How LeBron, Luka, Giannis, and Harden Are Dominating the NBA This Season | The Ringer 

Arvydas Sabonis is the biggest 'what-if,' IMO. As a basketball fan it kills me that by the time he got to the NBA his knees and ankles were already wrecked from overtraining with the Soviet team.

This is the best basketball breakdown I have ever seen

gotta get any Luka content I can during his injury

Funny how when I was in high school as the tallest person on my team everyone including my coach expected me to play with my back towards the basket, now playmaking bigs are “normal”

Death, Taxes, and Amazing Basketball Breakdowns from J. Kyle Mann. The only guarantees in life.

Goosebumps thinking about Bird in today’s NBA

“Lack of respect from defence all has vanished” Rockets vs GSW Russel westbrook: *crying inside*

Ben Simmons: Am I a joke to you? Yes. Yes you are.

Two years later and Jokic is the unicorn standard to what a big playmaker is all about. Even when it comes to firing passes from different angles and timings that the rest of the players on the court didn't account for. Its kind of had a ripple effect as other teams have hung on to their established ones (Heat, Wolves, Kings via a trade) but other teams have started their own projects to develop theirs (Rockets, Thunder).

Congratulations to the first American to ever pronounce Dončić correctly!!! Great video also!

That guy got dropped at 1:29

It’s weird to see Luka and Harden here until you remember Luka is 6’7” and Harden is 6’6”.

This video is insanely useful for guys who think that today's NBA is regressed, people don't play defense, people are soft etc. The game has evolved instead. The basketball from 80-90s is no longer viable for today's game. It's so much harder to play defense now, cause you have 5 people spacing the floor, instead of like 4 people in the paint as in the past.

Some of those dimes, though! This might be a blueprint for superstars, but the bar is crazy high for imitators. You need to have world class scoring, size, handles, playmaking, and passing. The real miracle is that we have 4+ players who are pulling it off. Oh yeah, ideally you should play D as well. That is one reason why I respect Giannis so much as a player: he is arguably the best in the league on offense and arguably the best in the league on defense. There are players that can just about match his O or his D, but nobody can match him on both. Kawhi is the closest, but he definitely falls short.

J. Kyle Mann makes the flat out best Ringer video content. Keep up the good work.

my new favorite basketball channel, keep up these fire videos!!

great content, love the channel.

Just like the 3 ball, dual threat wings as the best primary arent going anywhere. You can trace it back to rule changes(and somewhat analytics, tho analytics by nature are reactionary. Spotting a fact rather than setting it). Wings by nature are just giants with extreme skill and athletic ability, already a good option to build around. But post 04 with zone being allowed(no illegal defense) Lebron and co. style was perfect to drive and kick. In this time you see the rise of scoring point guards as well(1. They saw Lebron. 2. They still were far and away more skilled than your average wing). Then the freedom of movement rule combined with Curry's success and Houston analytical approach encouraged the increase and skill of 3pt shooting(that particular skillset at that, since league 3pt shooting % increased dramatically without FT shooting doing the same). You add the Thunders campaign for Russ boxing out to get your playmaker the ball as soon as possible the rise of triple doubles increased even moreso than with Lebron(which was dramatic in itself). You end with a league whose best option is a scoring/passing wing who is kicking out to role players that are valuing their low attempts with a shot worth more. The next step is the big whose adept at passing when coming off a roll/pop(essentially an Amare/Malone who can hit the corner or through a lob at the free throw line besides hitting that shot or xscoring at the rim. Can you imagine a rolling hard Joker passing to a cutter or a pindown if the threat of his scoring was greater?). Tho i could see a widening of the court making the corners as long as the rest bringing back big back to the basket play, without illegal defense the corner defender is immediately up on the post. Fascinating game. A slight change in rules or a innovative player can change it completely from what you knew just yesterday.

This was a quality clip. Good job.

I missed you Kyle. Please never leave us for more then a week sincerly every NBA fan.

Best content on RU-vid! Would love a break down of Anthony Edwards soon.

What an awesome breakdown as always 👌🏼

Yet “aLl HaRdEn dOEs Is ShOoT” is what casuals got to say about him like he isn’t one of the best playmakers in the league.

Great video. Channels like this are much better then main stream TV Programming.

How the hell would you talk about big playmakers yet exclude jokic lmao

I swear I just love you videos.

great video!

I'm all for offense but I wish the league would go back to letting perimeter defenders play defense...

I’ve been saying this. 2020s is the beginning of the point foward era

Who is narrating this video? This is some of the best basketball content on RU-vid. Incredible videos.

I agree…great video

This was amazing

Earned a sub

You're so good bro

I’ll be honest this isn’t a hot take, every team wants a person like lebron or Giannis. It’s already at its highest credibility. It’s just that it’s so risky depending on one guy in the draft to come out like that because there are hardly any that can do it so they have to settle with a more traditional line up of 2 backcourt and 3 front court players.

u said dončić so perfectly tbh

Great Sun Ra reference @J.Kyle Mann

Some of my favorite content on RU-vid!

I agree , but I have one question: Whats does that leave for undersized power forwards and Centers that were starting to trend ??

