Beware The Basketball Ides of March

The phrase “Beware the Ides of March” has been nothing short of iconic throughout the centuries of Shakespearean lore and its insertion into mainstream pop culture. The Ides of March in question refers to March 15th, the first new moon of the month, and more importantly, the day of Julius Caesar’s infamous assassination. Shakespeare wrote this line for a fortune teller in his aptly titled play, “Julius Caesar” as Caesar is warned of the coming events to take place. My friends, today is the Ides of March and in the most niche topic combination in sports journalism history, I’ll be taking the role of Shakespeare’s soothsayer and predicting the impending doom for certain NBA teams, players, and trends.

TORONTO RAPTORS

Emotionally, it feels like just yesterday that the Toronto Raptors won their first championship in franchise history. However, Toronto’s viewing experience has now become nearly unrecognizable. The presence of a superstar in Kawhi Leonard seems like a distant memory as he enters his second campaign with the LA Clippers. Frontcourt pillars Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol are nowhere to be found. Kyle Lowry is the only remaining starter from the 2019 title as he inches closer to a trade deadline where he likely gets moved. As such, this team has fallen off a cliff in almost every category possible. They’ve lost 5 games in a row and 7 of their last 8. Tanking feels inevitable for an organization that finally crescendoed their perennial contending into a championship. Hopefully the glory of 2019 can hold over fans during what could become an ugly rebuild.

POSITIONLESS BASKETBALL

Spurred on primarily by the Draymond Greens and PJ Tuckers of the world, the term “positionless basketball” came to prominence in the 2017-18 range as teams around the league began to turn their focus to perimeter shooting and smallball lineups. While the emphasis on the 3-point shot has stayed the same, the downsizing of the big man spot has not. As it currently stands, three of the five the odds-on favorites for MVP play a bullyball and back-to-basket style. The favorite and likely winner, Joel Embiid, relies almost entirely on post-ups and putbacks to put together his monstrous 30ppg regular season thus far. Nikola Jokic and reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo also play a more old school fashion of basketball with points in the paint taking up much of their box score. Teams may also look at the reigning champs in Los Angeles as more of a reason to get bigger rather than smaller. With all the benefits that a smallball lineup brings to an offense, it would become nearly impossible to stop a tandem of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, two of the most physically imposing players the game has ever seen. While I acknowledge that this prediction might be more wishful thinking than a legitimate analysis, it seems rational that the “positionless basketball” craze would begin and promptly end with the Golden State Warriors dynasty.

DAMIAN LILLARD’S LEGACY

Prepare for the least controversial take in my writing career: Damian Lillard is a very good basketball player. I’d think this is a cause that the majority of NBA fans can get behind. How long that love lasts is my reason for including this in the article. Lillard has had 4 first round exits since 2015 and has only reached the conference finals once. I’m not here to say he’s not elite or among the best point guards in the NBA, I’m only anticipating what could be an abrupt turn in fan perception. How many chances will Lillard get and continue to get in the eyes of fans when it comes to winning games? At some point the argument will be made that he is nothing but a “good stats, bad team” guy. Maybe this idea will be negated by Lillard’s continued attempts to find success in small markets and without joining or creating a super team. That being said, Lillard’s obsession with this concept may also prove to be the downfall to his legacy as an all time point guard. We’re now at nine years and counting of Lillard in Portland and he’s yet to win or come close to winning anything substantial. Opinions can change like wildfire, we’ve seen it happen before. I’m not wishing for the world to hate or disrespect Lillard, but the possibility of it is becoming scarily realized.

IMAGE CREDIT: Kevin C. Cox