The changing of the guard in the NBA is upon us.
Two playoff games Tuesday night represented how the league is making a seismic shift that represents the direction the two oldest dynasties in pro basketball are heading.
Five years ago, the Brooklyn Nets were the worst team in the NBA with a 20-62 record and the Phoenix Suns were the second worst. This morning, both teams look like they are heading for the NBA Finals at the expense of the fading Boston Celtics and the defending world champion Los Angeles Lakers.
The Suns discovered they are better than the team led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, two players who missed more than 50 games of the regular season due to injuries. They blew out the Lakers in game five at home and have the seventh game in the Valley if they need it, which they probably won’t.
With a versatile cast that includes Carolina’s Cameron Johnson, the Suns feature Kentucky’s Devin Booker and former Wake Forest star Chris Paul and a deep bench that allows coach Monty Williams to rotate players without taking their foot off the accelerator.
No small factor is that the Suns’ staff includes NBA veteran coach Mike D’Antoni, giving them an assistant who has led other teams to the playoffs with that style. It’s hard to imagine James hanging it up after his 18th pro season, but the Lakers need more than him and Davis getting healthy to avoid the downward trend.
The Nets are the latest team to boast a big three, and this trio may be the best of all time. Imagine the lowly Nets being able to sign Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, forming a new NBA all-star nucleus supported by a talented complementary roster.
Brooklyn easily dispatched the Celtics, who were playing without star guard Jaylen Brown, but that would have made little difference in the five-game romp over a disappointing team that was once projected to make another dynastic run with a pocketful of draft picks.
Whereas the NBA was considered second to the college game only a few years ago, despite having the best basketball athletes in the world, the league has re-emerged as the most popular professional sport in this country and perhaps across the globe with two one-time doormat franchises now leading the resurgence.
(featured photo via AP/Matt York)
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