The Parity Paradigm: Why the 2024 NBA Season Broke Every Script

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The NBA season is just a few weeks young, and fans have already come to some major conclusions. The NBA end season tournament is a huge success. The Boston Celtics are championship frontrunners. The Bucs don't know how to play defense. And breaking news, Nikolaj Jokic is still really freaking good at basketball. But first, we gotta talk about Francis Finis. Victor, did you see that when Mignama? Because he hasn't even played 10 games yet, and fans are already calling him the Rookie of the Year, and it's easy to see why. In his first 7 games, he's averaged in 19.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and get this, 2.6 blocks. And I mean, if I had an 8-foot wingspan, I'd be pretty good at blocking shots too. Nonetheless, it's still pretty impressive. He's been balling out this season, no questions asked. In a 132 to 121 victory against the Phoenix Suns, Wembe scored 38 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 34 minutes. Then in his very next game, Wembe went off again, only this time, it was on the defensive end. Against the Raptors, he grabbed seven defensive boards to go along with five blocks. This is everything fans wanted and more from the most hype international prospect since, well, ever. However, it's not just Victor Wembe-Nyama who deserves his flowers, because lost in a shuffle is another special someone, 20-year-old Chet Holmgren. And yes, Holmgren is technically a rookie this season. After suffering a season-ending Liz Frank injury last offseason, the seven-foot center is here and here to stay. In his first seven games, Holmgren has averaged 17 points, eight rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.4 blocks. Compare that to Wembe, and you have two almost identical players. Yes, Wembe is averaging slightly more points, rebounds, and blocks, but Holmgren has the edge and assists. And not only that, but Holmgren's efficiency has been off the charts. His 55.7% field goal percentage ranks 23rd in the entire NBA. Plus, he's shooting over 53% from three, along with 90% from the strike. In other words, when adjusting for the fact that threes are worth more than twos, Holmgren's shooting is among the best of the best. And out of 16 players ahead of him in efficient field goal percentage, only three players are averaging more points this season. Stefan Curry, Nikolaj Jokic, and Tobias Harris. All that to say, this year's rookie of the year race is anything but over. If Wimpy and Holmgren can both stay healthy, we may be in for a photo finish. But up next, let's talk about the end season tournament, because like the rest of you, I was a little bit skeptical. It's only the beginning of November, and teams are already resting their star players. What's to think that teams will even try during the end season tournament? Sure, $500,000 is a nice perk, but superstars like LeBron don't care about money. They've already secured the bag. However, I forgot to realize the two things that make the NBA so special. Players love to win. More importantly, they hate losing. Out of the first seven group stage games, five games were decided by five or fewer points. This includes the highly controversial matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder. Yep, it hasn't even been a month yet, and we already have our first highly controversial call. With only eight seconds remaining, Stephen Curry shot what should have been the game-winning layup, only for the referees to intervene and call offensive goal-tending Andre Mongrin for so-called touching the rim. That said, the offensive goal-tending call was eventually overturned, giving the Warriors a two-point lead with 0.2 seconds left. All in all, it was probably the right call. But that wasn't even the craziest game from the end-season tournament so far. In a game between the Nets and the Bulls, Zach Levine nearly pulled off a miracle. Down by two, Levine purposely missed his second free throw and grabbed the offensive rebound, only to miss the game-time shot. Nevertheless, these crazy endings teach us that players care, whether they want to admit it or not. And if not for the players, the teams definitely care. They went all out for the calls. Instead of using traditional tan hardwood courts, they switched over to courts with brighter colors and designs. And believe it or not, it made things quite different for the viewers so far. The Chicago Bulls' court, for instance, had a bright red color that made it hard at times to locate the ball itself, but complaints and all, the NBA feels are freshly new and original. However, one thing that isn't changing is the Boston Celtics regular season dominance. Last season, the Celtics finished 57-25, second in the Eastern Conference. This season, there's a good chance they'll surpass last season's win total, cuz on November 1st, they weren't just good, they were exceptional. In a 51-point route against the Pacers, the Celtics scored 155 points, the second most in franchise history. But what's equally inspiring is the play of Boston's fearless leader, Jason Tatum. This season, Tatum stirred up a lot of controversy by calling himself the NBA's most skilled player. However, by the looks of it so far, that claim might not be too far-fetched. In his first six games, Tatum is playing at an MVP caliber level. He's averaging 30.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists while shooting 54% from the field. If anything, the additions of Drew Holiday and Chris Tasporzingis aren't taking from his production, they're just making him better. Plus, through their first five wins, the Celtics' plus 18.4 average margin of victory is far and away the league's best. That's nearly 6 points higher than the second-ranked Philadelphia Sixers. And honestly, it's not even that surprising based on their starting lineup. There are very few things a lineup consisting of Tatum, Holiday, Porzingis, Jalen Brown, and Derek White can't do. It's a combination of shooting, defense, and athleticism that the rest of the league can't keep up with. But to truly put their hot start into perspective, look no further than average scoring margin. Through 6 games this season, the Celtics have a scoring margin of plus 14.5 points per game, followed by the Sixers with plus 13.2 and the Nuggets at plus 10.9. Last season, they also led this category with a scoring margin of plus 5.9, as well as in 2021 with a scoring margin of plus 6.4, meaning this could be the third consecutive season that the Celtics lead the league in scoring margin. At this point, it's only a matter of time until this team puts the pieces together in the playoffs. Well, unless Jimmy Butler turns into the second commander Michael Jordan again. