People LOVE Power Rankings in sports. It’s pretty stupid. So, of course, I have MY Stupid Power Rankings. I take 10 things from the NBA and WNBA (or not) in the past week and rank them accordingly. You don’t like them? Make your own rankings!
Let’s see what cooked in mid-April.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Jeff Chiu/AP.)
1) Do You Like Your Curry Mild, Hot, Fire, or STEPH?
(NOTE: This was even before Stephen Curry scorched Philadelphia with 49 points.)
Curry is having a hell of a week. Maybe even three weeks. But in the last week, he made 10 3-pointers in three games. I mean, only Steph and Klay have made 10 threes in three or more games in a season. STEPH DID IT IN A WEEK.
Not only that but he’s averaging 43.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists while shooting .545 from three (IN 16.5 ATTEMPTS PER GAME). No thermometer can handle this.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Ron Jenkins/AP.)
2) Knicks Continue Hot Streak
The Knicks are real. They’ve won 6 straight overall and dispatched of the Lakers, Pelicans twice, and the Mavericks.
And the core of this roster is relatively unchanged. That’s what makes it even more spectacular.
3) Aari McDonald Gets Drafted 3rd Overall
So we had all these WNBA mock drafts earlier. But I was so happy to see Aari McDonald destroy them all after such an outstanding NCAA tournament. The Atlanta Dream selected the 5’6″ dynamo third overall and I am elated that her stock rose all the way high like that. She’s going to take the Dream’s swagger to the next level.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Reaves/Getty Images.)
4) Dwyane Wade is Now Minority Owner for Jazz
We want to see more players take ownership of pro teams. They have the players’ perspective so they can relate on that part. And they’re way more open to wanting what the players and, ultimately, what the world wants. After all, we just have a lot of old clueless dudes collecting money as sports owners. We need someone who has the pulse on the world. Wade certainly does.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP.)
5) Celtics Are Awake
Boston has recovered to win 6 straight. And they took care of some quality teams in Portland, the Lakers, and the Warriors. Why is Boston’s 6-game win streak lower in the rankings here? Because the Celtics are EXPECTED to have 6-game win streaks on the regular.
(NOTE: They lost to Chicago on Monday night to snap that win streak. Oops.)
(VIDEO CREDIT: House of Highlights.)
6) The Bam Adebayo Game-Winner
Look at Bam Adebayo get to this spot and get that buzzer-beater against Brooklyn. That shot snapped Miami’s three-game losing streak. Boy, did they need that.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Pennington/Getty Images.)
7) Blazers and Mavericks Can’t Capitalize
The Lakers have been riddled with injuries and this was Portland and Dallas’s chance to gain ground or even overtake L.A. But the Blazers went 1-2 last week (they’ve lost 5 of 7 overall) and the Mavs lost 3 of 4 in that same week (lost 4 of 5 overall). This was their chance to knock L.A. down to the play-in game and they missed golden opportunities to do that.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Adam Hunger/AP.)
8) LaMarcus Aldridge Retires
LaMarcus Aldridge experienced an irregular heartbeat on April 10th against the Lakers. It turns out that this will be his final game as Aldridge abruptly called it a career after that health scare. Selfishly, I hate that he’s leaving the game as I felt he had a few more years to go but what’s really most important is the man’s health. Hope he can live a long and healthy life; he’s given so much to the NBA.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Joe Camporeale/USA Today.)
9) NBA Fining Spurs Once Again for Resting Policy
It’s really silly to fine the San Antonio Spurs after they waxed the hell out of the Phoenix Suns. The Spurs sat out DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and Patty Mills as they played their FIFTH GAME IN SEVEN NIGHTS. What the heck, NBA? Think about this for a little bit? PLUS THEY WON THEIR GAME IN A BLOWOUT.
10) When They Don’t Talk About Actual Basketball
We have a lot of great NBA stories going on but the big networks would rather talk about Zion Williamson‘s gushing about New York or try to discredit Nikola Jokic‘s MVP season. Dude. We don’t have to bring people down so you can promote your own MVP vote and you don’t have to put an entire franchise in its pins and needles by saying where Zion Williamson could go in TWO YEARS. Or even SEVEN YEARS. Either way, the networks are more about speculation rather than the action itself. It’s been like this for a long time but it just really annoyed me this week.
Everyone, please take care of yourselves during this pandemic. And that goes for everyone involved with the NBA as well.
You can find Rey-Rey on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
You can also check out Rey-Rey’s podcast, Rey-Rey Is Fundamental, for more basketball content and, really, whatever else.
R.I.P. Nala.