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The NBA has drastically changed the way it officiates the game. How has that impacted players? Who has it impacted the most? Check out our graph and analysis!

Just as some players shock the NBA world and rise above their playoff expectations, some crumble under the increased pressure of games in the summertime. I highlighted the 5 biggest stock risers of the NBA playoffs in last week’s article, but unfortunately for the 5 players who you’ll read about in a moment, I’ve decided to head to the other end of the spectrum this week. 

The NBA is interesting because during the regular season, fans and media members overreact to players’ performances and form their “player rankings”, only for the playoffs to come around and completely dismantle the aforementioned ranking system. I say this to make the point that when we TRULY think about who the best players in the world are, we need to more heavily consider what they do in May, June and July as opposed to what they do when half of the teams are load managing. For example, take a guy like Julius Randle. He made 3rd team all-NBA (as he should have) because he had a remarkable regular season, leading a Knicks team that played their hearts out in all...

Personally, I didn’t even think a team constructed by Danny Ainge and coached by Brad Stevens could look like the Celtics did this past season. And no, I’m not talking about their record or their lack of playoff success, and I’m not even talking about their lackluster, lazy defense at times; I’m talking about their offense, if that’s even what it should be called. We played as five individuals throughout the season, which is not something Celtics fans are used to, at least as of late; the Isaiah Thomas led teams always moved the ball with unselfishness and force, and not much needs to be said about how the 2008-era Celtics played together on the offensive end. Even the recent...

Despite their position as a 2 seed, the Suns’ effortless run to the Western Conference Finals comes as a surprise to most of the basketball world. They overcame some early challenges against a star-studded Lakers team in the first round, and they rolled over a Nuggets team that has a knack for fighting back from series deficits. The Suns didn’t do it with crazy star power, though. They didn’t have the best player on the court in EITHER of the first 2 rounds, yet they were still able to win games by playing as a team on both ends. Much of this togetherness must be attributed to James Jones, the retired champion turned general manager of the Suns, who’s managed...