Charles Barkley recently said that not only was neither Steph Curry or Kevin Durant the 2nd best player in the NBA, he said that it was either Kawhi Leonard or Klay Thompson. At the time, I thought it was crazy and I still don't think Klay Thompson is on that level but I think he may be right about Kawhi (and not just because he's improved so much on offense). Kawhi just has that mentality that he's going to do everything he can to win, kudos to the Spurs organization for recognizing that in him early on. With KG, Duncan, and Kobe retiring I think we're losing not just stars but players that have that iconic fire and will to win that Jordan, Olajuwon, Bird, etc had. Lebron is in that group, he further cemented himself as one of those guys with his block in the finals. Would Kevin Durant have made that play? He's quick enough and even longer but I've seen him give up on plays and even entire games. Steph Curry settled for a contested jumper with Kevin Love guarding him? Is he in that group? I'm not sure the Warriors are winning every championship over the next 5 years like everyone predicted. When I think about the current crop of all-stars I can only name a few that I think will do everything they can to win a game. Lebron James Kawhi Leonard Russell Westbrook Anthony Davis There are a few other all stars that don't take plays off (like Paul George and Dwyane Wade) but I'm not sure they're good enough at this point to change the culture of a team. Who's on your list of HUNGRY stars?
This generation of stars is a bunch of betas compared to stars in other leagues, and the previous generation of NBA stars. I'm hesitant to include Lebron due to "the decision", although he has achieved redemption in Cleveland. I'll say Lebron, Kawhi, Davis, Paul, Chandler Parsons (lol, no), Lowry, Westbrook, Nowitski (though I dislike him). There are probably a lot that I'm glossing over, like Harden (hasn't established that yet), Wall, Derozan, etc, but admittedly I'm less familiar with the Eastern conference guys. Guys who for sure aren't alpha competitors: Durant, Curry, Parsons, Griffin, Aldridge, Howard. They have an interest in winning, but more for self-marketing reasons than because of a competitive nature. If it were the latter, we'd see more guys saying stuff like "this is my city", or "I'm going to take this team as far as I can." Instead, we see "it would be nice to play with [insert top teams here]", or "although I'm the son of an NBA player, I'm the everyman, and the ultimate underdog."
Ennis,Brewer,...the list goes on. No but seriously the era of the "fire" star is gone. Just like the big man era. Maybe it all started to go downhill when players were drafted straight out of high school? IDK? But maybe this younger generation will be able to reignite that flame.
