Westbrook was never one of my favorite players during most of his prime, but seeing how Westbrook has handled his last few years helped me gain a lot of respect for him.

Sure he never was the lead guy on a championship team, but his competitiveness is amazing. He played his best through all the Lakers drama. Westbrook also put up 37 in a playoff game in the most recent playoffs. I’m quite a huge fan of this late-career Westbrook.

Kobe - when I first started following the NBA as a kid, Kobe was the player I liked to root against. Near the end of his career I had nothing but love for him.

  • Ok-Map4381@alien.topB
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    1 year ago

    Duncan was a “sneaky athlete” but not in the racist “that white guy can actually jump” kind of way, but in a "“he only moves as fast or jumps as high as he needs to in the moment” so he would randomly turn up his speed and surprise the opponent by being just a little quicker or jumping a little higher than they expected, allowing him to make a play they may have avoided if they were more accustomed to his actual athleticism.

    • PinkyFeldman@alien.topB
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      1 year ago

      John Stockton played like this as well. He was known for his longevity over athleticism but when you go back and watch clips he absolutely had a turbo button when he needed it.

      Athleticism is insanely hard to guard against when you don’t know when you opponent is going to actually use it