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Next up, we have the Warriors’ biggest fan (and douchebag), Matt Tuckness.
Prior to the Heat’s acquisition of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade was by far my favourite player in the NBA. I immediately fell in love with his athletic style and grace after he took an average Marquette program and vaulted them into the Stratosphere. His 2002-2003 Marquette team was the first Marquette team to make it to the final four in 25 years. He was then drafted as the fifth pick by the Heat and at the time I didn’t know much about the Eastern Conference, being a West Coast boy and a Warriors fan. He really opened my eyes to all of the talent in the league and when he was eventually paired with Shaq, I was pumped about the NBA.
Shaq immediately gave Wade the nickname “Flash”, which was perfect for Wade’s style of play. He was all over the floor with his speed and athleticism. I thought he was the best two-way guard in the NBA for a long time, even when Kobe was putting up 35 ppg. He may be the best shot-blocking guard of all time and had a knack for getting the steals as well. Wade put together one of the most clutch finals performances in NBA history and upset a heavily favoured Mavs squad after being down 0-2.
He is the only player to win a Finals MVP on a Finals team that had Shaq on it (couldn’t resist taking a shot a Kobe). He also has one of the greatest regular seasons of all time with 30ppg, 7.5ast, 5reb, 1.8spg, and 1bpg while shooting 49%. Check out Game 3 of the Finals where Wade put up 42 points and 13 boards while putting together a clutch 4th quarter to pull out a big win and turn the series around. Or his impressive game 6 performance with 36 points, 10 boards, 5 assist, 4 steals, and 3 blocks to close out the Mavs in Dallas. Thinking of D-wade and the 2014 Heat just makes me miss Flash more and more.
Mike Bibby
Mike Bibby is the man who man who got me into the NBA. The 2001-2002 Kings with him and C-Webb leading the way was one of my favourite teams. As a bay area boy, my Warriors were bad, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t root against the Lakers. The Kings were my best chance and with C-Webb’s inability to perform in crunch time, it always fell to Bibby to hit the big shots.
Bibby was a solid point guard averaging just under 20 points and 5 assists for most of his time on the Kings, but it was his ability to step up in big games and against the best players that always made me love him. Check out this back and forth with AI in a regular season game. It’s like Bibby stepped up a level to meet AI and even outscore him, which is a tough thing to do. But really, what was great was his playoff clutchness. Unfortunately, YouTube doesn’t remember Bibby as well as I do. Some of these videos may give Ryan a bad taste in his mouth. I still remember it all like it was yesterday.
If it wasn’t for Steph Curry, Chris Paul would be my favourite player in the NBA. Steph would have been on this list, but since he is still working on the earlier half of his career, I’ll have plenty of time to gush about him. There is something special about Chris Paul. He isn’t the most athletic point guard, he doesn’t have a height advantage, and he isn’t a lights-out 3-point shooter. What he is is the best point guard in the NBA. His quickness, vision, mid-range game and ability as a leader make him amazing to watch. He controls the game like no one I have ever seen in the NBA. A guy who can score 30 points or dish out 15 assists depending on what his team needs to win.
It all started right away when he took some average NOLA teams and made them elite in the Western conference. His seasons from 2007-09 were two of the best seasons I have ever seen. He averaged 21 ppg and 11.6 apg, and 22.8 ppg and 11 apg, respectively, over the course of two seasons. The David West-Chris Paul pick and roll combo was one of the most deadly in the league and it felt like he was throwing ‘oops to Tyson Chandler at least once a game.
Some injuries and team turnovers led to a couple of disappointing seasons but Paul looks rejuvenated on the Clippers. Doc has him playing at an elite level again and I would be surprised if the Clippers didn’t make some noise these playoffs with Chris Paul leading the way. Just check out some of these highlights on NOLA.
Tracy Mcgrady
This man may have been one of the greatest scorers of his generation. Mcgrady could put the ball in the basket any way he wanted. At 6’8” he was nearly impossible to guard. I don’t remember much about his days on the Raptors, but I do remember him on the Magic, especially that amazing year where he averaged 32ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 5.5 apg. He took a bad Magic team and made them fun to watch for 4 years. Putting all the legacy arguments aside, he truly was a great player. He also is a very underrated passer, averaging about 5 assists per game during his prime.
Although his teams struggled in the playoffs, he himself never did. He averaged 33.8 ppg and 8.3 apg for one series that the Magic lost. What more can one player do? He also gave us the second most amazing comeback by a single player behind Reggie Miller’s incredible play against the Knicks in the playoffs. In my opinion that’s more impressive, but since Reggie did it in the playoffs his means more. T-mac, down 8 with 40 seconds left, decided he was going to go on the most incredible 3 point shooting hot streak that I have ever seem. This alone vaulted T-mac into my top 4.
Guess the Lakers players!
