heatcheck

#Wondershare #Filmora #MadeWithFilmora Start editing now using Filmora FOR FREE: https://bit.ly/3BTsrc7 Explore more Filmora's amazing features here: https://bit.ly/3eSn6Zu It’s unanimous at this point that this is the guy we all think of when talking about long range bombs. However if we check the data for the longest average distance of 3 point attempts, Steph Curry is number 5 on that list. So can you guess the others? Who fires away from waaay downtown on a consistent basis? Some of these players will definitely surprise you. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. At number 8, Lebron James is one of the usual suspects because of shots like this one. His famous look down to his hand before suddenly rising up from deep has become a signature shot for James these past couple of seasons. Also what he loves to do is fire away as the shot clock is running down, with no pressure to make it but often these do go in. Similarly, Darius Garland has the exact same average distance as Lebron but he connected on 38.3% of those attempts catching the entire league by surprise last year as he made the leap to almost 22 points per game and his first all star selection. The fact that he can knock it down from over here, opens up a lot of space both for him to penetrate, as well as for his teammates. Moving on, Kristaps Porzingis started out the season in Dallas blasting away shots from far out, and he kept the same energy on his new team the Washington Wizards. You see that a lot of these threes come off of a high pick, and since Porzingis has that preference for the pop instead of the roll, he finds himself way out here and with nobody close to contest. So the latvian lets it fly. At 31% however I don’t know if you should have a steady diet of long range shots. As mentioned, at number 5 we got Steph Curry, who has become so synonymous with these shots, that it’s almost disappointing that he’s not number 1 but instead just top 5. But naaah, there’s definitely nothing disappointing in these swishes, and especially winning the championship. Now here is a forgotten player. Not only did Eric Gordon have the 4th longest average distance of his three pointers last season, but he made a blistering 41.2% of those shots. That’s phenomenal considering where he flings them from. When I saw him on this list I was like, wow he really is forgotten, why aren’t contending teams interested in him. He could provide a great offensive boost. And then I saw his contract. He’s making 19.5 million this year and 21 million in the final year of his contract next season. So yeah, I guess he’ll stay in Houston. I’m sure most of you had Luka Doncic on this list, and he’s actually in the top 3. Of course he would be with his patented stepback shots from everywhere on the court. You see how high these rainbow threes go before dropping straight through the net causing the entire arena to erupt. At 35.3% in my opinion he could benefit from just a touch better shot selection, but at the same time, watching these go in- it’s no wonder why he’s got the ultimate green light. At number 2, I’d say Lamelo Ball is another unexpected guy especially to see him this high. Not only the shot distance, but especially the high percentage. I’m fascinated how both Lamelo and his brother Lonzo came into the league with their outside shot as their main weakness, but they’ve worked hard to improve to the point that now they’re both great 3 point shooters. But as you can see, Lamelo is far more confident and has no problem to let it fly even from the Wizards logo right here. Nothing but the bottom of the net. And while there have been a few surprises, at number 1- there’s no doubt that this guy was one of the first to come to mind when guessing the players with the longest average 3 point distance. At 27.5 feet or 8.38 meters, Trae Young shot from furthest out in the entire league last season. And of course at 38.2% from downtown, Ice Trae made a lot of threes. What more can you say about these fireballs that he throws each and every night. Trae is another superstar with his signature shot being the logo three. Before we go I gotta give a special shoutout to Tyrese Haliburton. He was number 9 by average 3 point distance, but connected on 41.4% from downtown, the most efficient out of all the players on this list. Although his form looks a bit strange, he fires away and hits them with great accuracy. Let me know in the comments how many you got, and who surprised you the most. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Having yet another horrific shooting season especially from downtown, Russell Westbrook had fans calling him Westbrick to his face. But now this video is going viral of him being lights out in practice, and actually having different, far better shooting mechanics. Unfortunately, I have to pump the breaks on this, and inform you that this is not the real Russell Westbrook. No, he doesn’t have a twin so let me explain. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. First things first, let’s break this form. I like the quicker release while going up and doing that with a much smaller jump. This is far better than some of his usual shots where he jumps so high and releases late, as if he’s jamming the shot button for too long on 2k. And even tho this is still a 2 motion shot, with the clear break of the movement happening right here, it’s much less pronounced and the overall rhythm is way better. Proper footwork has never been a strength for Russell. He is one of the best at accelerating and has amazing top speed, but when it comes to stopping Westbrook is painfully bad at it. That’s how you see these spectacular offensive fouls where he barrels straight into the defender and floors him. My point with this is that you see the glitchy footwork and the inability to stop on some of these shots as well. Instead of a simple 1-2, look at all the quick little choppy steps that he does to finally stop at the line. This is without defense, without pressure, nothing. But regardless, a lot of these are going in, and there’s a good mixture of catch and shoot and off the dribble, even with a screener. So what’s the issue, why is this not the real Russell Westbrook? Well, last offseason there was a similar highlight of the brodie with a nice looking form, swishing shot after shot. I made a video about it at the time and showed you that this is the same shot that he has in warm ups. When he’s relaxed, with time to focus and with no defense. But he didn’t shoot like this during the actual games, so as we all know, he ended the season with an abysmal 29% from behind the arc. And this is the case for a lot of NBA players. Watch how Steven Adams looks like a natural 3 point shooter here. The form is great, the shots go in, and if you didn’t know him, you would think that he’s a legit stretch 5. In reality Adams is a career 1/14 from downtown, he doesn’t make them and doesn’t take them in games. And even ya boi is a sniper in practice, tho admittedly the form is absolutely atrocious. I made 43 out of 100 shots for this video that went live on my second channel. And this is a nice opportunity to let you know that I will try it out again soon, and will resurrect that second channel so stay tuned. That’s it for Westbrook but while on this topic, let’s end it with a streak and see how much I can make right here. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Kyrie Irving has some of the best handles in NBA history, but this is straight up disrespecting your opponent. Pulling off a streetball move in an NBA game is almost blasphemous, but Steve Francis did it often. And combining a Kyrie Irving type of handles with Ja Morant type of nuclear explosiveness, Steve Francis was one of the most electrictifying players of the 2000s. And there were a few others from that era that deserve their own video. So sit back, cause this is going to be fun. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Besides his talent and the career 18 points per game, what really made the Franchise super popular among fans was his flashiness. Oftentimes he would cross an opponent but then instead of going forward, Francis would come back for another move, just like they did it on the streets. He didn’t just have great handles, but was disrespectful with it. This showmanship would stop the offensive flow, so his teammates and especially coaches didn’t enjoy it, but the fans absolutely loved it. And even tho he was only 6-3 or 190, Francis was freakishly athletic. He would go full speed to the rim and catapult for a dunk regardless of who was in front. The smaller size, and his ability to contort his body mid air, made for some stunning looking dunks. This was the reason why Francis was invited to the Slam Dunk Contest as a rookie. And actually did great, but he will forever be overshadowed by one of the greatest performances in Slam Dunk history by Vince Carter. Still, the offensive production and especially the style made him a 3 time All Star while on the Rockets. But the lack of success and only 1 playoff appearance, which was a first round exit, was the main reason he got traded from Houston to Orlando to the Knicks. And from then on, it’s pretty much downhill for him as attitude issues and injuries plagued him during those years. Francis only played 9 seasons in the league and this is probably why he’s often forgotten in NBA conversations. Next up is a player that was a star in the NBA, but a legend in China. This is one of my all time favorite dunks and super underrated in my opinion. A reverse alley oop, one handed flush all that by a 6-2 or 188 Stephon Marbury. And this is one of my all time favorite passes and the sole reason for me throwing away countless turnovers on the playground. Starbury is another player with an insane career mixtape. When you think of speed, Allen Iverson is the guy that comes to mind from that era, but in his New Jersey Nets years, Stephon was just as unguardable with his lightning quickness, the crossover, and he also had the tremendous hang time for dunks but to me just as spectacular up and under layups. Kobe, Shaq and the Lakers witnessed all of this in 2001 and saw Marbury count to 50 on his point total, which would end up being his career high. Although he was only a 2 time all star, Steph made it count as one of those appearances was possibly the greatest all star games in NBA history, as the East came back from down 21 in the fourth all the way to win it in dramatic fashion, and the catalyst for that was Marbury himself who came up super clutch hitting 2 threes in a row in the final moments of the game. A career 19 point and 7 and a half assist player, Marbury provided a lot of excitement for the crowd whether that was during his early days in Minnesota, his peak with the Nets, and the Suns, or his NBA decline with the Knicks where he was actually teammates with Steve Francis. And similarly, his attitude had a lot to do with him ending his NBA career at only 31 years of age. His basketball story was far from over tho, as Stephon achieved true legendary status in China where in 9 seasons won multiple championships, and became so beloved and iconic there, that they even built him a statue. Moving on. If this guy played in today’s social media era, he would have broken twitter. You’ve all seen possibly the greatest pass in NBA history by Jason Williams. Thing is, he gave us something similar each and every night. That was just his style of play that was light years ahead of his time. Put him in today’s NBA and he still would be the flashiest. Look at this- a crosscourt behind the back pass on the money for the layup. A casual, wrap around lookaway throw similar to the one from Stephon Marbury. And how do you even think of the idea of attempting this hop, fake behind the back into a jumper for the swish. J-Will made a legendary defender in Gary Payton attempt to trip him after he was left in the dust on this iconic play. With all that flavor in his game, White Chocolate is one of the most perfect NBA nicknames.

