The NBA season is 10 days old. For this week’s QTNA, we ponder Stephen Curry’s injury impact, Joe Mazzulla’s take on fighting, Zach LaVine’s “untradable” contract, and early panic for a couple of recent champions.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla suggested fighting be allowed in the NBA in a radio interview. Too much dip on his chip or is he on to something?
Yes.
For starters, Mazzulla is interesting if nothing else. Characters in coaching have been legislated out a bit over the last several years and it was capped off by coaches no longer wearing suits on the sidelines — dressing as an expression of one’s personality.
But for Mazzulla, he’s the youngest coach in the NBA at 35 years old, and perhaps he doesn’t have knowledge of the yesteryear game where physicality was legislated as part of the game, and officials allowed players to police themselves to a large degree. He just sees it as another element to get fans engaged.
“The biggest thing that we rob people of, from an entertainment standpoint, is you can’t fight anymore,” Mazzulla told 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. “I wish you could bring back fighting. … What’s more entertaining than a little scuffle? How come in baseball, they’re allowed to clear benches?”
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The answer is layered, complicated and uncomfortable. But let’s start here. America doesn’t want to see Black men fighting, and fighting within close proximity of fans paying top dollar — the NBA sells intimacy, which could make fighting tricky. The Malice at the Palace — which took place 20 years ago next month — left a lasting impression in the eyes of the viewing public, and we know all the code words that have been used and would be used if the NBA didn’t keep a firm handle on physical play.
To be fair, it wasn’t exactly “allowed” then. That wild scene in Auburn Hills just exploded on a Friday night and the sports world hasn’t been the same since. But in baseball, especially after hitters get beaned with 100 MPH fastballs, vigilante justice is accepted as part of the game. For a lot of reasons, the NBA’s culture won’t allow the goons of the game to protect the night on their terms.
Going back to the late ‘90s, when scores started to plummet and the games were losing their gracefulness, some incidents were notable. The 1997 Knicks-Heat brawl in Game 5 of the East semis, where Miami’s P.J. Brown tossed Charlie Ward upside down WWE-style, changed the tone of that series. There were so many suspensions in Games 6 and 7 for players participating or just leaving the bench that then-commissioner David Stern had to issue the penalties in alphabetical order because the Knicks wouldn’t have had enough active bodies!
Then less than a full year later, Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson couldn’t contain their disdain for each other anymore in the final seconds of Game 4 of their first-round series, each throwing a series of haymakers. None landed, by the way. The only thing that actually landed was Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy onto Mourning’s leg like a puppy that fits in a purse. The visual, while hilarious, put the league in a position where it had to curtail such black eyes.
Today’s game is actually still plenty physical on the interior, and with the floor spread there’s actually more of a chance for a wind-up to have an impact on a player compared to the confined spaces of decades prior. But the NBA gets it wrong in believing fans don’t appreciate physicality. You’d find out who the real tough guys are if players knew officials and teammates weren’t gonna be so quick to rush in and stop matters; legislated violence works in other sports, notably the NFL. Some villains unafraid to really mix it up isn’t such a bad thing in this NBA.
Zach LaVine’s contract was deemed untradable in the offseason. How should he be evaluated now?
Two things are undeniable truths in the NBA. First: Contracts are always untradable in the summer, because players are usually evaluated by their cap hit first, and game second, if at all. The second truth: Once a season begins, the contract further winds down to expiration. Obvious, yes. But it’s a reminder to be careful about judging a good player by his contract, because LaVine — when you give him a playmaker in the backcourt that allows him to flow — is the best version of himself right now.
He’s on the books for two more seasons after this one — with 2026-27 a player option worth $48.9 million that looks like a sure bet to be picked up — but he’s playing good ball so far. Josh Giddey and Lonzo Ball are look-ahead guards who are also creative passers. LaVine is the perfect target.
He’s always been an efficient jump-shooter, but he’s loading up on the 3s, taking nearly eight a game at 44%. LaVine is at 51.3% overall (a career high), which shows he’s not forcing his offense and letting the game dictate his movements.
Now, there’s nothing to suggest the Bulls still don’t want to get out of the LaVine business, but the potential suitors who were concerned about the surgery that ended his season after 25 games should have their fears assuaged. His defense and durability will be rightful questions, but on the health front he’s shown the ability to bounce back from debilitating injuries.
Stephen Curry turned his ankle and will be reevaluated on Friday. Is there a silver lining?
Well, it certainly tests the whole “strength in numbers” thing, and puts a lot of attention on head coach Steve Kerr. But Kerr seems up to the task, and the Warriors have a hellacious, active defense, illustrated by suffocating the New Orleans Pelicans at home Tuesday night and Draymond Green putting on a defensive masterclass in the rematch 24 hours later.
Moving Jonathan Kuminga to the bench in the absence of Curry and Andrew Wiggins seems like a risky move on its face, considering Kuminga and the Warriors couldn’t come to terms on a rookie scale extension, but it looks like the right move. Even without the two mainstays from the 2022 title team and De’Anthony Melton, the Warriors still look deep, like Kerr can roll out a 10-man rotation with room to spare. All four of the Warriors’ wins were by 15 points or more, albeit against lesser competition, and the one loss was when Curry exited against the Clippers Sunday night.
Curry is the one big spade in the deck, but there are a bunch of face cards who can make impact plays or even control a quarter. We know Green is capable of turning it up on the defensive end for long stretches, and now Buddy Hield is showing he can thrive in a winning situation.
The youngsters, Brandin Podziemski, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Moses Moody, have developed into reliable contributors. It begs the question, especially if we are to assume Curry will be back healthy soon enough and playing at his usual high level: Will the Warriors be willing to sacrifice some of their future to make a run at the present?
The West is stacked and the young players will be expensive as they approach extension time, so one would assume the franchise gets more aggressive if they can keep this up.
But in the meantime, strength in numbers sounds pretty good, again.
The Bucks and Nuggets don’t look anything like champions of recent vintage. Which one should panic?
Believe it or not, it seems like the Nuggets. After all, Nikola Jokić is still very much in his prime and he needed an every-ounce performance to defeat the pesky Brooklyn Nets on the road in overtime. It feels like you’re running the risk of wearing him down before you get to the playoffs, and it looked clear he was tired at the end of the second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. So it bears watching.
Whatever gas Russell Westbrook has in the tank, he’ll deliver on some nights to be a wild card as a playmaker. Even though his shooting is bad — and honestly, the Nuggets’ roster is shooting poorly aside from Jamal Murray — you feel like that Tasmanian Devil element of chaos Westbrook brings is worth the small investment.
For the Bucks, the bench is an issue, but once Khris Middleton returns from offseason surgery, Taurean Prince will go from overtaxed starter to valuable reserve. Only Bobby Portis is productive right now on a top heavy roster. It’s easy to point to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard given last year’s uneven run, but they’re far from a problem. And even if Middleton’s health is a question mark the Bucks can’t afford to have, we won’t know what moves they’ll need to make — even with limited resources — until then.
So we will wait on both before we fully panic.