Welcome back to 7 Days of NBA! This week will be shorter than usual, due to the fact that barely any games actually happened this week, therefore there won't be an MVP or a team of the week. However, I do have some takeaways from the All-Star Weekend and one big move that has happened. Let's jump into this shortened week's major takeaways.
Major Takeaways
1. The All-Star Weekend was Forgettable
I'm as big of a fan of All-Star weekend as anyone, but this year's one-night-only edition just did not feel like other seasons. I will say, it is hard to live up to the amazing game that we had last year with the close finish. I love the Kobe Bryant rule that they added, and I think in most years it will create a 4th quarter where the teams treat it like it is an actual game. Unfortunately, this year's game was a blowout and didn't give us the competition at the end that we all hoped for. Curry and Dame put on a great show from deep, hitting insane shots that made me go "OHHH!!" every time they magically drained each one. Giannis won MVP with 35 points, shooting 16/16 from the field including three 3's. I agree with giving the MVP to Giannis, but it is also hard to overlook the show that Curry and Dame were giving us. Outside of that, I was surprised to not see LeBron play at all after halftime, and there were a lot of missed highlights and sloppy sequences. I know the dynamic of the All-Star game, and maybe I had too high of expectations after last year, but there were stretches were it just felt like a mediocre outing. Before the game, the skills competition was boring, with several players not giving effort besides Domantas Sabonis, who won the competition. The three-point contest followed, and the shooters put on a show. Curry reminded us (not that we needed the reminder) that he is the greatest shooter to ever play basketball. Mike Conley surprised me with a push at the end to give Curry a run, but Curry hit the last ball to give him the win. I enjoyed the 3-point competition, and I think it was the best out of the three contests. During halftime, the dunk contest included three young guys (1 of who had NEVER DUNKED IN AN NBA GAME) and I was extremely disappointed. Almost all of the dunks were things I had already seen before, with some of them just copying old players. Anfernee Simons was the most creative with his 11-ft dunk and *attempting* to give the rim a kiss. Simons deserved to win because of his creativity, but none of the dunks left me with a reaction anywhere near the old contests with LaVine and Gordon. I hope the NBA figures out a way to get the dunk contest back to the way it was, because I struggled to enjoy it this year. One positive of the All-Star weekend was the efforts made to help HBCUs, which I thought was a really good gesture by the NBA to bring awareness to those schools. Outside of that, the All-Star weekend felt mediocre and made me go on YouTube to watch the classic dunk contests to help me get my fix. I hope the NBA can bounce back with a great weekend next season, and I think all basketball fans would love a weekend similar to the ones that we hold great memories of.
2. The Nets Have Built a Superteam
Over the past week, the Detroit Pistons agreed to a buyout with Blake Griffin, allowing him to leave and sign with any team he wants. Blake was generous, giving back some of the money he was owed in the buyout back to Detroit to help them with the rebuild. A couple days later, NBA Twitter legend Woj announced that Blake would sign with the Brooklyn Nets for the remainder of this season. The Nets now have Durant, Kyrie, Harden AND Blake Griffin, which is a team of the biggest names since the Durant Warriors. The Nets are obviously going all in, and adding Blake will help with the frontcourt. I think that Blake will most likely be the starter at power forward, although I could see him being great with the bench unit. Detroit has slipped down the East standings the last few years, and Blake was stuck in a tough situation. I think Blake still has All-Star level ability, especially after seeing how he played when he was an All-Star recently with Detroit. His injuries were a major problem and still have lingering issues, but if he is able to stay healthy, he can be a great addition to the Nets. The interior was the main place that the Nets needed to get help, and Blake is great at getting to the hoop. In my opinion, if everyone stays healthy, I don't see a future where the Nets aren't playing in the Finals in a couple months.
This week will hopefully provide a much-needed rest for a few days for the players and workers in the league, and I look forward to a competitive and fun second half to the season. Thanks for reading, and I will back once again next week!
Standings:
East:
1. 76ers
2. Nets
3. Bucks
4. Celtics
5. Knicks
6. Heat
7. Hornets
8. Raptors
9. Bulls
10. Pacers
11. Hawks
12. Wizards
13. Cavaliers
14. Magic
15. Pistons
West:
1. Jazz
2. Suns
3. Lakers
4. Clippers
5. Trail Blazers
6. Nuggets
7. Spurs
8. Mavericks
9. Warriors
10. Grizzlies
11. Pelicans
12. Thunder
13. Kings
14. Rockets
15. Timberwolves
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