What if I told you that an NBA player managed to pull off the impossible. A statline of 0 seconds played and 1 turnover. How is that even possible? At the end of a close game against the Lakers, Toronto’s coach at the time Dwyane Casey inserted Rasual Butler for the first time to inbound the ball. Butler couldn’t find anyone so he called a time out. But the refs decided this was a 5 second violation. So Rasual was then subbed back out and since the clock doesn’t start until he passes the ball Butler finished the game with the stats of 0 seconds and 1 turnover. Crazy right? Sit back I’ve got much more of these. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Watching these highlights of the 2004 All Star game, the nostalgia hits hard. Superstars like Kobe, Lebron, Iverson, Mcgrady, KG, Yao Ming. At the time the high flying Vince Carter was always the top vote getter for this game. But who would you say was a close second? Well let me help you out and tell you that it’s none of the guys I just mentioned. Unbelievably right behind Vince was Ben Wallace. Yeah a defensive minded center with 9 points per game. It’s crazy how popular he was, as well as that Detroit Pistons squad. They actually led the league in attendance for 8 straight seasons. In March 2007, Kobe went ballistic and scored 4 consecutive 50+ point games. In Fact he started off with 65 against the Blazers, a 50 piece against the Timberwolves the night after,then 3 days later got another 60 point game on the road against the Grizzlies, and the next day another 50 on the Hornets in New Orleans. On the other hand, Dwyane Wade only had 3 such games in his entire career. Vs the Magic, Jazz and the Knicks. So as wild as it sounds, Kobe had more 50+ games in 1 week, than Wade had in his entire career. Moving on. Throughout the years, the Magic have had a few superstars on their team. From Shaq and Penny, to Tracy Mcgrady to Dwight Howard. All of these have managed to record a triple double for this franchise. But none of them is the all time leader in this category. Believe it or not, that is Elfrid Payton. Payton had 8 triple doubles in an Orlando uniform which is more than all of these legends combined. Speaking of unexpected, Kelly Oubre has a game with 9 made 3’s which is more than Kevin Durant and LeBron James who have games with 8 made triples. This sounds extremely weird even tho James is not known for his 3 point shooting, and that is especially the case when we talk about KD who is lethal from outside. Bruce Bowen was a crucial piece of the Spurs’ championship runs in 2003, 2005, and 2007 as one of the league’s best defenders. However, one strange fact about him is his inability to make his free throws. Bowen shot a horrific 57.5% for his career despite being a terrific 39.3% shooter from downtown. The most improbable thing would happen for him during the 2002-2003 season when Bowen led the league in 3 point efficiency with a fantastic 44.1% But on the flip side, his free throw shooting was abysmal at only 40.4%. And with that, he had a season where he shot better from outside, than from the free throw line. Unbelievable. One of the teams that I wish won a championship was the Russ and KD Thunder. They were amazing to watch in their last season together. But did you know that in their first season together the 08-09 OKC Thunder started 3-29. That’s right 3 wins in 32 tries. By the end of that season, they finished with a 29-53 record. But the very next year exploded for a 50-32 record. One of the craziest single season turnarounds of +21 wins. They got to the playoffs and even tho lost to the champions that year, the Los Angeles Lakers, the league took notice and saw the incredible talent that was on this team. That season the 9 rotation players had an average age of 23 years. And Wilt Chamberlain was 50 when he got an offer to come back to the NBA. 13 years after his retirement, the New Jersey Nets contacted Wilt’s agent to see if he was willing to play out the remaining 7 games of that season for an offer of 360 thousand dollars. As Chamberlain would say it himself, he kept himself in phenomenal shape. Working out and playing some kind of sport almost every day. That’s incredible. Tho this was never finalized and he didn’t make a comeback, you can see from these clips that he would have been able to play even at 50. Speaking of all time greats, we all know that the Finals MVP award is named after the late great Bill Russell, but as counterintuitive as this sounds, during his 11 championships with the Boston Celtics, Russell was never named the MVP of the finals series. Wow. Next, here’s a nice little trivia for you: Who do you think has the most 3 pointers made in the last 5 seasons?

Patrick Beverley got his wish and he’s headed to the Lakers. So are they really going to the conference finals this year? His impact on a team is undeniable, but with the Lakers, the situation is much more complicated. So let me break down the good, the bad, and the ugly from this trade. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. At face value LA is getting a solid member of the starting lineup. He is a typical 3 and D guy. While that may catch someone by surprise, Beverley’s outside shooting has been very good throughout his career. As you can see, for the past 7 years he’s been knocking it down from outside. Besides the slight dip from last year, every other season he was in the high 30s and even 2 years reaching the 40% mark. That’s impressive. Sure, he doesn’t let it fly as often as Curry or Dame, but he doesn't have to of course. Just be ready for the Lebron kick out, and swish it. And you know what Lebron James and Anthony Davis would appreciate? The fact that even in a bit of a down year at least for him, Pat Bev still shot 38.5 on catch and shoot threes, and a mind blowing 47.3% on corner threes, although again emphasizing that this was on low attempts. Still, for a team that severely lacked in the defense and 3 point shooting departments, this is a welcomed upgrade. And on the topic of defense, this is how important that is. Golden State and Boston the 2 finalists had the number 1 and number 2 defenses in the league. Their conference finals opponents Miami and Dallas were number 4 and number 7. That’s elite. The Lakers on the other hand were among the worst in this category. And you know already- with defense, it’s the effort, the energy, taking charges, locking people up, getting under their skin, doing the dirty work. All things that Beverley excels at, despite Russell Westbrook disagreeing with it. And speaking of Russ, this is how we get to the ugly part of this video and the trade. How can these now teammates coexist without imploding the entire team. What these Westbrook and Beverley have going on between them, is far greater than a rivalry or a beef. 1 guy injured the other and from that point on it has been a flat out mutual despise displayed on the court as well as through the media. How can it go from this, to seeing each other every single day and playing on the same team. I can only imagine that some of the passes from one of them to the other would be like this. So then why would the Lakers do that? Well, Remember these rumors? The Lakers get Myles Turner and Buddy Hield, and the rebuilding Pacers take on this final year of Wesbrooks contract for the price of 2 picks from LA. Rob Pelinka did not want to give away that last pick and that’s the only reason the trade didn’t go through. But could this mean that he finally changed his mind? These 2 things are certain: Either they finally execute the trade and send Russ to Indy, or Pelinka, the Lakers fans, and all of us fans are in for a circus show in LA next season. And booy I hope that the GM of a team is into trades and not into circus shows. What do you think? Will Westbrook be traded or can these 2 coexist together. Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Would you believe me if I told you that there’s an NBA player who’s been wearing the same pair of socks inside out specifically, for every game and has never washed them? Wait what? Well in a recent article by Bloomberg, performance trainer Damon Goddard talked about bizarre habits of some of his clients and this is by far at the top of the list. Goddard would not reveal who that player is, but I conducted an investigation, and some of the findings will shock you. These are some of the most awkward NBA pre-game rituals. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Mike Bibby had an obsession with trimming his fingernails on the bench. This is not even before the game, but right in the middle of it. Much like Lebron, Bibby also had a nasty habit of biting his nails, and someone from the Kings suggested that he at least used a nail clipper. So while taking a breather on the bench, you could see Mike giving himself a manicure. Jason Terry had a whole pre-game routine that started the night before the game. The Jet would go to bed wearing the opposing team’s shorts as his pajamas. Michael Jordan famously wore his North Carolina shorts underneath the Bulls uniform, and this was even mentioned in the movie Space Jam. Speaking of gross, to battle his insane soda addiction, Caron Butler started to chew plastic straws. Butler even played with the straw in his mouth like it was chewing gum. He got so into it to the point that he had a favorite type which were the Mcdonalds straws, and could differentiate which one is which, all while being blindfolded. Good for him I guess, but this is straight up bizarre. So let’s go back to the article. Jacob Neely- another personal trainer told Bloomberg that one NBA player listened to Rihanna’s Work on repeat for a full year of training. A song that 80% of the lyrics is WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK… this is a recipe for a brain explosion. Even tho again there’s no naming names, let’s dig deeper and try to remember who was so obsessed with posting Rihanna lyrics, who asked her out on a date through Twitter repeatedly for like 2 years. And even photoshopped images of them 2. Oh riiight that was Joel Embiid. So it may or may not be him, but for this to be another player, how much bigger of a Riri fan could he be? So after convincing myself that I successfully solved this puzzle, I took on the ultimate challenge. To find which player is the proud owner of the never washed, and most foul smelling socks in NBA history. After hours of reviewing video footage and digging through different images online, the clues led me to 3 NBA stars. These are clear photos of Jayson Tatum wearing these white socks inside out, all in different games as you can tell from the shoes. But while initially I suspected it could be him, upon further research, I also found images of him wearing black socks as well. So obviously he switches them up, and I continued my search. I went to Goddart’s Instagram profile, and besides his everyday life photos, there are also some of his clients. And there’s Kristaps Porzingis. So obviously they’ve worked out together. And taking a closer look- during his time with the Mavs, Porzingis almost exclusively wore these white socks with an orange line, and he always rolled them down a bit. This was extremely interesting and I was starting to believe that he may be our guy, but then I saw this. A 2015 tweet from ESPN’s Dave Mcmenamin, revealing that Kyrie Irving has been wearing these same socks under those classic NBA ones every game. And in this photo, even in the hospital bed. Is this the deciding clue? Was I looking in the wrong place this entire time for the exposed socks on the outside, when in fact, it was the pair underneath that was crucial. Is Kyrie Irving our mystery player, or does some of you out there know the real answer to this puzzle. If so, join in on this investigation with your clues that will help to confirm or deny my theory. This is the type of in depth analysis that we’re doing in the dog days of the NBA off season. Still a quality one if you ask me. This took a lot of effort so hit that like button and subscribe for more. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

