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417 sats \ 9 comments \ @Undisciplined 21 May Stacker_Sports

A follow up to my post yesterday #545750 about the passing of the NBA torch

Who's got next?

With a final four of teams led by stars who are all 25 or younger, the time is right for a new face of the NBA to emerge. Personally, I think it's going to be Anthony Edwards, but two of the other young stars are also American (Halliburton and Tatum) and they're both fairly charismatic and photogenic.

Adam Silver must be thrilled by this outcome (just imagine if SGA had advanced, though).

Who do you all think will pry "Face of the League" from Steph and Lebron's cold dead hands?

Bright Future

Just for fun, I wanted to do my All-NBA team of potential future Face of the League:

C: Wemby (despite being French, he's that special) F: Tatum F: Ant-Man G: SGA G: Halliburton

6th man: Brunson

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102 sats \ 5 replies \ @elvismercury 21 May

Hard to see how it's not Edwards -- the combo of ability + charisma is potent. My new favorite thing is how he responds in interviews, e.g., telling Barkley to ~"get his ass" to Minneapolis, and talking about how he ~"told the motherfuckers that he'd see them again for game 7."

229 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 21 May

I also think he's going to be holding up the trophy next month, so definitely the front-runner in my mind.

I'm already sick of the talking heads poo-pooing comparisons to Jordan. I remember Jordan, too, and it was a lot like this. If I were trying to explain Jordan to someone who didn't see him, I'd say "Think about Edwards, but crank it to 11."

113 sats \ 3 replies \ @elvismercury 21 May

I've been thinking about this too; it's an interesting exercise. My take:

Jordan: taller, better athlete, more insanely competitive, better at getting to the basket, more terror-inducing in opponents and in teammates.

Edwards: better handle, better shot, better at inspiring teammates through hope and desire.

I don't know how Jordan was at 23 years old, but I think people are giving Edwards too much favoritism on this one: it should be less about what they're doing at a given age, and more about how many years of NBA experience they have. Edwards has been in training in the league for longer at the same age. That matters.

The most interesting thing to me about AE is that he seems in the same fearlessness ballpark as MJ (you actually believe him when he says he's looking forward to game 7 on the road as a fun challenge). The second most interesting thing is the leadership style: hope, desire, optimism vs fear.

Having been a leader, and having operated under leaders of different stripes in different contexts, the importance of this strikes me in a way it never would have before. It's a tectonic effect and I'm curious to see how it plays out over time, as AE evolves and his circumstances change.

139 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 21 May

The leadership differences are fascinating and I hadn't really thought about it. I would expect Ant's style to be more stable, especially with modern players, over the long run.

The flip side might be that someone like KAT will be in situations where his dumb decisions could cost them a title, because Ant is more inclusive and uplifting, whereas Jordan would have already crushed him or driven him off.

69 sats \ 1 reply \ @elvismercury 21 May

I can see that -- it's one of the most interesting parts of it, I think. In my mind, I think of the leadership questions as: how much can you get out of the people around you? And the Ant-style method seems to be that, whoever's around, you squeeze some more out of them. But maybe that allows people to stick around who otherwise wouldn't be able to take the heat?

There's no universally optimal strategy, of course. My guess is that, in most situations, including the modern NBA, the "high standards + leading by example + encouragement / support" is generally superior to "high standards + leading by example + terror / shame".

92 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 21 May

I agree, but I want to add one more wrinkle to it.

If there are enough available teammates who share the more psychotic Jordan mentality, such that the talent balances out, then their mutual fear of being the weak link could propel them to truly absurd heights.