Although their results so far have been inconsistent, the Warriors have been surprisingly good and entertaining to watch this season. I questioned whether the second pick James Wiseman would turn out to be a massive bust, but he already looks to have proved himself at the very least to be a solid starting center in the NBA. However, the biggest story of this young season is the reemergence of Stephen Curry. Many had begun to question his status as an all time great after a slow first couple games, seeming to forget the fact that he hadn't played in an NBA game for quite some time and is without a doubt the greatest shooter and one of the greatest playmakers the game has ever seen. His explosion for a career high 62 points against the Portland Trailblazers a few days ago has quickly silenced the haters and made the world remember, and again begin to appreciate the greatness of Steph Curry. If only Klay Thompson hadn't gotten injured in the preseason, one would have had to wonder how far this Warriors team could have gone in the playoffs. I wrote an article a few weeks ago where I stated my uncertainty over the Warriors future and my belief that the dynasty was over. Although I stand by my sentiments, I wouldn't be surprised if next season's team were again legitimate title contenders. Steph Curry announced that he is back and has plenty left in the tank with a bang. Wiseman along with Kelly Oubre and Andrew Wiggins present an intriguing cast of young running mates. If Thompson can come close to being the player he once was after two gruesome injuries not only will Steph be back next season, but so will the Splash Brothers. Somehow Stephen Curry's greatness is often overlooked, but it appears as though the greatest shooter in NBA history has a chance at making another run to the mountaintop.

The Warriors future outlook looks grim, as we were greeted with unexpected and horrible news on draft night. Klay Thompson struck down with an Achilles tear is out for the season. After tearing his ACL in the 2019 finals it had been a long and arduous rehab. He was on the verge of returning to 100%, but this injury means he may never be the player he once was. Both the Warriors prospects this season and the long term direction of the franchise are now brought into question. They looked primed to return to contention and possibly the finals with Curry, Thompson, Draymond Green and the #2 pick. Now we must question whether the dynasty is over. The load on Steph Curry will be tremendous and only time will tell if #2 pick James Wiseman will morph into an elite NBA player. Curry is no doubt an all time great player and there are enough pieces on this roster to form a competitive unit, but the championship window looks as if it is over. The period a team can be truly great in sports is often fleeting. The Warriors assembled some of the greatest teams in the history of basketball over a five year stretch that produced three championships and the best ever regular season record at 73-9. Many great teams never achieve anything meaningful, and although the Warriors dynasty appears to be on a steady decline it remains one of the most impressive stretches in NBA history.

Nate Robinson was recently turned into a meme by Jake Paul. Only in 2020 is there any way that a former professional athlete loses a fight to a YouTuber. As soon as Nate Robinson jumped out the gate swinging like a mad man in the first round, I knew he would lose. There are reports detailing that this man actually trained before that fight. Upon further investigation, I am pretty sure that those reports are undoubtedly false. If he did train however, Nate’s trainers were either conmen or fake altogether and they shouldn’t be paid! Looking at his offensive game you can clearly see that there was a lack of proper training. In the first round, Nate Robinson literally threw himself at Jake Paul. There was no composure on his part at all. I guess his trainers told him that the game plan was to swing for the fences and hope something lands. The problem with this plan was that even when he did land punches, they did not come in combos. It was like he was only taught how to jab and hug. Did they teach him how to throw a cross? How about an uppercut? Where were the jabs to the body? Now he maybe had one part of the fight where he put together some fundamentally sound punches, but overall his offensive fighting was a disaster. Looking at his defensive game, it was nonexistent. It was insane watching that fight because he literally did so poorly at defending himself that Snoop Dog, who was announcing at the time, literally said “You gotta protect yourself dog”. His trainers should be sued or maybe even arrested because they definitely put his life at risk! The only defense he had was using his head to block the punches! He got put to sleep like a baby, and Jake was the babysitter. Do not get me wrong, I’m glad that Nate Robinson is alright and I wish him the best, but one thing is for sure, his trainers are terrible and they shouldn’t be paid!