On June 24th Ja Morant posted this simple tweet. Easy Money. You wouldn’t think anything of it, but if I told you this is Kevin Durant’s nickname, and his social media username, things start to get a bit more interesting. Interesting because Morant tweeted out the exact same thing just moments after KD requested a trade. All of this of course is not a coincidence, so did Ja know something that none of us did at the time? And does this explain the newest info from Shams Charania who revealed the Memphis Grizzlies as another serious candidate to land KD. Let me break down just how they plan on doing it, and what are their chances. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. As if the Kevin Durant drama hasn’t been wild enough, Shams dropped another bombshell. Memphis has five first-round draft picks available out of which 4 are unprotected. This is a nice collection of draft picks and they could use some in combination with some of their young players like Jaren Jackson Jr, Desmond Bane, Ziaire Williams or Brandon Clarke. This is where things get a bit problematic for the Grizzlies however. A serious offer would have to include Jackson and Bane, but despite Ja Morant’s obvious desire to play with Durant, Charania reports that Memphis will not include Jackson or Bane in a potential offer for KD, and instead is offering a package based on their picks. This is highly unlikely to get the job done. Look at this, every franchise KD’s played for- he holds the record for points per game. we’re talking about the most elite scorer in the game. Brooklyn already made it known during the Celtics negotiations exactly what they’re after. Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and then some draft picks. So the Grizzlies would need to update their offer for things to get more interesting. But luckily for us, Bill Simmons has some interesting and exciting updates on this topic. That all sounds intriguing but to me a package from Philly based around Maxey and Tobias Harris is nowhere near as interesting as the one based on Jaren Jackson and Desmond Bane. Also, like we talked about a few videos ago, Golden State has a ton of assets. Possibly even more attractive for Brooklyn. They could decide to keep the core and offer great young pieces like Poole, and anyone from Wiggins, Kuminga, Moody. Or even spicier- the Warriors could trade away Klay or Draymond who’s already talking about asking for the max next season. If I’m the GM I would not lock that much money into a soon to be 33 year old Green. Luckily for Golden State however I am not the GM, and instead just a guy making youtube videos. So as this saga continues, we got many more teams into the race for KD, and I’ll be sure to keep you updated. Let me know in the comments which package would you accept if you’re the GM. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

This has to be the most insane thing you’ve ever seen on a basketball court. What starts off as a basic free throw setup, takes a wild turn as one player from the blue team lays it in on her own basket. This turns into a circus show, as both teams completely switch sides and now the white team takes the ball out. And stunningly, nobody notices. Not the refs, not even the coach who’s calmly following the action and signals the classic “No foul at the end of the quarter”. In a once in a lifetime situation- the blue team is playing defense as their opponent is eager to score a bucket before time runs out. Finally the other coach stops the game and puts an end to this debacle. There’s many more of these unimaginable situations that happened on a basketball court. And today we’ll go through some of them. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. This is Bogdan Bogdanovic playing 3 on 5 in the 4th quarter of a finals game. In 2014 the stage was set for a finals series showdown between Serbia’s eternal rivals Partizan and Red Star. And right from the start in game 1 the intensity was through the roof. This culminated in a brawl with players of both teams throwing punches. You can see Boban Marjanovic towering over everyone playing peace maker but to no avail. There’s another familiar face here and that is Davis Bertans who had just fouled out. This whole chaos lasted for more than an hour, as referees decided to finish the game off without fans, to avoid a malice in the palace scenario. Partizan and Red Star fan groups were escorted by the police with some time separation in between of course to avoid a clash outside the arena. Finally, after reviewing the tape, and ejecting all the players involved in the incident, the game continued 5 on 3. In a bizarre display of basketball that looked more like a training drill in an empty gym, the 2 teams traded baskets and the game remained close. Having the 2 player advantage, Red Star constantly double teamed Bogi, as you can see in these sequences. But Partizan still scored. What’s even more interesting is the Red Star offense, as they moved the ball back and forth along the perimeter, as their opponent tried to zone up on them and at least protect the basket. You see possession after possession, they all looked the same, with endless amount of passes between the 2 players up top, eventually ending with a 3 point shot. Unfortunately there’s no footage online, but due to fouling out this game ended as a 4 on 2 matchup. In this previously unseen turn of events, Bogdanovic and his team lost the game, tho they came back and won the championship. Years later the same thing happened again in the NCAA. Something that Colin Sexton will remember forever. In a similar scenario due to an altercation, Sexton and his team were left playing the last 13 minutes 5 on 4. Things got even worse for them as his teammate got injured so now it was 5 on 3. Down by 15 it would be so easy to wave the white flag and just play out the remaining minutes in a situation like this. But instead, Sexton went hero mode. Possession after possession Colin fired away impossible shots and swished them. Each one being more incredible than the previous. As they came back all the way to down 3, the crowd and the announcers went crazy. Although Alabama eventually lost the game as well, all credit went to them and their leader Sexton for this heroic effort. During Chicago’s unstoppable era with MJ, weaker teams had to get creative in order to compete. So Don Nelson implemented the hack a Rodman, since free throws by a 58% career shooter from the line is far better than Jordan dunking and fading away on them all night. This is where Bubba Wells comes into play for the sole reason of fouling Rodman. You can see even Nelson himself intervened and pointed to the coaches that his guy is committing a foul the first time. From then on, Bubba was glued to Dennis, and even fouled him even as Rodman was standing out of bounds. Wells would spend his 6 fouls instantly and lasted only 3 minutes on the court. This went down in NBA history as the quickest a player has ever fouled out of a game. You can see that everyone got a kick out of it, from Phil Jackson, to Rodman, and even Bubba himself laughing on the bench with his teammates after he fouled out. To his credit, he managed to score a bucket in that short amount of time, so he ended the game with 2 points. When the Lakers faced the Cavs in 2014 they only had 8 available players, mainly due to injuries. At the end of the first half however, Nick Young goes down with an injury as well, so now it’s down to 7. Jordan Farmar also gets injured in the 3rd quarter and they’re down to 6 players for the remainder of the game. Chris Kaman being the only one on the bench at this moment, took a little nap while the game went on.

Lebron James is very close to becoming the all time leading scorer in NBA history, and will most likely achieve that this season. But he will also climb among the all time greats in several other categories, further cementing his legacy. So let’s go through them. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. With 37062 points James is number 2 all time and needs just 1325 points to pass Kareem Abdul Jabar, which is only 16.5 ppg if he plays 80 games, and 22 ppg if he plays 60. Last season Lebron averaged 30 PPG in 56 GP, so we can at least expect 25 PPG. At that pace assuming that he will not miss any games, the record should fall sometime in late January. Even if he does take some games off, going off of this math, I think it’s safe to expect 22 points per game from James in about 60 games. This will finally give him one of the most elusive NBA records, and one that we all thought would never be broken. Hopefully Kareem will be healthy enough to attend the game and pass the torch to the NBA's new all-time scoring leader. But as much as the scoring record is a goat accomplishment, something that really speaks about Lebron’s greatness is the fact that he’s 7th all time in assists. Not only that but we could expect him to move up to number 4 this season which is mind boggling. With 10045 assists James needs just 97 to pass Magic Johnson, 290 to go past Mark Jackson, and 291 to overtake Steve Nash. And since he finished last season with 350 dimes, we can absolutely expect this. Just think about all of the playmaking legends in NBA history that are behind Lebron- the guy who’s also gunning for the scoring record. Unbelievable. The top 3 point gods however are very tough to crack. Chris Paul will likely play more or less as long as him and as you can see, James needs at least 2047 assists to get to Jason Kidd, and even more for Stockton. So even tho it’s safe to say that he will end his career at the number 4 spot, to me this speaks louder for Lebron’s career than almost any other stat. We are talking about point gods, and all of a sudden the greatest scorer in NBA history appears on the list. 3 point shooting is not the first thing you think of with James, but as you can see from some of the names on this list, longevity plays a big role. At the moment Lebron is 11th all time in 3 pointers made with 2140. A similar output to last season’s 161 threes would put him at number 7 all time, since we can safely assume that Damian Lillard would hit more threes than James- now that he’s healthy. Admittedly, this is a tricky category and will change a lot until Lebron retires. With the 3 point explosion in the NBA, players like Klay Thompson will close the gap and may overtake him in the meantime. Still, another top 10 category all time for James. The King is also number 11 all time in steals. With 2136 he needs just 27 to climb past Hakeem Olajuwon and officially get into the top 10. Based on last year’s number of 80 steals that he had, it’s possible that he passes Clyde Drexler as well for 9th place as he only needs 72. Dr J, Scottie Pippen and Mo Cheeks are all within reach for the 23-24 season. And last but not least, being 42nd all time in rebounds seems unimpressive and boring. That’s how great his other accomplishments are.But with 10210 total rebounds, if he gets close to replicating the 460 from last season, Lebron could crack the top 35 all time. Almost all players in the top 50 are centers and power forwards, and considering that rebounding has never been seen as one of James’s best abilities- having more boards than many hall of fame big men is an incredible achievement. So from an individual standpoint, this season is going to be big for Lebron, and whether team success comes with that, it remains to be seen. Just a fun challenge at the end, predict in the comments when do you think he’ll break the scoring record. I say around February 24th. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

