Celtics era. The Spurs dynasty led by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli. All the way up to present day, where it seems up until laat year the NBA Finals should have been named the “Lebron- Steph Curry Invitational”. You see where I am headed with this. One of the hard parts of being such a die hard, over the top sports fan is the question that lies when each of those periods of time come to an end. What is the state of play in basketball when there is No Michael? No Kobe? Much sooner than later it will be, No Lebron? Well, have no fear NBA fans, the sudden surge of superior talent in the young guys coming up in the league and through the college ranks as well as overseas should tell us that the state of the league is not only just fine, but something to be extremely excited about for many, many years to come.
At the end of each legendary players career, we begin to ask about and search for the next “face of the league”. When Jordan retired, we knew Kobe was taking over. When Kobe’s career was winding down, we knew the league was in good hands with Lebron. So where does the NBA now stand that Lebron is in year 17, although still playing at an extremely high level, but undoubtedly in the last few seasons of his career? The beautiful thing about the future of the NBA is that the young talent is vastly widespread across most , if not every franchise.
Ok, obviously Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best young player in the NBA. He has the Milwaukee Bucks sitting atop the Eastern Conference and poised to make a championship run. He also looks set to take home back to back MVP trophies (well it is definitely close between he and Lebron). It would be easy to say that Giannis is definitely the lead character in the young wave of talent and poised to take the torch from Lebron, but maybe not. Maybe it could be one of the many young men I am about to discuss and mention.
The top 5 players poised to challenge Giannis as the “face of the league” is pretty consistent across the board no matter who you ask. It consists of Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young and rookies Zion Williamson and Ja Morant. There is a case to be made for every one of these guys. I will give a brief synopsis of each players case and at the end, I will let the reader draw their own conclusion from the information given.
Trae Young is in his 2nd year in the NBA and already is a household name. His playmaking ability coupled with a jumpshot that he can pull up and drill from just about anywhere with as hot of a hand as anyone, has made Trae an already top star in the league. Trae is averaging 29.6 points per game to go along with 9.3 assits and 4.3 rebounds. Trae is electric and can get people out of their seats in a hurry, just ask Trevor Ariza. However, his team, the Atlanta Hawks is sitting with the 4th worst record in the NBA and unfortunately for Young, in this day and age, all that matters when sizing up the greats is winning. The Hawks need to build around this young man because he has continued to show he seems to be the real deal.
Jayson Tatum is in the midst of the best season of his young 3 year career and it is not even close. With star point guard Kemba Walker down, Tatum has assumed the role of star player and floor general and has done so phenomenally. He hit a stretch this past week that has not been done since Shaq was in Orlando. He went 3 straight games with over 30 points on at least 60 percent shooting. Think about that. No one since 1994 has done that. He is averaging 7 more points per game and 2 rebounds per game more than last season. Tatum has the Celtics set to be a contender for years to come and if they can win a title or two, then he is definitely atop the list as top dog.
Ja Morant is not going to wow you with the numbers…..yet. What has been incredibly impressive about this kid is both his athletic ability and leadership qualities at such a young age. On more than one occasion this season, Morant has demanded the ball in his hands at the most critical times and delivered. He can catch fire from deep or drive the lane and jump over anybody (see picture above) Morant is averaging just over 17 points a game, but is leading a young Grizzlies team in a playoff chase. His name may not jump off the page at you yet, but the sky is the limit for Morant and I for one am excited to see what he has in store for us in the future.
Zion Williamson’s NBA career is 11 games old, but good god almighty does this kid look special!!! He has already broken records recording 20 or more points in 11 straight games as a teenager. His incredible hops and showtime dunks are great, but I am more impressed at his willingness to go right at the guys defending him showing no signs of timidness, despite some height differences. He has gone right at the likes of Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard with fantastic results. He is showing fantastic power and scoring ability, averaging 24 ppg while shooting 59.3% from the field so far. Any one who had doubt he could compete has been proven wrong and it looks like the Pelicans have found their franchise player to couple with a young foundation of Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram. If he continues on this trend and the Pelicans begin to compete, Zion Williamson could certainly be considered as the top guy when all is said and done.
Luka Doncic is at the head of the class at this point. He has pretty much been a walking teiple-double since coming into the league last year and has only gotten better this season. He is currently averaging 28.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game! He turned 21 just a few short days ago. He has turned a Dallas Mavericks franchise around from laughing stock with their best player in franchise history retiring to right in the middle of the playoff picture in the hands of a once in a blue moon talent leading the way. He leads naturally and makes everyone around him better. Hos ball handling is awe inspiring. If Giannis is not the future face of this league, Luka is. Period.
Before you draw your conclusion based on this article, I would like to state that there are many veterans with many years left that help make the NBA what it is. Kawhi, Harden, Lillard, Steph, KD are all a ways away from calling it quits and are the leaders this league calls upon when it needs them most. They are the ones that answer that call brilliantly. There are also alot of young guys who’s names you do not hear much who are having good young campaigns like Deaaron Fox, Collin Sexton and TJ Warren. There are young men coming through the draft coming up like James Wiseman and Lamelo Ball who are exciting players with good potential. Their presence along with the emergence of the players mentioned above just goes to show that no matter what, it is safe to say this league is among the most competitive it has ever been. It also shows that the NBA is in great hands and when the day comes the NBA needs a new “face”, there is more than one player ready to step up and take it? The only question is who?
To The Rack With Mac 