Kobe Bryant is the greatest player to ever play basketball period. It a simple fact to understand, but for some reason, many people do not believe this is the case. They say players like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, or even Kareem are the best by far. I have even heard some people say that Kobe is not even the top Laker ever! The disrespect ends now and like everything I present, I have the stats to back it up. Let’s talk about scoring, shall we? Kobe Bryant should be considered the greatest 2nd greatest scorer of all time! Why? Because his individual scoring feats are ridiculous and incredibly difficult to replicate. He has a career high of 81 points, he’s made 13 3s in a game before (a previous NBA record), and has literally outscored an entire team for three quarters of a game by himself. He’s a better a scorer than both LeBron and Jordan because even though it is true that they have a higher points per game total for their careers, you have to take into account the fact that Kobe didn’t start for his first 2 years in the league and he got injured later in his career which both brought his averages down. On an individual performance level, they cannot compare which makes it very hard for them to be better scorers than Mr. Bryant. Now scoring isn’t the only thing that people look at when deciding who is the G.O.A.T. They also look at championships. Kobe has 5, Jordan has 6, and LeBron has 4. People might say that since Kobe has 5 championships there’s no way he’s better than Michael Jordan. If they’re pushing the LeBron narrative, they might also say that since LeBron won against Golden State as an extreme underdog there is no way that Kobe is better than him either. To those people all I have say is championship quality matters. What does this mean? Kobe won his titles in the 2000’s which is largely regarded as one of the most talent rich decades in the history of basketball. Don’t believe me? Look at none other than NBA 2k. In their All-Decade teams, they specifically ranked the 2000s team as the best. This mints Kobe’s championships as ones that were gained through going through the most talent rich time in NBA history, meaning that his championships were some of the most difficult to obtain ever! If these points do not convince you as to why Kobe’s the G.O.A.T then there’s one more: teammates. Michael Jordan had a big 3 that consisted of him Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman during his second time winning 3 championships in a row. LeBron has had a big 3 for every championship he’s earned except this most recent one with the Lakers, and even that was during a bubble. Kobe? Never! Kobe has literally never had a Big 3 to win championships! During his first three it was him and Shaq, during his next two it was him and, the fringe Hall of Famer, Pau Gasol. When it’s all looked at Kobe was a better scorer, had more difficult roads to championships, and did it with worse teams. How in the world is he not regarded as the G.O.A.T by everyone? It is simply insane! RIP to the Mamba, true believers know is Kobe is greatest player of all time! No one comes close period!

The Steelers are 10-0 and yet, some power rankings boards have them at number two behind the Kansas City Chiefs. This is literally their best start in their entire franchise history and there are still doubters to this potentially historical team. One doubter is the self-proclaimed Steeler fan himself, Stephen A. Smith! Why is it the case that he recently declared that these guys were “overrated”? How can an unbeaten team in the NFL be overrated? To determine whether Stephen A. Smith is correct let’s check the stats. As of right now the Steelers are behind the Seahawks, Chiefs, and Packers in total offensive TDs for the season. That means they’re top four in the league when it comes to scoring. Sounds very elite. On the defensive side, the team’s opponents totaled the third fewest passing yards, and the seventh fewest rushing yards against them. Those numbers mean that their defense is elite as well. Hmm, well if both their offensive numbers and their defensive numbers statistically point to them being elite then that means they must be elite instead of overrated, right? Well we still have one more thing to look at, strength of schedule. Just looking at the stats, it seems that their biggest flaw is that they’ve played easy teams all year besides the Titans and Ravens. So, it’s actually pretty easy to post good numbers against teams like: Dallas whose starting QB is out for the season and the Jaguars, who seem to think losing is better than winning now. Overall are these guys overrated? I’d say so because it’s incredibly easy to look good when your schedule is one of, if not the easiest in the league. Sure, they beat the Titans and the Ravens this year, but that’s football. Any team can get lucky on any given night, just ask Eli Manning how he won his super-bowls. The fact of the matter is that the Steelers won’t go undefeated this season and are overrated because once they face a truly battle tested team like the Chiefs, they will go back to the irrelevancy from which they came. Sorry Steelers fans, but this isn’t your year.