At 2:30pm Eastern time on August 8th, Chams Charania posted a breaking news story about KD’s ultimatum. So naturally, the entire sports media exploded, and they all wanted to get their takes out. That is everyone except ESPN. The largest sports news outlet in the world. The ones that are always first in this neverending race to share info. They didn’t talk about it, nor mentioned it on their social media platforms for almost 6 hours. Finally at 8:23, a story comes out on ESPN.com with a suspiciously boring title. Joe Tsai voices support for the front office and coaches in the wake of Kevin Durant's trade demands. No ultimatum, no mention of Durant forcing the owner to pick between him and Sean Marks and Steve Nash, none of that. As if they don’t even want you to see this info. Now, why would they do that? The answer to this question will also expose just how much power Adrian Wojnarowski has at ESPN, and some of his dark secrets of the way he operates. Buckle up for this Woj Bomb. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. To understand how Adrian single handedly stopped the entire ESPN network from talking about breaking news for like half a day, I need to show you just how much power he has had for a long time. Woj earned the respect of the NBA world through his sharp columns, providing a different angle on things. But what made him a superstar is how he cultivated connections and relationships with agents and front office members. He would call and text them not just for inside scoops, but to genuinely ask how they’re doing, family talks, all of that. This made a lot of people into his sources. Even early on, Wojnarowski noticed the San Antonio franchise as one that produces a ton of talent that move on to become coaches or front office members of teams around the league. So he focused on developing relationships with people around this organization. Just take a look at the Spurs mafia stemming from Pop. These are all high profile people scattered at about a third of the teams in the league. Hey there’s Sean Marks. We’ll get back to him later. This connection with the Spurs franchise along with the relationships that Woj has with people signed to the same agency as him, which is the CAA, means that he has access to virtually any team in the league. The ones who consistently give him valuable info, get a favorable treatment in his columns and tweets. The ones who ghost him however get blasted by Adrian. Just ask Lebron James. The King and his agent Rich Paul, already had their guy in the media who they worked with and pushed their narrative through. A reporter who went to the same school as Lebron and followed him all throughout his Cleveland and Miami days. That reporter is Brian Windhorst. So every attempt from Woj to get to James and his camp got rejected. Adrian would then go on a revenge tour writing a ton of pieces throughout the years criticizing Lebron for failing to deliver in the clutch, his ego and attitude during the 2004 Olympics, being soft, and even an All Star Game performance. In 2007 James literally dragged this team all the way to the finals. To this day one of his greatest accomplishments. Despite clearly being overmatch, and despite Lebron’s heroics during the entire season, Woj wrote this during the finals: “We are witnesses, all right. We are witnesses to the truth that James is trailing Dwyane Wade as the sport's best young superstar, a gap that he didn't close in these finals.” Then, between 2008 and 2010 Woj wrote 10 columns about Lebron’s free agency mentioning different possibilities and teams, based on no real information. Just look at this: In 08 he wrote that the Detroit Pistons were the favorites to get James at the end of his contract which was 2 years later. This was the most ridiculous statement, although he consistently had sloppy and uninformed takes about this. Just a week before the king chose Miami, Adrian wrote that “the Chicago Bulls are still the team to beat, with Cleveland a close second and New Jersey the looming wild card”. This is without a doubt the most incorrect reporting on a consistent basis in his career. But let’s get back to that Detroit Pistons text to show you what happens when people do feed him some info. This entire piece is using James to add even more flashiness on the praises that Woj is sending towards Joe Dumars the GM at the time. Despite the fact that the Allen Iverson trade was a disaster, and Detroit transformed from a conference finals team to reaching the bottom of the east - mainly due to a series of horrible decisions by Dumars, Woj would never write a single word criticizing him. Instead, he chose words like: Slowly, surely, Dumars is regenerating the Pistons again. When this went live, Detroit finished 39-43 and the season after they went 27-55. Then 30-52, 25-41, 29-53. You get the point.

Things got chippy for Dejounte Murray and the number 1 pick Paolo Banchero. And Dejounte had a lot to say. Let me explain what happened between these 2 as well as James Harden and Scottie Barnes. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. The 2 guys went at it playing wise, but Murray was definitely showing some extra feistiness either throwing the ball at Paolo, or constantly jawing at him. You saw in that opening sequence how he literally barrels into the rookie for no reason whatsoever, and Banchero just tapped him on the chest as if to say it's all good. All of that led to this instant viral clip. The fake, the bounce off the backboard and the dunk. I mean this was a phenomenal move, but you see once again how he throws the ball at Paolo. And the young fella did not respond to any of this. He did however notice something after the game and posted this on his story. Lol, unfollowed me on the gram and everything, it must be personal huh? That’s fine, just make sure u guard up next time and stop sending doubles family. And before we talk about the response from Murray, first I gotta mention that from what I saw from that game, this is 100% true. The rookie got double teamed multiple times, and in some situations it was just to take the ball out of his hands. Murray then posts his story saying a bunch of nothing. Just look at this. You tried to flex that number 1 pick stuff on me when I been rooting for you when you was a kid asking to rebound for me. You changed from the humble kid you always was. You made it and changed and I lost all respect. Stay humble bla bla bla… First of all, this tweet summarizes everything perfectly. On one side he talks about staying humble but then does things like this in every game he’s been so far this summer. Also, in all of these clips, Paolo didn’t do a single thing kept his composure throughout the battle, and Murray was the instigator for the entire game. How you gonna say that a guy is soft and then also tell him to be humble?! To me this smells like a rivalry and I know they’re not done yet, so I’m looking forward to their game in the season. There was another interesting situation in an entirely different game between James Harden and Scottie Barnes. As if the playoff loss is still burning him, the reigning rookie of the year literally hounded the beard, picking him up full court, and rejecting him at the rim with force. His intensity culminated in this sequence where not only he pressed him in the backcourt, but Barnes literally suffocated Harden for the entire possession, forcing up a tough shot and check out how that ended. Then he proceeds to clap the entire way, just to rub it in more and more. But what’s interesting is that Harden appreciated that and even praised Scottie in a postgame speech. So yeah, even tho it’s the middle of August, the NBA still finds a way to give us something interesting to talk about and I love that this time it’s purely because of the competitive spirit of the players and they come out strong even in a random off season game. Who you got for more points in their first NBA meeting. Dejounte or Paolo. Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Last night Kyrie put on a show in New Jersey, and despite all the drama surrounding him and the Nets, he looked like he had a great time playing basketball. Thing is, that may just be because all the smoke is clearing up and Brooklyn could have both Kyrie and KD on the roster to start the season. Are the Nets running it back? Some of the reports suggest exactly that. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. First of all the latest news comes from Ian Begley who said that Kyrie is in a good place and comfortable with the Nets. This goes in line with previous reports that Kyrie Irving becoming a Laker is more of a Lakers desire rather than Irving’s. Kyrie also has the support of the Nets owner Joe Tsai. There was this video where streetball legends were asked who in today’s NBA could survive on the playgrounds in New York City. And a lot of them said…. So Joe Tsai retweeted that in support of his point guard. Begley also said that a deal for Durant is unlikely to happen. And realistically it shouldn’t. Nobody in the league is willing to give the Nets a package that is worth trading for. Especially after the Timberwolves gave away 5 first round draft picks along with some nice role pieces. This completely jacked up the price of what Brooklyn could be asking for KD and as we all can see- nobody can come close to it. Durant, who previously asked for a trade, will meet or maybe has already met with the owner to discuss the trade request, but this could as well be burying the hatchet and potentially figuring out a way to make it work with this team. Speaking of that, here’s how the roster looks. Assuming that Ben Simmons plays and Joe Harris comes back healthy, they also brought in Royce O’Neal for some 3 and D as well as T.J. Warren who we’ll need to see how he looks, but I feel like this is the best roster that Durant could be on. Teams like Boston, Phoenix or whoever else, would have to give away so much, that by the time he gets there, there’s not going to be much left for him to compete with. So the best thing he could do is at least give it a shot and start the season out in Brooklyn instead of for example doing what Simmons did in Philadelphia and making the problem much bigger. After all, there isn’t an issue of players disliking each other on the Nets. In fact, both Royce O’Neal and Kessler Edwards came out to watch Irving last night in New Jersey. They exchanged some friendly words, took a pic- all of that. Also, someone was sent from the team to document the whole thing and post on their instagram account. To me this doesn’t look like a dysfunctional or unsalvageable situation, and despite KD’s trade request, things could be turned around in a major way. Just remember that Kobe Bryant did the same thing back in 07. The Lakers declined, traded for Pau Gasol and the rest is history. So while a lot depends on that meeting between Durant and Tsai, there’s a big possibility that we’ll see the same team back in Kyrie’s last year of the contract for the last dance. That was a nice and poetic ending I gotta say. Let me know what you expect. Will they be back to start the season, or do we finally see the trades happening. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Jalen Brown’s underwater workout went viral but he’s far from the first guy to do this type of training. This was also Joakim Noah’s formula that allowed him to get a big contract and even earned him an all star selection. You knew you could count on him to give you 100% effort, and that he’ll always come in shape and ready to compete on a high level. A part of the secret to his success is the fact that he used to do crazy workouts with heavy weights while holding his breath in a pool. As you can see here, having to reach the other end of the pool, in 1 breath with that extra weight is as hard as it looks. This is an awesome cardio training that greatly improves the endurance and stamina of a player. Some NBA players would do anything to get better. From extreme workouts to using special gadgets, all for that little bit of competitive advantage. So let’s check out some of the strangest ones. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. If you check out the youtube channel of Kristaps Porzingis, you’ll find old workout videos from his time with the Knicks, where he’s kicking and punching basketballs, throwing chairs, all of that. But in that same video you’ll also notice this. As you can see it’s some type of attachment that makes the hoop smaller, so basically you have to be more accurate and always aim to swish it. Great way to improve your shooting. Back in the day when KD used to call Russ his brother, they shared the same obsession, and that is getting better every day. This was chronicled in a documentary type video about KD that showed us up-close just how an NBA player is spending his summer working out. We can see them running up and down the sand dunes, doing suicides, cross steping and what not. This helps a lot If you want to become more explosive and boost your quickness. Blake Griffin used to do this as well alongside his brother Taylor back in his playing days, and as you can see they even added weights to it. As if this workout is not hard enough by itself. Another training accessory is the elevation mask that guys like Paul George, Dwyane Wade, and even Lebron James implemented in their training program. It’s designed so that it limits the airflow that you get, making it very difficult for the player during practice, and the idea is that the lungs work harder, and thus increase their capacity over time. Honestly I’ve done some reading on this and science doesn’t really agree with this theory, but you can’t blame the superstars for always trying out new and different things searching for a competitive advantage. Speaking of that, I don’t know If Rondo was searching for competitive advantage when he was recorded shooting the basketball while spinning around on a hoverboard, but this sure looks like fun. Wesley Mathews was also into it as he posted a video of his shooting practice. The hoverboards had a short explosion of popularity that even reached the NBA. Next up is Steph Curry with his special glasses. As if his ball handling drills weren’t complicated enough, he adds a whole new challenge to them. These are called strobe glasses, and they do exactly that. This is how Curry basically sees while doing this drill. So this makes following the tennis ball extremely tough, and as you can see there are moments when he is also struggling to focus on what’s in front of him. Really interesting tho, and I can definitely see how this translates to better hand eye coordination and it’s no wonder why he’s been able to make moves like this look so easy. Something that’s definitely not easy though, is playing defense like this. This bar adds weight but also rigidity so it’s difficult to change direction. So Dwight Howard and Lonnie Walker used this method to really focus on the footwork and improve conditioning at the same time. Finally, we got Derrick Rose with his special green ball that he’s been taking with him on every single team he’s been on. It’s a 4.5 pound or 2 kilo ball that he practices with and builds and maintains the strength in his shot. So then when he switches to a regular basketball that weighs 1.4 pounds or 630 grams, it makes it seem light as a feather. Derrick never really had the best shooting mechanics, so I totally understand how having some extra strength can help out a lot and make the whole shot feel a lot smoother. Rose said it himself: If I didn’t have that ball, I wouldn’t be in the league right now. That’s how he feels, so as strange as it seems, this green ball is so important to him, and he makes sure he is the one to bring it to practice and take it home with him. Which one of these would you do to improve your game? Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

