Filed under: these didn’t age well.
ESPN analyst JJ Redick took a stroll down memory lane this week to recap some of the worst NBA takes of the season by sports media’s biggest personalities — even adding a few of his own into the mix.
As the latest installment of “Islands in the League” got underway, Redick called attention to a comment made by his colleague, Stephen A. Smith, who hyped up the Brooklyn Nets’ championship aspirations.
“I’ve got the Brooklyn Nets going to the NBA Finals, I’ve got Kyrie Irving as a leading MVP candidate, and I’ve got Ben Simmons returning to All-Star form,” Redick said of Smith’s prediction, which he missed by a mile.
Not only did the Nets fail to reach this year’s NBA Finals, but they got swept in the first round by the Sixers.
What’s more, Irving wasn’t even on the team to be an MVP candidate as he was traded to the Mavericks in February.
Further, Simmons was shut down for the season in March due to a nerve impingement diagnosis.
Elsewhere in the episode, Redick called out a comment by NBA reporter Dave McMenamin, who said, “The Knicks overpaid for Jalen Brunson.”
Although McMenamin wasn’t the only person who raised an eyebrow at the Knicks’ four-year, $104 million contract for Bruson, who showed flashes during his four seasons with the Mavericks, it turns out, the Knicks might have underpaid for the 26-year-old guard.
Brunson averaged 24.0 points, 6.2 assists, and 3.5 rebounds on over 41 percent from three, cementing himself as a star on the Knicks’ roster, and one of the best guards in the league.
He led the Knicks to the second round of the playoffs, only to be defeated by the eventual Eastern Conference champions, the Heat.
This brings us to our next quizzical take, courtesy of Colin Cowherd: “If Jimmy Butler is the best player on your team, you are not going to be playing in late May or June.”
Add this to the collection of Cowherd’s off-the-mark takes.
Butler, who continuously raises his game in the postseason, helped carry the No. 8 seed Heat to this year’s NBA Finals, where they eventually fell to the Denver Nuggets in five games.
As for Redick, he mocked his own lofty expectations of the Suns after they acquired Kevin Durant from the Nets in February.
“When people talk about whether or not the Phoenix Suns should be the favorites, they’re absolutely the favorites, it’s not even a question, it’s not even a question,” Redick recalled with a laugh.
The Suns reached the Western Conference semifinals before they were knocked out by the-now champion Nuggets.
Though Denver’s roster boasts a two-time league MVP in Nikola Jokic, Max Kellerman missed that memo when he remarked, “Best players in the NBA. Tier one: KD. Tier two: Giannis, Curry. Tier three: LeBron, Luka, Embiid.”
Though there are many good players on that list, there’s one glaring omission.
How do you forget Jokic?