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks are struggling to put all the pieces together. Without the help of their star defender Drew Holiday, their defense has taken a massive step back. So far, their defense ranks 24th in defensive rating, whereas a season ago, their defensive rating was in the top 5 But still, one shouldn't expect the loss of a single player like Drew Holiday to make such a difference. After all, they still have two first-team all-defensive players, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brooke Lopez. So naturally, this defensive slump isn't cause for too much concern. Dame Tom has lived up to the hype, and their offense is cooking whenever he's out there. And right now, that's what fans really care about. But still, there's always a reason to be concerned when your team loses 130 to 111 to the Raptors, with Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam leading the way. This is not a team you'd expect to outclass the Bucs. Tom will tell if this concern lingers. However, a healthy Chris Middletake can help the team go back to their old ways, once he fully recovers from an off-season knee surgery. So all right, it's not time to hit the panic button for the Bucs. I can say the same for the Memphis Grizzlies. Without Ja Morant or Dillon Brooks, one would think that this team could handle its own. But instead, this team has been abysmal. With a 1-6 record, the Grizzlies are last in the West End Conference, largely in part to their 30th rank offense and their second-worst net rating. Their only victory so far? A relatively unimpressive 112-100 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Despite finishing 51-31 last season, good for second in the West End Conference, this season's Grizzlies is a completely different story. They are missing John Moran and it's painfully obvious. This team still has 18 games to go without John Moran, and if they can't rewrite the shit by then, it's gonna be chaotic. Speaking of which, there is no one more chaotic or controversial than Dylan Brooks, but I'm gonna say it, the Grizzlies could use him this season. Well, maybe not off the court, but on the court, he's having himself a sneaky good season. Yes, I know it's early, and he got his ankles broken by Steph Curry already this season, but his stats are impressive. Through 6 games, he's averaging 16.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and a 2.2 assist on 59.3% from the field. And it's safe to say the Grizzlies could use the offensive boost right now. In fact, if you had to choose between Dylan Brooks and Jordan Poole, I wouldn't fault you for going with Brooks, because so far, there's been almost no baddies in attendance. And as a result, Jordan Poole's play has suffered significantly. Yes, he's averaging 18.5 points, but at the same time, he's chucking up stupid shots. His 43.6 shooting percentage hasn't been pretty, and neither has his 33.3% shooting percentage from three. Against the Grizzlies, Poole scored a season-high 27 points, but he did so on 23 shot attempts, and only made eight of them. This is not what you want to see from your future franchise cornerstone, and it's a large reason why the Wizards find themselves at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. And yet, Jordan Poole has been doing this his entire career. In almost 300 games played, the only difference between this season's Jordan Poole and the Warriors version of Jordan Poole is matter of scenery. Before, Poole's struggles were hidden from playing alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, but now that his teams are no longer winning, all eyes are on Jordan Poole. And no, that doesn't mean baddies aren't sliding into his DMs. But up next, let's talk about the Joker aka Nikolai Jokic. And boy have the last few months been kind to this guy. After winning his first championship last season, the consensus was simple. Nikolai Jokic is the best player on the planet, because if breaking Wilt Chamberlain's single season record for triple doubles doesn't scream, you can't stop me, then I don't know what will. But just when you thought the Joker can't get any better, he starts this season on an absolute tear In his 8 games so far, he's averaging 28.4 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 8.4 assists on 63.3% shooting. If he keeps up this pace, voters may have no choice but to name him MVP for the third time in 4 years. For reference, he's averaging more points and assists than either of his two MVP seasons. Oh, and his shooting percentage is higher as well. And yet, he's doing all this while only playing 34 minutes per game. When you really think about it, it's mind boggling. I mean, Lebron's minutes are supposedly capped this season, and he's averaging 35.9 minutes per game. When Yokej is out there, he's the best player on the court, period. And if you don't take my word for it, I'll let the stats do the talking, because one of my favorite stats to measure a player's impact is win shares per 48 minutes. And unsurprisingly, Yokej's win shares per 48 is high, stupid high. This season, his win shares per 48 is.344. That's higher than his mark of.308 last season, and also higher than each of his two MVP seasons. For reference, Michael Jordan, the undisputed GOAT of his era, has a career win shares per 48 of.2505. Meanwhile, other legends like Lebron James and Magic Johnson have win shares per 48 of.2259 and.2249 respectively. But that's an average season for an all-time great. What about an all-time great season from an all-time great? In which case, there are some pretty impressive seasons. You have Curry during his unanimous MVP season in 2015 and 16 His win shares per 48 that season, .3177, eighth all-time. You have Michael Jordan in 1990-91, whose win share per 48 ranks sixth all-time with.3211. And of course, you have LeBron in 2012 to 2013 with the Miami Heat. But once again, Prime LeBron falls short with a win share per 48 of.3220. In fact, the best all-time season was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971 and 72 His win share per 48 that season was an impressive.3399, but still not as good as Joker so far this season. In other words, the Joker's current mark of.3437 is in a class of its own. He isn't just impacting today's game more than anyone else, he's having one of the most influential impacts in NBA history. And if that doesn't make you want to watch week three of NBA action, then you can at least do me a favor, click the video on the screen. And if you do, good things are ahead for your favorite NBA team. Well, unless you root for the Memphis Grizzlies.