This was personal between Shaq and Bynum. O’Neal wanted to dominate every time he faced his former team, and Bynum was the guy who was going to replace him. So there was no backing down, he wanted to prove that he’s worth it. So the result was this sequence between the 2 escalating with a little pushing and shoving. In the heat of the moment sometimes the ego takes over, so let me show you what happens when NBA players turn games into personal battles. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Shaq also had a personal battle against Dwight Howard for the Superman title as ridiculous as that sounds. The media hyped it up and the pressure was on, as you can clearly see both players wanting the ball and wanting to go at their opponent. At times even forcing it and playing overzealous with a lot of fouls and a lot of mistakes. Still, they didn’t disappoint as both Shaq and Dwight had their moments in the game. At the end O’Neal ended the game with 20 points while Howard had 22 along with 16 rebounds and 4 blocks and the Magic got the win. Back in 02 Kobe and T-Mac were unstoppable offensive forces and there were debates about who is a more prolific scorer. Those debates sparked some 1 on 1 battles on the court between the 2, and the most memorable one was this game where Bryant and Mcgrady took turns going at each other. Look at some of these tough shots that they are hitting. And the slow motion angles make them that much more epic. This is a perfect combination of high level competitiveness looking artful. Both guys ended the game with 38 points but the moment that people talk about to this day is this sequence where initially T-Mac absolutely drops Kobe on this spin before swishing the fadeaway and then as the Lakers take the ball out, Bryant immediately gets it and hunts Mcgrady for the revenge. And watch what happens. Boom. Kobe blows by for the thunderous dunk and you see him slapping the backboard showing just how much this means to him. And this is another example where we see how much it meant for Carmelo and Lebron. I mean check out the defense from Anthony. This has to be the defensive highlight of his career. This too was mano a mano showdown of one of the best young superstars in the league at the time. You can see the level of competitiveness and the overall physicality of the game. Watch Lebron poking Carmelo’s headband off of his head, and the subsequent tough foul on the drive. They were in each other's faces. As the game went down to the wire, here’s Anthony with the amazing spin and the double clutch finish. And Lebron takes the ball and goes right back at him, stopping at the 3 point line and swishing the shot, as the 2 share a laugh. And as the game went into overtime, the back and forth intensified and neither of them would flinch, hitting shot after shot over tough defense. In this wild game James would end with 43 points and this is the game winning 40th point for Anthony, capping off this spectacle. Tracy Mcgrady also had one of the highest combined scores against Dirk. A 53 to 48 point shootout this is possibly the most underrated head to head matchups and it’s forgotten by the large majority of NBA fans. But as you watch these amazing shots from both Mcgrady and Nowitzki it’s a nice reminder why the battle of texas in the early 2000s was incredible. The Dallas Mavericks held on to win this game that resulted with a combined 101 points from the 2 superstars. James Harden and Bradley Beal however combined for 105 in a game where the beard absolutely exploded for 59 points. Speaking of high scores however, we gotta mention the playoffs record that Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell set in the bubble both going over 50 points in the same playoff game. That entire series was a deathmatch between Mitchell and Murray as both guys had 2 games with 50 points. Unbelievable. Btw, the record that they topped was this battle between Gilbert Arenas and Lebron James. In a chippy and physical series between 2 rival teams, Cleveland and Washington went to a pivotal game 5 all tied up at 2, with a lot on the line. And their 2 main superstars knew that they needed to bring their A-game. That’s exactly what happened as Agent Zero matched the king shot for shot throughout the entire game, scoring 44 points and hitting incredible shots to keep Washington in the game, but unfortunately for him and the Wizards, Lebron had the ball on the final possession. And this is what happened. There are countless of these 1 on 1 showdowns and I’m sure I’m missing some. So let me know in the comments if you think of one. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

