There are several reasons to give thanks this NBA season. For better or for worse, teams and players alike have endured peaks and valleys that will continue to provide warming entertainment heading into the month of December.
The Miami Heat have been as pleasant a surprise as Justin Bieber's new album, while Kobe Bryant's season has been as legacy-tarnishing at Peyton Manning's. All signs point to this season being a "farewell tour" for Kobe, but his constant comments and performance have made it tough to watch. Although the way the Los Angeles Lakers and, specifically, head coach Byron Scott have handled the situation has left fans in the dark, few would be surprised to hear Bryant's decision has already been made.
At 9-5, the Heat clearly have a Purpose this season and, after re-signing crucial players this past summer, Erik Spoelstra has guided his team back to the top of the Eastern Conference. What is most surprising about the team's success, however, has been the role of Dwyane Wade.
The 13th-year guard is averaging nearly 30 minutes-per-game and has missed just one of the Heat's 12 games. Not only that, Wade is averaging a team-high 18.4 points and 4.7 assists. With Chris Bosh as the second-leading scorer and Hassan Whiteside emerging as one of the best rim protectors in the game, the Heat look like early favorites to rendezvous with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs.
Equally as surprising is how well the Golden State Warriors have played after winning the 2015 NBA Finals. The defending champs set a record for best start to a season at 16-0 and did so without head coach Steve Kerr. Reigning MVP Stephen Curry has somehow raised the bar, finding an innate drive to break records and repeat as champions. Someone must have said something along the way that pissed him off and The Baby-Faced Assassin has come out of the gate guns blazing.
Nearly everyone on the Warriors with the exception of Klay Thompson has improved over the offseason. The most surprising player performing at a high level is Draymond Green. After receiving a well-deserved contract extension this summer, it would have been easy for Green to decline slightly-a trend that is all too common across the major sports. But the 25 year-old has elevated his play and leads the team in rebounds and assists. Green has recorded one triple-double this season, but has been a few rebounds or assists away in nearly every game. If it weren't for Curry, Green would likely be in the conversation for MVP. As it stands, he is the best passing forward in the game.
Another pleasant surprise has been the Dallas Mavericks, who are currently fifth in the Western Conference at 9-7. After losing out on DeAndre Jordan, the Mavs have played great basketball to start the season. The free agent additions of Deron Williams, Zaza Pachulia, and Wesley Matthews have proved vital. They are three of the top four scorers behind the ageless wonder, Dirk Nowitzki who, at 37, leads the team with 17.7 points-per-game. Even with Chandler Parsons banged up, the Mavs have set themselves up for a successful season with a great start.
On the flip side, there are the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets, who have both looked out of sorts this season. The Rockets added Ty Lawson during the offseason and kept the rest of their roster virtually unchanged, but a 4-7 start resulted in the perplexing firing of head coach Kevin McHale. McHale, who led the team to the Eastern Conference Finals last season finished with a 193-130 regular season record in five seasons with the team. The firing, however, has not changed the Rockets' play. They have won just one game since McHale's departure and have been one of the most embarrassing teams to watch.
Meanwhile, the Clippers have slipped as of late and are currently seventh in a Western Conference that has not looked nearly as strong as a season ago. The Clippers' offseason logo and roster changes have not resulted in success and, at 7-8, the team has surprisingly gone the opposite direction. DeAndre Jordan has the Mavericks with their hands to the sky, praising the basketball Gods for keeping a massive amount of cash in their pockets instead of wasting it on a center who averages just 10.9 points-per-game. Even with the offseason additions of Josh Smith, Paul Pierce, and Lance Stephenson, the Clippers have lost seven of their last ten.
After a rough season last year, the Charlotte Hornets have climbed back into playoff contention in the East. But what's surprising is the recent extension given to head coach Steve Clifford. Currently in his third season with the team, Clifford has an overall record of 84-98, which includes a four-game sweep in his first and only playoff appearance as a head coach. This early in the season a contract extension is questionable for a coach so it will be a wait-and-see to judge the move as a wise investment.
One player who could ensure that is Nicolas Batum, who has put faith in management since coming over in a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. The addition brought a dynamic scorer to the Hornets, which has eased the pressure off Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson. Batum's 16.9 points-per-game is a career high, but fails to recognize several scoring nights in the high-20s and even low-30s. The eighth-year guard has been a major factor behind the Hornets' early success.
On Batum's former team, C.J. McCollum has been a huge lift. The third-year guard has started all 16 games for the Blazers, which is already three times the number of starts he had in the previous two years combined. His 19.9 points-per-game average is above and beyond his scoring in prior seasons and ranks second on the team behind Damian Lillard. The Blazers are in a rough spot having lost four of five starters from last season, but McCollum has eased the transition.
Last, but not least, there has been a surprising continuity with the Sacramento Kings. They have the best facilitating point guard in the game in Rajon Rondo and one of the premiere power forwards in DeMarcus Cousins. Not to mention Rudy Gay, whose 18.2 points-per-game is second on the team and eighth among small forwards. Yet, the Kings have only won five games. Rondo leads the league in assists, while Cousins is fifth in both scoring and rebounds. George Karl's feud with Cousins was well documented but, when Vlade Divac and management forwent giving up on the hothead forward, Karl's future failed to come into question. A short-staffed bench will likely keep the Kings out of the playoffs, but they have the talent to be a bubble team. It is a wonder how both Cousins and Karl remain with the team.