Five nights into the NBA season, when the Pacers dismantled the Chicago Bulls, a number of Indiana players left their imprint on the contest.Former Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon finished with 18 points and six assists. Two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo caught fire, going 5-for-5 from deep en route to 22 points. Domantas Sabonis, an All-Star himself, logged 22 points of his own and had a triple-double. Swingman T.J. Warren, continuing , managed to outscore everyone, logging a game-high 23 points.Far less distinguishable in the lopsided box score that evening was center Myles Turner, who...…Five nights into the NBA season, when the Pacers dismantled the Chicago Bulls, a number of Indiana players left their imprint on the contest.Former Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon finished with 18 points and six assists. Two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo caught fire, going 5-for-5 from deep en route to 22 points. Domantas Sabonis, an All-Star himself, logged 22 points of his own and had a triple-double. Swingman T.J. Warren, continuing , managed to outscore everyone, logging a game-high 23 points.Far less distinguishable in the lopsided box score that evening was center Myles Turner, who...WW…

We know which athletes are great, but we know less about what makes them great. To help, FiveThirtyEight is compiling The Greatness Files, a compendium of, well, what makes great athletes great. First up, a rising star named LeBron James.his is not another LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan article. Whenever LeBron reaches another NBA Finals, sports fans are treated to a tired, picked-over argument about the best player of all time. But no definitive answer is reached, and the topic goes back into the freezer until media networks find a new reason to drag it back out.But that debate obscures...…We know which athletes are great, but we know less about what makes them great. To help, FiveThirtyEight is compiling The Greatness Files, a compendium of, well, what makes great athletes great. First up, a rising star named LeBron James.his is not another LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan article. Whenever LeBron reaches another NBA Finals, sports fans are treated to a tired, picked-over argument about the best player of all time. But no definitive answer is reached, and the topic goes back into the freezer until media networks find a new reason to drag it back out.But that debate obscures...WW…

Think back to last summer, when the teams that had just played for an NBA title were hit with one bombshell move after another in free agency.The first bolt of lightning struck instantly, when two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant said he’d be to join Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. The second came days later: Kawhi Leonard, who had just , was and would be joined by Paul George, who had requested a trade there.Those big moves of last season make what we saw this past weekend from the Los Angeles Lakers so impressive. At a time when title contenders often have to play defense to prevent their star...…Think back to last summer, when the teams that had just played for an NBA title were hit with one bombshell move after another in free agency.The first bolt of lightning struck instantly, when two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant said he’d be to join Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. The second came days later: Kawhi Leonard, who had just , was and would be joined by Paul George, who had requested a trade there.Those big moves of last season make what we saw this past weekend from the Los Angeles Lakers so impressive. At a time when title contenders often have to play defense to prevent their star...WW…

Earlier this month, before the Nuggets pulled off , I asked 7-footer Nikola Jokić about the patient, glacially paced style he uses on offense. In a hyper-athletic NBA, in which the speed limit is 70, the Denver star operates at … something much, much less.“I’m patient because I cannot really run fast, and that’s my only option,” .No one will mistake Jokić for Usain Bolt anytime soon, but the reality is that he’s often at his best, and brings opposing defenders to their knees most often, while playing at his slowest.There’s no getting around the simple truth that the Joker is slow, to put it...…Earlier this month, before the Nuggets pulled off , I asked 7-footer Nikola Jokić about the patient, glacially paced style he uses on offense. In a hyper-athletic NBA, in which the speed limit is 70, the Denver star operates at … something much, much less.“I’m patient because I cannot really run fast, and that’s my only option,” .No one will mistake Jokić for Usain Bolt anytime soon, but the reality is that he’s often at his best, and brings opposing defenders to their knees most often, while playing at his slowest.There’s no getting around the simple truth that the Joker is slow, to put it...WW…

An entire documentary could, and perhaps should, be done on the Denver Nuggets, who played the part of “dead man walking” in each of their playoff series before doing the unthinkable and .There would be a spotlight on Gary Harris, , whose return from injury has given the club a much-needed defensive stopper on the wing. We’d get an entire segment on the importance of in Game 5 against L.A., and the that Michael Porter Jr. made in the fourth. Star center Nikola Jokić’s one-legged, leaning fadeaways, which nearly touch the rafters before swishing through, would . And Jamal Murray’s...…An entire documentary could, and perhaps should, be done on the Denver Nuggets, who played the part of “dead man walking” in each of their playoff series before doing the unthinkable and .There would be a spotlight on Gary Harris, , whose return from injury has given the club a much-needed defensive stopper on the wing. We’d get an entire segment on the importance of in Game 5 against L.A., and the that Michael Porter Jr. made in the fourth. Star center Nikola Jokić’s one-legged, leaning fadeaways, which nearly touch the rafters before swishing through, would . And Jamal Murray’s...WW…