The Jazz are down by 8 with half a minute to go against the superteam of Lebron, Wade and Bosh. There’s no chance right? Well, Paul Milsap thought otherwise. In a wild game forgotten by many, Milsap scored 11 points in the last 28 seconds of the game, to single handedly get this game into overtime, as the Jazz eventually won it. Crazy things can happen when NBA players unlock god mode. Let me show you. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Almost nobody knows this rare game where Lebron James went nuclear and scored 16 points in just 2 and a half minutes. What’s even crazier here are the heat checks that he starts taking once he knows he’s in the zone. If you thought that was a lot of points in a short time, Kyle Korver once scored 11 points in 4 straight possessions. All of this took exactly 1 minute. Amazing. And a bonus in this whole situation is the fact that the Bucks didn’t score so this was an 11-0 run by Kyle Korver. He stepped on the line on the second shot but as you can see all of these are from downtown. In 2015 Steph Curry and Omri Caspi had a shooting deathmatch. In the last 3 minutes of the quarter they scored a combined 9 threes. Look at the clock and the possessions. Basically every possession was a shot from downtown from either Curry or Caspi. Both the crowd as well as the benches went crazy watching this incredible shooting exhibition where the Israeli sharpshooter went mano a mano against Steph. Every player wants to get off to a good start, but Kevin Love really started off blistering hot. 34 points in the first half against the Blazers in 2016 shooting 11 for 14 from the field and 8 for 10 from downtown. In a single quarter! That’s video game numbers! Vince Carter had a messy divorce with the Raptors so every time he came back it was a hostile atmosphere. Just listen to the boos. The crowd was happy though as Toronto had a 7 point lead with less than a minute remaining. But then Vince went ballistic scoring 12 points in the last 44 seconds of the game to single handedly will the Nets to overtime. And in OT as well he stayed hot, culminating with this sequence at the end. Jamal Crawford is the only player to have scored 50 points with 4 different teams. He was basically a walking heat check. But probably his best game ever was against the Miami Heat where he truly went God Mode making 16 field goals without a miss at one point. The crowd, Mike Breen, and 15 year old Stefan watching this game on tv, went absolutely crazy. I did not put the usual suspects here like Klay’s 37 in a quarter, Reggie scoring 8 points in 9 seconds at the Garden, as well as Tracy Mcgrady’s legendary 13 points in 35 seconds culminating with the game winner because obviously we all know those and I wanted to focus on some lesser known or forgotten sequences. So hopefully you enjoyed it. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Michael Jordan’s iconic fadeaway is probably the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about unstoppable mid range scorers and moves. And the 96-97 season is without a doubt the greatest shooting display from that area that the league has ever witnessed. However, even tho Jordan is one of the best mid range shooters in NBA history, and had the highest peak in 97, he is not the most dominant. And there’s another player claiming this title. Greatest peak, most dominant, what’s the difference? Well, let me explain. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. During the 96-97 season, Michael fired away an astonishing (588) 1202 mid range shots, and hit 48.9% of those. That ranked him by far the number 1 in makes and attempts, and number 3 in efficiency. Combine these mind blowing numbers with the fact that Jordan had to take impossibly difficult shots every night with the entire defense focused on him, and that makes this graph that much more insane. But MJ only became a mid range assassin in the second half of his NBA career. Leading the league in 1997, 1998 and funny enough, the two years that he came back from retirement 02 and 03. This is at age 39 and 40. For the first few seasons however, he was primarily a high flier, and an inconsistent shooter. And on top of that took 2 breaks in 94 and 99 so he never really had a streak of consistently being the top dog from that area. The guy with the most mid range buckets season after season. There’s a player with 6 consecutive seasons being the best mid range shooter in the league. Let me give you a hint. You already know, it’s Dirk Nowitzki. Another guy with an iconic and instantly recognizable signature shot, Dirk had probably the greatest run when it comes to consistently stellar shooting from mid range. Taking a look at this graphic, you see that starting from 2004 Dirk was always among the top in makes per game from that area, and during this 6 year stretch Nowitzki not only had the most buckets but also did it at a phenomenal efficiency- often in the high 40%, culminating in that unforgettable championship season in 2011 when he shot a staggering 52.9%. Before you ask however Dirk only had 353 total makes compared to MJ’s 588. So despite the slightly lower percentage, this is why I give the greatest peak title to Michael. His volume was unbelievable. Still, continuing on with Nowitzki, even beyond his 6 year run, you see that he’s in the top 3 every single season from 2004 to 2016. That’s more than a decade being the absolute elite shooter from mid range. Now that’s what I call dominance. This is why to me he’s the most dominant mid range scorer in NBA history. It wasn’t until his body completely gave up on him and he started to limp up and down the court for the last 3 seasons of his career that he fell further back in this category. Nowitzki went to his bread and butter the 1 legged fadeaway for countless big buckets including a few game winners as well. The fact that his opponents knew what he was going to do and still couldn’t stop it- made this move one of the most famous and players even started to add it to their arsenal. This is probably the highest praise that you can give to a player, the level of impact that he had on the game is undeniable, and his mid range dominance was unstoppable. MJ, Dirk, Lamarcus, CP3…a lot of great ones in this category. Who’s your favorite? That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

James Harden’s extension with Philly could be hiding a dark little secret, and it has a lot to do with this all white party where he was going crazy along with his teammates Joel Embiid and P.J. Tucker and it has a lot to do with this guy, the organizer of the party itself, and owner of the Sixers until recently. Sounds curious right? So let’s go deeper. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. To give you a good idea of what possibly took place, let’s go back in time to 2013. The Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokorov tried to build the Brooklyn Nets into a championship team. After acquiring the likes of Deron Williams, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Joe Johnson they needed a final piece to their puzzle, but didn’t have much cap space to work with. Brooklyn managed to sign Andrei Kirilenko, who was a 10 million dollar per year player at the time, for only 3.1 million. The entire league was furious. Owners and general managers knew that the Russian connection between Kirilenko and Prokorov could be in play for a payout under the table. So as Woj wrote at the time: “The insinuations are unmistakable: Around the NBA, there are calls for the commissioner's office to investigate the possibilities of side deals and Russian rubles ruling the day” Despite all the outrage in the NBA and the investigation, the league couldn’t prove anything. But a player leaving 70% of a potential payout on the table while at the same time being buddy-buddy with the owner is highly suspicious. And this is how we get to James Harden. He had a 47 million dollar option for the upcoming season. At age 33 the logical thing would be to either take that and sign probably his last big deal after the season, or opt out of it, and get a 3 year 150 million contract as it was reported that he could get. Both of these are safe bets. But funny enough he did neither. Instead, Harden signed a 2 year contract worth 68 million dollars, and as everyone is writing, took a 15 million dollar pay cut to help the Sixers bring PJ Tucker and Danuel House in hopes of winning a championship. Thing is, he is leaving much more than that. Because at the end of those 2 years, he would be 35, much older, much slower and deteriorated so there’s no chance a team would offer him as big of a contract as he could get now. So the potential loss for him could be huge. But that is potential loss. Because, speaking of a buddy-buddy relationship, Harden is really close with the former owner of the Sixers and the guy who organized the party Michael Rubin. Not only is he extremely wealthy- owning Fanatics- the world's leading provider of licensed sports merchandise, but he is tremendously influential, as seen by his connection to the all the A-list stars at his party but also the fact that he helped facilitate this extension despite having already sold his stakes in the team. So this is what ESPN’s Bobby Marks had to say about the friendship between Harden and Rubin, and the potential implications on this deal: So I let you be the judge. Whatever the case may be, Philly was able to build a contending team and they could be dangerous next season. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

How many of you remember this? Scottie Pippen in a Blazers uniform bouncing the ball up to his chest and doing the strangest herky jerky move ever, before knocking down the game winning dagger. This shot would clinch the series for Portland in the second round of the 2000 NBA playoffs and set up the legendary matchup against the Lakers. While there are a lot of memorable playoff game winners that we’ve all seen a hundred times, there are some that fell through the cracks and people quickly forgot about them. So let me remind you of a few from the past 23 years. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Kobe had so many big shots in his career, and this one over Jason Kidd is often overlooked despite the impressive double clutch that he does on the jumper mid air. If Portland went through Utah to the conference finals, Phoenix was LA’s second round matchup on the way to the championship that same year. This is one of the craziest game winners that I’ve seen, and only a heated rivalry between the Knicks and Miami could produce an unbelievable finish like this. Anthony Carter wins the game for the Heat, but the Knicks would ultimately prevail in game 7. While the Sixers famously got all the way to the finals in 01, a lot of NBA fans forget that they started the playoffs with a loss on this dagger by Reggie MIller. And back then the first round was played to 3 wins, so they were in a tough spot. But as we all know for Allen Iverson and Philadelphia, the rest is history. In a replay of the western conference finals, LA and Portland met again in 01 and in 02, and both times ended with a sweep, with this one being the only close game decided by Big Shot Bob. When you talk about a forgotten season or a forgotten team, the finals run by the New Jersey Nets in 2003 has to be at the top of the list. But J.Kidd sinks the Pistons in the conference finals with this amazing fadeaway over 2 defenders. In typical T-Mac fashion, he takes it coast to coast by himself before stopping on a dime and raising up and knocking it down. Unfortunately, despite winning this game, Mcgrady infamously never made it out of the first round in his entire career. In 2005 Dirk Nowitzki delivered another one of his patented turnaround 1 legged fadeaways in the clutch to tie this second round series at 1 game a piece. However his old buddy Steve Nash and the Suns would go on to win it in 6 games. Believe it or not, this buzzer beater by Kevin Martin in 2006 against the Spurs was the last Sacramento Kings playoff win and even worse, this was the last time they even got to the postseason. Exactly 16 years ago. So while not everyone remembers this, I’m sure Kings fans at least still do. In a wild game 1 of the first round in 08, Tim Duncan first saved the game with an extremely rare three pointer to send it into overtime, and after a long battle and a second OT, Manu Ginobili took matters into his own hands and won it with a lefty flip shot in the final seconds. From 2000 to 2010 San Antonio and Phoenix faced each other 6 times in the playoffs and the Spurs won 4 of those matchups including this one. The Magic vs Sixers first round matchup in 2009 is never talked about despite having 3 game winners in 6 games.

