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Down to the five best point guards in the NBA, I took some liberties in The Decision, but if you watch as much basketball as I do, it should make sense to you as well.
Light on the numbers in this edition, as these All-Stars put up stat lines so mind-blowing, that if I tried to type them, my keyboard could explode.
5. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
Westbrook saw the greatest rise this season. Everyone knew he was going to be good, but some people are questioning whether he’s too good to remain Robin to Kevin Durant’s Batman. Prior to this season, I don’t know if I considered him one of the 10 best point guards. Now he’s throwing his name into the top 10 players in the NBA, let alone point guards.
Westbrook — along with Derrick Rose, LeBron James and Blake Griffin — is one of four players in the NBA you cannot take your eyes off of when he’s in the game. Well, five if you count Kevin Love’s rebounding.
While leading all point guards with 4.6 rebounds per game, Westbrook saw his points per game take a six-point jump — up to 22 points per game — to go along with his eight assists and two steals.
If Westbrook and Durant are able to remain as unselfish as they’ve been in their first three seasons together, they will be the best duo in the NBA for years to come.
4. Deron Williams, New Jersey Nets
The forgotten great point guard of this generation, Williams never seems to get enough support. While he may be the most complete point guard in the league, his steady numbers make him the Tim Duncan of point guards — rarely flashy, but able to explode for 30 points, 15 assists or both — it hurts his rating when comparing him to such jaw-dropping specimens.
Williams was put into an extremely bizarre situation this season, going from one of the steadiest organizations in all of professional sports to one that is in phase one of rebuilding. However, with the Nets’ eventual move to Brooklyn, and if Williams can get a physical presence to join him — see Dwight Howard — then he could finally see his name in lights where it belongs.
3. Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
After thinking about this list all year, I felt pretty comfortable about Paul’s spot at No. 3. Just three years ago, he was considered the complete evolution of a point guard — a quicker, stronger, faster Isiah Thomas — but after a knee injury, that explosive speed looked just a half-step slower.
Still, Paul runs the point guard position as well as anyone in the league, and gets the most out of his teammates solely because of the Hornets’ captain’s play. With those thoughts in consideration, No. 3 was appropriate.
Then I watched Game 1 of the Western Conference Playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers. Paul’s performance was one of the best I’ve seen in the NBA this year, and he single-handedly beat the two-time defending champions on the road by posting a ridiculous 33 points, seven rebounds, 14 assists and four steals. Granted it was against L.A.’s point guard position, which statistically speaking is the worst in basketball.
Regardless, Paul needs to give me another outstanding season along the lines of his 2008-09 season, where he averaged 22.8 points, 11 assists, five-and-a-half rebounds and almost three steals per game.
I can’t say someone is best in the league if his best days are, unfortunately, behind him.
2. Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
All right: If Paul is three and Rose is two, then you’ve obviously looked ahead to see who could possible be No. 1. Or, if you have any foreshadowing insight, you realized it after the first sentence. Regardless, this No. 2 spot is in no way a knock on the soon-to-be 2011 MVP.
Rose saw a meteoric rise to stardom this year in only his third NBA season. He is the only player to be in the top 10 in points per game and assists per game this season, although LeBron and Westbrook weren’t too far behind. Rose bumped his point total up to 25 per game, while upping his assists to just under eight per contest.
The biggest addition to Rose’s game was his 3-point shot. While he doesn’t shoot at a great percentage, Rose did drain 128 threes this season, compared to 32 in his first two seasons combined. Rose discovered if he kept his defender honest beyond the arc, the paint would open up so he could do what he does better than anyone but the next guy on this list: get to the rim.
1. LeBron James, Miami Heat
What? How can LeBron be a point guard? He’s built like a hybrid of Karl Malone and a freight train.
But when you think of the greatest point guard of all time, usually one name comes to mind: Magic Johnson. Well, Magic is listed at 6-foot-9-inches, while LeBron is listed at 6-foot-8-inches. In addition, Magic once started a game in his rookie season at center, going as far as taking the opening tip, and is renowned for starting at every position in his NBA career — yet we still consider him the greatest point guard ever.
After this summer, we all realized LeBron was not the uber-athletic version of Michael Jordan, but rather a Magic-type playmaker disguised as the most incredible athletic specimen we have ever seen. So LeBron is a point guard masquerading as a forward — glad we covered that.
Going further, who is the Heat point guard? Carlos Arroyo began the year as the starter but was waived midway through. Mario Chalmers was benched for the aforementioned Arroyo. If you say Mike Bibby, I’ll tell you to get out of 2002.
If LeBron settles into this role, he can still average that triple-double for a season that has only been reached by one player — Oscar Robertson.
Unfortunately for LeBron, the NBA fans and media suffered fatigue of the King, which made room for Rose to come in and most likely grab the MVP. But no one can dictate a game the way LeBron can, no player can change the outcome the way LeBron can and no one has ever played the point guard position the way LeBron can.
Bangor Daily News