Amazing content. Even though Bron and Doncic are on another level than Giannis and Harden when it comes to playmaking ability, I get why you chose those 4 as prime examples. We need more of these videos. Would love to see BBallBreakdown work with The Ringer on some stuff. It would be a great fit imo

Couldnt imagine Stockton in this era he'd be incredible

Dude's scouting about Cunnigham, Edwards and Ball though 👀

Didn't mention the obvious MAGIC JOHNSON

That last clip at the end got me

Mr Fantastic Arms is the best description I've heard for Giannis

It's like MAGIC!

This must be the first american made video that actualy pronounced Dončič even close to correct, well done

Oh my god I love it when you use clips of really good shows for kicks. Before it was Barry and now it's Chernobyl ❤

Magic, Larry, Scottie, Michael, Tracy, Grant Hill, both Hardaways, Boris Diaw, and many more would be fun to see in a system in today's game

The bench stood up for Roberson @ 1:06😭😭

I agree!

There is something to be said about smaller guards becoming less and less. Taller playmakers/guards like this mean more overall height on the floor and it makes it harder for shorter players to be effective defenders because more and more they have to guard taller players than themselves.

I love this video 2015 warriors were a prime example of insane playmaking and execution by everyone on the floor. The bench also was fcking solid

1. Back then they pick smaller guard because they can handle the ball better, usually faster, harder to steal. 2. Now everyone got nice handles, taller guys can pass better, smaller guys are shooting and scoring with their speed and agility. So now smaller guys tend to be a scoring threat while the bigger playmaker find people or make plays.

How the hell is a 7-footer who might be the best passer in the world not mentioned in this vid

Make more videos like this please if possible.

Luka, Harden, and Giannis will dominate this decade

9:10-9:16 Why am I laughing..

It’s kinda surprising that Jokic wasn’t mentioned ONCE in this video. He’s the best big man facilitator the league has seen yet

Agreed!

Would like to see magic play in today’s era too

Now we have Jokic. J Kyle, you should do an update with the 2 time MVP

I guess if you just ignore every great, short playmaker in history - Nash, CP3, Stockton, etc - it's really easy to make the argument that height leads to superior ability as a playmaker

I agree

"LeBron does... Everything” and that's that.

I kinda understand why some older folks are missing the 1 one 1 post iso ball at 50%, instead of the pick n roll kick and shoot 3 at 33%

All that talk of playmaking bigs and not a mention of Jokic? Come on

9:24 what a NASTY play. Rips up the defense and the no look pass at the end to cap it off. I had to go back and watch it like 10 times.

how did you not mention magic johnson when talkin about the old dudes😂

That last clip of Lebrons assist against the Wizards

Imagine the graph if Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were healthy for entire season!

i fucking love these videos

You forgot to mention the GOAT Evan Turner

Modern Larry is going to be a monster.

I live for these videos❣️

As a 6"8 High school player I appreciate the game turning to this point

Damn you pronounced Luka's name so good, respect from balkan bro

I'll give you a kidney to give us another dimedrop draft prospect video. Please😭

Why haven’t someone thought of a all big men line up with max wingspan In a 3-2 zone

This era of superstar scorers, spacing, and ranged assassins would decimate and overwhelm any era of basketball. Everyone always says how physical the '80s, '90s, and early '00s were, and there was hand-checking and all this, but if you look at the data there were more fouls called back then than in today's game. I grew up watching the last of the Jordan era and the early '00s Pistons, and there just wasn't anything like there is in today's game. There was no KD, or Steph/Klay, or Giannis, or Harden, or Luka, there just wasn't these physically imposing and basically unguardable scorers, with respect to Kobe, T-Mac and Iverson.

The Dime Drop but on The Ringer?? Ill take it, but we need more dime drop content

That last young LBJ clip with a handles and the dish tho 🙃🙃🙃

I saw the thumbnail and the first player that i think of is Marc Gasol

Steve Nash (and that PHX team) ahead of his time. He would’ve feasted in this era.

Larry Bird would have an absolute field day playing today.

i liked how Ben Simmons walked into that brick. lol

Didn't Magic Johnson do this 30 years ago sans the 3 point shot.

Luka is the modern Bird, great vid

9:24 over and over and over

You did Fred VanVleet dirty 😂😂

Deni Avdjia is also a young player who have great size and basketball IQ

Could you imagine Bird in today's game. No doubt several triple double seasons.

How big playmakers are changing the game Shaq: Oh if you thought my prime was good 😈

Interesting pattern, the players' ages are (as of 7-Dec-2020): 35, 31, 26 and 21. This is a 4, 5, and 5 years difference. so if we assume we don't add Jukic to the list, does it mean every 5 years or so comes this type of a "generational" talent?

you don't necessarily have to be big. You just have to be a very smart player and a great iso player. Kyrie can do this as well if he had the court vision. Trae Young to a certain degree too. Dame. Curry. etc.

song at the outro?

Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill smiling down from heaven right now 😢

1:37 succeeding generations surely?

All I want for Christmas is another Dime Drop

My prediction is that the traditional point guard becomes less common as point-forwards become the norm. Point-forwards have the height for better vision and are less vulnerable on defense than traditional point guards. Bigger players are playing smarter, and shooting better than ever, and as we enter the generation of players who grew up watching the Warriors dynasty, that trend will only continue. There are only a handful of truly elite smaller point guards left in the league (i.e.: Steph, Kyrie, Kemba, Dame, maybe one or two others). I'm sure we'll reach another pivotal period in basketball history soon though, and the game will evolve again.