The Weekside: Russell Westbrook’s Last Stand

Words With Friends

The NBA prompts more great features, profiles, analysis, essays, viewpoints, and other writing than any other sport. There is too much for anyone to see it all, but here are the five best pieces we’ve read lately.

1.  Matt Barnes: The Polarizing Pariah
by Chris Ballard

"By late December, when the Sixers came to town, Barnes was a starter, the perfect hybrid athlete for the run-and-gun, position-less style of Nellieball. Before the game, he told his coach how much he hated [his former coach Mo] Cheeks. Nellie smiled and laughed that Nellie laugh. “Alright,” he said. “Do your thing tonight.’” That evening, at Oracle arena, Barnes scored 25 points while hitting seven three-pointers. To this day, it remains perhaps the best shooting night of his life. And every time he sank a jumper, he turned and let Cheeks hear it. Colorfully."

2. Curry vs. Harden: Passing and Defense
by Matt Moore

"Just because these two players are so phenomenal at scoring, that doesn’t mean they’re selfish. In watching hours of their passing, you learn pretty quickly how willing these two are to make the right play, and not when it’s staring them in the face, screaming “make me!” There are few moments when the two players dominate the ball with no perspective on the offense, when they’re just pounding the ball away. They look to set teammates up, they look to create open looks. They work to keep the offense involved."

3. Fine Tuning: Coaching Curry
by Rob Mahoney

"Every night the Warriors play, Kerr can find something like peace—were coaches allowed it—in the fact that his star can do things with a basketball that no one else can. Based on that ability, however, Curry will also attempt maneuvers that few would even try. There are unwritten rules in basketball as to what constitutes a quality shot. They were formulated, though, with lesser shooters in mind. To coach Curry is to throw out the book; whatever guiding principles are implemented must be unique to a player who can casually step back into 25-footers."

4. Joakim Noah’s Season of Decline
by Chris Terzic

"This season, no starter playing at least 30 minutes per game is scoring fewer points per game than Noah. Noah’s field goal percentage (52.8 percent) on shots at the rim: career-low. Noah’s number of dunks (25): career-low. In fact, his previous career-low was 52, so that’s a substantial drop. Noah’s free throw shooting (61.9 percent): yep, you guessed it, career-low. Noah’s never shot lower than 67 percent from the charity stripe before this season and he’s been above 70 percent in each of the last five, so I have no idea what’s going on there."

5. Rajon Rondo: Good at Math, Bad at People
by Baxter Holmes

"Rondo’s Connect Four prowess has … become legendary and has made for heartwarming-yet-awkward community outreach moments. The day he was traded to Dallas in December, he spent his final hours as a Celtic at Boston Children’s Hospital, crushing all comers in the game, repeatedly telling kids, “No mercy.”"

Next: Officially Annoying