Judging by his reactions it seems like Ja Morant found his new favorite player and that is an undrafteJudging by his reactions it seems like Ja Morant found his new favorite player and that is an undrafted rookie on a two way contract built like a bowling ball. Kenny Lofton Jr is an absolute attraction at summer league and he needs to be featured in a video. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Just look at how he bullies Chet Holmgren on multiple possessions. His weight of 275 pounds or 127 kilos is concentrated in this much shorter frame and sends the second pick of the draft flying around the court with every bump. But you see that his moves are quite quick for his..um, thickness. It’s almost like a guard trapped in a big body. You can see here, the screen and re-screen on the other side in the blink of an eye. Combined with the pump fake, and then barreling to the basket for the lefty hook. Great fundamentals I gotta say. Everything he did on that play- that’s what the coaches teach kids at an early age. But on the flashier side of things, under the pressure of the shot clock he fired away from waay downtown and splashed this three, which hyped up Ja and he had to get up and give him a dap. Game high 19 points, along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists for Lofton and that is absolutely worthy of congratulations. This is his second summer league game, and reactions from both the crowd and Ja himself were similar in the first one as well. Lofton is one of those interesting looking characters that brings out a smile, like Boban or Nate Robinson. But don’t get it twisted he is serious about his game. In college he averaged a double double of 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game and with that secured a spot on the team USA under 19 squad, playing side by side with Chet Holmgren actually. And not only that but he played great on the national team as well with 13.1 PPG and 5.3 RPG There’s this quote from an article about Lofton saying: If you ask the folks who covered the U-19 national team's run to the world championship -- Gonzaga's Chet Holmgren won MVP of the tournament but Lofton was vital in winning the gold medal in Latvia. So back to the present day and summer league. After the early success in these 2 games now all of a sudden people around the NBA are saying that the Grizzlies may have gotten away with a steal and that his contract will be upgraded from a two way, to a standard contract. Kenny will still have to prove that when the season starts, but as of now, his use of his body, his movement, the touch and the basketball IQ that he’s shown, definitely promise a lot and he should get playing time on the Grizzlies. One thing is for sure however, Lofton is going to be a fan favorite every time he’s on the court. His game kind of reminds me of Zach Randolph but Kenny is quicker, more dynamic. Let me know in the comments who is a better comparison. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

In a preview of what’s to come for the Thunder this season, Josh Giddy has the ball up top and Chet Holmgren goes to set the high pick. And even tho it wasn’t the smoothest execution you see the principles. The big man drops to protect the drive, while the number 2 pick pops out at the three point line. You see all this space for a 39.0% shooter from downtown and he splashes this 3. Just check out this statline: 23 PTS / 7 REB / 4 AST / 6 BLK which ended up being a summer league record. Chet Holmgren dazzled in his first unofficial game for OKC and he showed us some of the things we can expect from him. So let’s go through it and break it down. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. We’ll talk about the offense but as I’m watching him for the first time, I love what I see from Holmgren on the defensive end. Check out this possession. On the pick and roll, at 7 feet or 2.16 he’s in drop coverage but his size and length cause hesitation for the ball handler, all while keeping an eye on the roll man, so when the big man gets the pass, even tho it’s down low, Chet’s length protect the basket and he can stay patient and not bite on this pump fake, so ultimately he blocks this shot. Right here he’s matched up on the perimeter but his unique combination of size and speed allow him to stay with the much quicker guard, and watch the seamless switch to cover the paint and you see there’s no way of getting it over his long arms as Holmgren gets another block. And follow him here as he first helps to contain the drive and gets back to his man, but he sees what’s happening on the other side, so on the penetration Chet is going to step out to protect the basket and check out this spectacular rejection. It looks even better in this slow mo shot. And it’s not often that you see Tacko Fall getting his shot blocked, but Chet did that in his first game. Something that’s also extremely rare is blocking a fadeaway shot, my goodness, great block but then look at the ball handling in transition as he finds Williams for the finish. And this is where we get to his offense. Look at how comfortable he is with the ball in his hands. Stops with the behind the back dribble, and raises up from downtown. This was so smooth. Again same thing, accelerates and then stops on a dime, behind the back, fires away and knocks it down. You can already hear the comparisons with another guy who wears number 7 in the league. Especially on this play. The smooth handles, the spin and the one legged fadeaway that is called the Dirk Nowitzki, but this looked more like the Kevin Durant version of it. Right here Holmgren gets the ball almost at the logo, and with just 1 dribble this is already a dunk. That’s how crazy long he is. And finally, you see that he attracts double teams and he uses his size to see over the defender and locate his teammate who’s cutting to the basket, so the great pass, and the dunk. OKC fans have a lot to be excited about despite the fact that it’s only summer league. Holmgren is showing flashes of how great he can be for this team, and gives us great content to watch and talk about even in mid July. So I thank him for that. What was the thing that caught your eye with Holmgren? Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

The Kevin Durant drama gets even crazier as both Marc Spears from ESPN and Marcus Thompson from the Athletic write that the Warriors superstars have been in communication with KD and a potential comeback to Golden State for him has been mentioned. Wait what?! Let’s go through all the details and explain everything. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Ok so we already know that Brooklyn is asking for an All star level player and multiple young prospects. Golden State has a lot of young players with tremendous potential in Poole, Kuminga, Moody, and even Wiseman who’s still a mystery box at this point. Also, the value of Andrew Wiggins right now is the highest that’s ever been, so he could as well be thrown into this deal. But does it make sense to do it? Poole developed into a blistering hot scorer, putting up 18.5 points per game last season, Kuminga and Moody both showed flashes of being great 2 way players even in the limited time that they got last season. This is a great young core that could help the aging core of Steph, Klay and Draymond bring this team a few more championships. So then this report looks strange. The Warriors superstars have been in conversations with Durant. In addition to catching up, the Hall of Fame-bound peers did entertain the idea of a reunion. You can pause the video to go through the entire paragraph, but why would they swap their bright future for 2-3 years of who knows what type of circus with a 34 year old KD? Well, someone from the Warriors revealed to the Athletic the real reason for that: Because it’s Kevin freaking Durant. A once in a generation type of offensive player and we saw how unstoppable that team was. So according to people in the Golden State organization, the guys are open to having Durant back. Which is interesting to hear because Draymond and KD have had a few back and forth sneaky jabs. Whether it’s on a podcast And there was also this petty exchange on twitter where Durant tweeted after game 1 of the finals which Golden State lost, and then check the date, Green remembered and waited for almost 2 weeks to tweet those same exact words back after he won the title. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the slight back and forth between the 2 sides ever since KD left, but hey, I guess winning heals everything. To me however this makes the least sense for Durant himself. He couldn’t win in Oklahoma, then joined the Warriors in a move that’s probably the most scrutinized in NBA history, and got his wish fulfilled regardless. He won 2 championships and 2 finals MVP’s, but as he said it himself, it didn’t feel good. He wasn’t happy. So from there to go to Brooklyn ending up in a debacle, and to once again come to Golden State? That’s ridiculous. And how would it feel to win yet another championship on this superteam that’s not going to be acknowledged by the critics? What would that do to his legacy? I don’t really care about legacy to be honest, and those top 10 debates on ESPN are beyond insane. MAD DOG BOB COUSY CLIP But as we know Durant is one of the more sensitive when it comes to criticism and how he’s perceived, so to do a full replay of what happened the last time- after already admitting how that made him feel- to me that’s unthinkable. So we’re all waiting to see if Kevin Durant is about to do the unthinkable. Can you imagine this team being formed once again? Do you think they win the title by default? Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

