Tim Duncan was not actually a computer program; we had been discussing him in metaphor. He was a guy, an extraordinarily talented and temperate guy, choosing to put in the work and make all the right decisions. Read more »

Damon Stoudamire was successfully scolded into becoming what other people wanted him to be. Hopefully, though few in the media thought to ask, this is what he wanted for himself too. Read more »

Given the recent history of the union, it is significant that Kyrie Irving is listening to the player body and giving them his voice. It has never been so transparent to see who this players' union chooses to fight for, and what "player empowerment" really looks like. Read more »

When Josh Howard was caught on camera making a tossed-off remark about the national anthem in 2008, the reaction was lazy umbrage-taking and recrimination. Read more »

Shawn Kemp obviously delighted in throwing down dunks, but he was wary of the perception that he was a one-dimensional player. The depressing aspect of this is that he truly was more than a dunker. You only had to watch his games to discover as much. Read more »

You could do a lot worse than Andris Biedrins at the five. For a time, anyway, before he became a mental wreck and literally forgot how to pick up a ball and toss it in the general direction of the rim. Read more »

Josh Smith was damn good, all things considered, but so frequently and heavily lamented that he became more closely associated with his poor decisions than his broad range of talents. Read more »

Averaged out over a fifteen-year period, the contributions of Karl Malone and John Stockton were greater than anyone else's, but at no point during that time were they good enough to beat everyone. Read more »

While Cole Anthony certainly lost status compared to how he was viewed entering his freshman year, his season was by no means a disaster. Read more »

Jermaine O'Neal's career, viewed in hindsight, takes on the shape of a slasher film. He got the rawest cosmic deal of his generation. He sat in Portland, flourished in Indiana, and suffered through an aborted phantom season that could have seen him realize new heights. Then he started to get hurt all the time. Read more »

With the nation on lockdown during a pandemic, turning somewhere nostalgic with "The Last Dance" for their sports fix, this plague of cognitive dissonance is thriving more than it ever has. Read more »

Jason Kidd in his prime was a visceral experience, doubly impressive for the fact that it was also so intellectual: like math rendered miraculously athletic and cool, a peculiar brand of superstardom, manifested in a peculiar venue, at a peculiar time. Read more »

Most of us are, by definition, no more than average, but that doesn't mean we're average all the time, or average the same way everybody else is. Read more »

Jordaniacs galore have dived gleefully into the cracks of his veneer, reveling in the hidden humanity of the man with the perfect smile and the unparalleled on-court artistry, presented to them for so long as not-real. Read more »

It was hard to tell if Eric Snow's steadiness was real or invented. You are, especially in your work, as much what others believe about you as anything else. Read more »

Obi Toppin is viewed as one of those big men who might be special enough to escape the devaluing of the position, especially of those who probably need another big man with them in the lineup to anchor the defense. Read more »

It was a miracle that Steve Francis made it to the NBA, and that miracle was primarily self-delivered. In retrospect, Francis was fighting against a lot more than his id. Read more »

Vintage, high-flying Antonio McDyess in a Conference Final would have been a sight. But time gets away from us, decisions create consequences more permanent than we'd initially imagined. Read more »

For nine years, New York tried to figure out what to make of Allan Houston and unhappily reached the non-conclusion you arrive at when you've traversed enough of the whaling history parts of Moby Dick. Read more »

If asked to close out the season under the context of Las Vegas isolation, individuals would be flattened to one dimension to fulfill the single purpose of playing games: they are entertainers. We are the audience. The roles are explicit. Read more »