Michael Jordan cleaned up during this drafted by picking what many said was the best player in the draft: LaMelo Ball. This guy is not only talented but also has had a large amount of professional experience overseas. LaMelo is clearly NBA ready as he was number one on most draft boards before falling to Jordan’s Hornets at number three. In addition to this Charlotte drafted some good young talent in Vernon Carey Jr and Grant Miller. Overall since Jordan got the steal of the draft with a side of good young talent, Charlotte’s draft performance is number one by far!

You heard it here first that the Lakers will repeat and LeBron James will get his fifth ring by the end of this upcoming season. The recent trades and signings that Rob Pelinka aka LeGM made, because we all know that LeBron is the real GM of the Lakers, seem like something that would only happen in NBA 2K. The Lakers have literally made their team lightyears better than what they used to be in the span of a couple days. First, they got rid of Mr. No Clutch himself, Danny Green, and replaced him with Dennis Schroder. This trade sent an ageing and increasingly unreliable 33 year-old Danny Green away along with a draft pick for Dennis Schroder who posts similar numbers and is 27 entering his prime. Just this trade alone makes the Lakers a better team because unlike Danny, Dennis doesn’t miss wide open clutch threes. But wait there’s more! After doing this LeGM showed once again why he went to eight straight finals by acquiring Montrezl Harrell, Wesley Matthews, and Marc Gasol! These guys are all solid players that are immediate upgrades to a defending championship team. In addition to this the Lakers re-signed their clutch piece KCP and maintained a valuable trade asset in Kyle Kuzma. If they somehow manage to re-sign Markieff Morris then their offseason has been perfect. Now there might be some naysayers who think that another team has a shot at beating the Purple and Gold next year. These naysayers, like well known LeBron hater Skip Bayless, might say teams like the Nets, Bucks, or even the highly-overrated Clippers have a shot. Let’s be honest team chemistry goes a long way in the NBA, and neither of these proposed teams have a true leader or the talent to knock off this new and improved Laker squad. It’ll be an uphill battle for sure regardless of what team faces the Lakers this year. With all this said, there is absolutely no way that the Lakers don’t repeat. If I was a betting man I’d say put a huge amount of money on the Lakers winning it all next year because the way things are looking, no one will stand even a remote chance at dethroning them. LeBron is getting five that’s not a prediction it’s a fact.

What’s up with Paul George? On paper the guy is easily a top 10 player in the NBA, and yet he continues to falter when it matters most in the playoffs. Early in his career with Indiana his teams had some success, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the Big Three in Miami. These days, that success seems like a lifetime ago as the moniker Playoff P has become an ironic representation of his incompetence in the playoffs. Both years in Oklahoma City paired with an MVP in Russell Westbrook they failed to make it past the first round, with Damian Lillard infamously draining a series winning three over George in 2019. The same year George finished top 3 in MVP voting and made the All NBA first team. This past season George and Kawhi Leonard on the Clippers seemed like the team to beat, until George completely disappeared like never before in the playoffs. In the pivotal game 7 against Denver he went 2/11 from three and 4/16 overall. Basketball is obviously a team game and other important players like Kawhi Leonard failed to step up in pivotal moments, but Playoff P is in a class all his own when it comes to playoff failures. His corner three that hit the side of the backboard in that same game 7 was emblematic of his play the whole series. I’m surprised he didn't get any job offers as a stonemason with the amount of bricks the dude was putting up. All jokes aside, Paul George has the talent and physical tools to dominate any game he’s in, but so far in his career when the lights are brightest he and his teams have been mediocre. There is still time for George to turn around the narrative surrounding his legacy in the NBA, but for the moment he is without a doubt “Playoff P”, the guy who sucks in the big moments