While KD and Kyrie leaving the Nets has been the main topic, we got a ton more interesting signings and players switching teams on the very first day of NBA free agency. So let’s go through the most interesting ones. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Starting off with trying to figure out exactly what the Lakers did. They signed Juan Toscano Anderson, Lonnie Walker, Damian Jones and Troy Brown Jr. And while Anderson is a solid defender with length who will help out with the bad defense that the Lakers had last season, absolutely none of these is a good 3 point shooter, and somehow they got even worse in that aspect, despite being bad last season to begin with. 18th in makes per game and 22nd in percentage from downtown, and on top of that, they lost Malik Monk who was their best outside shooter, and will probably not have Carmelo back, who was another threat. So despite all of that talk about how they will try to make things work with Westbrook, the spacing at the moment looks absolutely horrific. 1 wild card however is of course the fact that we know that Kyrie Irving wants to play in LA, and with all the power that the players have, in my opinion he will somehow force his way there and Brooklyn will have to trade with the Lakers. So this is definitely not the final look of this team. But to me, they didn’t start free agency well at all. I like what the Sixers did, bringing P.J. Tucker to the team who will add a lot of fight on defense and stretch the floor from the corner. Although he didn’t shoot a lot of them, Tucker was automatic with 41.5% from downtown, so teams will be hesitant to help on Embiid or Harden off of P.J. That allows their main 2 stars more single coverage and more freedom on offense. Also as extra firepower from downtown, Philly got Danuel House who can be streaky. With that I feel like they covered and upgraded what they lost in the Danny Green trade. In return however they got another solid piece in De’Anthony Melton who’s both a good defender and can shoot the ball well from downtown. So overall, good start for the Sixers, but Daryl Morey seems to be going all out in trying to win the championship, and got in the Kevin Durant race as well. They are definitely not done. The Bucks probably just needed a healthy Khris Middleton to get to the finals this year, so they kept the team- re-signing Portis, Matthews and Carter, and even added a great piece in my opinion in Joe Ingles. A great shooter and terrific passer who can make a play for the team and be very dynamic. Of course he’s rehabbing from injury, but should start playing around All Star, just in time for the second half of the season and the important games. The Blazers snatched away Gary Payton from Golden State. A phenomenal defender who will be a much needed upgrade for the second worst defense in the NBA. This signing, along with Jerami Grant from a few days ago really upgrades the roster defensively. Grant is also a versatile player and a 19 point per game scorer last season. So with Lillard coming back healthy, Portland hopes that Simmons can take another step up and justify the 100 million dollar contract that they also gave him last night, and form a dynamic duo for this team. Dallas got Javale Mcgee who can give them some good minutes as a lob threat with Luka but that should be off the bench if the Mavs want to win a title. I was hoping to see them make a run for a more serious big man like Ayton for example who according to reports will probably not re-sign with Phoenix. Dallas will also need to find a replacement for Jalen Brunson who signed with the Knicks and I already made a video about that. I mentioned there that there are talks about forming a Slovenian connection in Dallas by bringing in Goran Dragic. But we’ll see if that becomes official. These are most of the signings from the first day of free agency and certainly the most interesting ones. But the madness is just beginning so this will be a very interesting off season. Did you team upgrade at the start? And also where do you expect KD and Kyrie to end up? Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Trae Young is safe now from falls like this, as Dejounte Murray is coming to Atlanta to be his teammate. This was an interesting trade to say the least, and while this pairing will definitely be flashy, there are 2 sides to whether it could work out for Atlanta. Personally, I’m not convinced. Let me explain why. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Taking a look at this chart you see that Trae and Dejounte are both in the top 3 in chances created in the pick and roll actions. They both operate great off of it, and when it comes to how they get their points, while we know Young has a preference for the three point shot, Murray lives in the mid range more as well as attacking on the drive. He has the great physique to both blow by a defender, but also if they stay with him, to take the contact and finish at the basket. His build and athleticism also allows him to be one of the elite on ball defenders in the league. He did lead the NBA in steals last season which is a stat that I don’t believe in very much since Allen Iverson constantly led the league back in his day and he wasn’t a great defender to say the least. But still, you see these clips, you see the tremendous energy and effort that he shows on the ball against some of the best ball handlers in the league. Watch him clamp down Donovan Mitchell here, one of the shiftiest guards in the league. Even tho the advanced analytics don’t really portray him as an elite defender, I am 100% trusting my eyes on this one. Everything I touched on so far has been objectively and subjectively positive. I like Dejounte a lot as a player. But here’s why I have some doubts about the fit. For one, they both need the ball in their hands. But when Trae has it, Murray would kind of act as a catch and shoot guy like Bogdanovic or Huerter. And his 3 point percentage is below average so I’m not sure how comfortable he would be with that. However, people are more commenting about the other way around. Kevin O’Connor from the Ringer said: Dejounte Murray will unlock a better version of Trae Young if Trae embraces playing off-ball with more effort in screen and handoff actions plus relocations within the flow of the offense. No more hands on knees resting at the logo. Young has it in him to be a constant threat. So basically if he turns into Steph Curry, that would be great for him. But I see a lot of ifs and unknowns here. Remember the talk about Harden and Westbrook, if they could only set some screens, and move off the ball, and not sit around watching the play when they don’t have the ball… That would solve all their problems. But they never did it. It’s not because they are bad players or anything, but in my opinion it’s pretty hard to break habits that brought you all the way to being an NBA All Star. Trae might be able to do it but you’ll have to agree that he’ll be in the minority if he does. I still see the Hawks being a lot better just for the fact that when Young isn’t in the game, the team would still have a great playmaker and be good instead of looking like a mess, which has been the case at times when he’s been on the bench. This, along with the huge defensive upside that Murray brings, and the fact that reportedly the Hawks are not done yet and looking to find a deal for Collins, the team will look drastically different next season. And I’m hoping it’s for the better. Let me know in the comments what do you think is their ceiling next year. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Jalen Brunson Breakdown Video: https://youtu.be/E-S6YmNcA2Q Jalen Brunson is signing with the New York Knicks. And while this will not be official until July first, the big dogs when it comes to reporting, already hinted at it, so let me tell you why it is a done deal, and what it means for both teams. My Knicks got themselves a point guard. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. First, Mark Stein from ESPN wrote that quote: there is a growing resignation in Dallas that the Knicks are indeed Brunson's top choice and his inevitable destination. In the meantime, the Knicks traded away Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel to the Pistons in order to open up cap space to be able to sign Brunson. And there’s no way you trade away 2 pieces of the roster without any guarantee from the player himself that he's coming. And you know that this guarantee is legit when you got 2 sons Jalen Brunson and his agent Sam Rose on 1 side, and 2 dads Leon Rose the Knicks GM and Rick Brunson the Knicks assistant coach on the other side. So you know this is as first hand of an info as it can possibly get. If they traded away 2 players to make the deal, it means the deal is happening. Tim Cato who is the Dallas beat writer also mentioned that the Mavs are seeing this as a certainty, and the focus has now shifted to finding a replacement for him, instead of trying to keep him. The most widely mentioned name is Goran Dragic, Luka’s compatriot. The duo plays well together, they won the European championship and finished 4th in the Olympics. So there’s a nice synergy there. During a national team press conference they were asked about this possibility but Doncic didn’t want to donate 100 thousand dollars to the NBA by talking about it before free agency opens, which is absolutely a smart decision. It seems that the Mavs had a line in the sand to where they would go for Brunson, and that is below what the Knicks are reportedly going to offer for 4 years, which is close to 110 million according to Chris Haynes, another well informed guy in the industry. With the great year that Brunson had, to me his ceiling is not much higher than this. But if he can have even just a slight bump as the main ball handler, and be able to sustain it I think that this is not bad. The point guard position for the Knicks last season was horrific. Kemba Walker’s offensive production was nowhere close to making up for how he was hunted on defense, basically rendering him unplayable, and Thibodeau shut him down for the season. And with Derrick Rose missing games due to injuries, Alec Burks and Emanuel Quickley played the point guard role when that’s absolutely not their position. So you can imagine how good the offense can be with a band aid solution like that. I’ve said it many times, the point guard is the most important position for a team in my opinion, so any time you have a chance to go and get a good one, you go and do it. Especially if it is a tremendous upgrade over what you now have. And I’m sure that they will try to upgrade the roster even more this offseason. BTW If you want a detailed breakdown of exactly how good Jalen Brunson was last season, I made a video about that just last week. The link is in the description. So can the Knicks be competitive this year? Let me know in the comments. That’s it for now, subscribe and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.

Brandon Jennings reached the absolute peak of his career in only his seventh game in the NBA. In a rookie head to head against Steph Curry Jennings completely went off scoring 55 points and getting the spotlight from the entire league. Sadly, he was never able to even get to 40 points again in his playing days. So when talking about guys who peaked as rookies and then fell off, Brandon’s name immediately comes to mind. So let’s check out some other rookie sensations that got lost afterwards and never progressed. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it. Before we move on to other players, I feel like I need to say this about Jennings: Although he may not have lived up to his potential and the high expectations that were set early on, Brandon did have a natural progression up to his third year where he went from 15.5 points per game to 19 on better percentage. So not the typical fall of a cliff. A guy who did go straight down however was from this same draft class, and actually the rookie of the year that season. And that is Tyreke Evans. Evans grabbed the attention of NBA fans with his flashiness on the court. The great ball handling and crossovers that often left defenders behind him or even on the floor were often featured on the NBA top 10 lists. He even had a game winner as well against the Milwaukee Bucks All of this while scoring 20.1 points along with 5.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists were more than enough for him to win the rookie of the year award, and Kings fans had a legitimate reason to be excited. They found their franchise star and he was off to a great start. But in his sophomore season- instead of a rise in production there was a drop off. He wasn’t able to get into a nice rhythm which in part was due to injuries. Evans played only 57 games and wasn’t able to get to 18 points per game. However that season wasn’t all bad since it gave us one of the wildest game winners in NBA history. Taking a look at his games played you see that injuries were a big part of his career and Tyreke never came even close to playing a full season. And you can clearly see how his production continuously goes down for the first 4 seasons. By then we all knew that he wasn’t going to become the player we thought, so Sacramento traded him to New Orleans where he further cemented his role as a supporting cast. There is this weird bump in 2018 where Mike Conley got injured for the entire season in Memphis so they gave all the freedom Tyreke could ask for. But that didn’t result in anything besides some empty stats, as the Grizzlies ended the season with a miserable record of 22-60. After that season he was initially disqualified from the NBA for substance abuse but this season the league announced that he was reinstated back. Michael Carter Williams kicked off the infamous process for the Sixers. They drafted him with the 11th pick and he caught everyone by surprise right in his NBA debut. 22 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds, and 9 steals the most steals ever made by a rookie on debut in a win over the defending champion Miami. All of this in the first game in his career. Less than a week later, he had a 26-point, 10 assist performance and Sixers fans were thrilled. In his rookie year Carter Williams recorded 2 triple doubles and with that phenomenal performance throughout the entire season he won rookie of the year. 16.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game. But this is where things go downhill for him as well. At the end of that first year he MCW suffered a shoulder injury and had surgery. When he came back in 2014-15, he didn’t quite look the same, and combined with the fact that the Sixers were in a full on tanking mode and trying to get a top pick, he was traded to Milwaukee. But another injury caused him to miss more playing time and he started to lose his spot as a starter due to his poor performance which admittedly was as a result of injuries. He is also another player that never came close to playing a full season, so along those lines you can also see how his points per game go down year by year. He bounced around the league from the Bucks to the Bulls, Hornets, Rockets, and last time we saw him in a Magic uniform last season. After yet another injury he was waived by Orlando and we haven’t seen him on a team this year as he’s rehabbing from surgery. Jahlil Okafor had possibly the worst drop for an NBA rookie ever. Even tho he had solid games to kick off his rookie campaign, the Sixers were so bad as a team that they went 0-28 to start the season. Zero and 28. This is the longest losing streak by any team in professional sports.