5 biggest surprises of the 2016-17 NBA season
By John Buhler
There were a lot of strange developments occurring in the NBA this season. Here are the five most pleasant surprises from the 2016-17 campaign.
The 2016-17 NBA regular season comes to a close on Wednesday, Apr. 12. Sixteen teams will vie for their shot at an NBA title, even though we all know which three teams can hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. The other 14 will get ready for some ping-pong ball action in the weeks to come.
It has been an exciting, drama-filled regular season. There have been injuries, star players sitting out, rivalries emerging and star players being forged on the hardwood. It’s been mostly good despite decline television ratings in the NBA this season. Here are the five most pleasant surprises from this regular season we’ve just completed.
5. Scott Brooks made the Washington Wizards an elite Eastern Conference team
There were 10 head coaching changes made in the NBA from 2015-16 to 2016-17. Some hirings were met with great praise while others were to some degree ridiculed. Former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks had been out of basketball for a year after his 2015 firing. He was either going to be the new head coach of the Houston Rockets or the Washington Wizards.
Brooks’ decision to go to the nation’s capital was a bit of a head-scratcher. The Wizards had a great, frustrating point guard in John Wall. He didn’t always get along with his often-injured backcourt partner in the very wealthy Bradley Beal. Washington lacked any semblance of a deep rotation, set up by questionable front office moves by general manager Ernie Grunfeld who is almost always on the hot seat.
Washington missed the Eastern Conference Playoffs the year before and was a dreadful 13-16 through Christmas. Chemistry issues had Washington at the breaking point. It was debatable that Brooks would get his team to buy in before it was too late.
Flash forward three months later and Brooks has his Wizards winning their first division title since the Jimmy Carter administration. Shakedown 1979. The cool kids in Washington did have the time. Wall is playing with the awareness of a superstar. Beal has had his health and approached near-All-Star. In other years, small forward Otto Porter Jr. would be a serious candidate for NBA’s Most Improved. Some Greek dude in Milwaukee is making that hard for Porter.
Overall, Brooks has shown that he is more than just a babysitter of superstars. He empowers his best players to lead by example. Brooks gets elevated play out of his bench to increase his team’s overall floor. Washington is a top-four team in the Eastern Conference. With the right matchup, the Wizards can play in the conference finals. He not only survived the scathing Washington media, Brooks spun the narrative around and made them praise him like they should.