As the NBA regular season rapidly approaches, we take a look at some of the highly motivated players that have a lot to prove in the imminent 2022-23 season.
Motivation is a powerful angle in the NBA.
Redemption is an even more powerful driving force of narrative.
Amidst the squeaking of the sneakers and the roar of the crowd, motivation and redemption will inevitably become spectacles under the brightest lights.
The truth is, some players will be more motivated than others this season. Some players simply have more to prove. And some players have the chance at ultimate redemption.
Will they capture it? Or will they let it slip?
These are five players seeking that ultimate redemption — these are the five players in the NBA with the most to prove this season.
Who has the biggest chip on their shoulder this NBA season?
5. Ben Simmons — Brooklyn Nets
On Oct. 4, Ben Simmons played in an NBA basketball game for the first time in over 15 months.
It was merely a preseason game, yes, but he had to start somewhere.
Simmons has a tremendous amount to prove this season because he sat out all of last season, demanding a trade and refusing to play another minute for the Philadelphia 76ers. By the time he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets, a back injury that later required surgery kept him out the rest of the year. A year of his basketball prime was essentially wasted.
But for Ben Simmons, the year off (and the money that he lost) was not a waste. He told J.J. Redick on the Old Man & the Three podcast, “I want peace and happiness. I want to be in a good place. If that costs me whatever it’s gonna cost me, that’s what it costs.”
This should be a commendable notion. Sometimes players (and people in general) just have to do what’s best for them, no matter how it looks. No matter what people will say.
Even so, there are no sentiments that will stop all eyes from being on the polarizing player that is Benjamin David Simmons in Brooklyn this season. And there is nothing that will stop him from having to prove that he is not a liability on offense in the playoffs.
It starts at the free-throw line. The last time we saw him in real NBA action, Simmons shot 15-for-45 on free throws in the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. the Atlanta Hawks. And his 34 percent mark for the entire 2021 playoffs was the worst playoff free throw shooting percentage of all time.
But for all the nitpicking and scrutiny of his flaws, it’s important to appreciate and recognize his superb defense, ball handling, passing and elite transition game. At the end of the day, Simmons is still a great basketball player, previously a third-team All-NBA selection in 2019-20. Voted one of the best 15 players in the league!
Now he just has to play ball and make some free throws.
4. Zion Williamson — New Orleans Pelicans
Like Ben Simmons, Zion missed all of last season — although for completely different reasons. (A broken foot last summer was the crux of it.) Zion has played in just 85 out of 226 possible games since entering the league three years ago, but the Pelicans still gave him the full rookie max extension this summer. That’s at least a $193 million bet (and possibly up to $231 million) that Zion will prove his worth as one of the best and most efficient players in the league. That’s exactly the player he was two seasons ago, the fourth-youngest All-Star in NBA history at the time.
So far in the preseason, Zion has looked fantastic once again. Agile and quick. Explosive and thunderous. And it’s clearly evident that he’s brimming with happiness.
In the immediate on-court postgame interview after his first preseason game, Zion said with a big smile, “My wind is fine. That was light. I can’t lie to you, that was light.”
Zanos is ready to show the league he’s still an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.
3. Kyrie Irving — Brooklyn Nets
Kyrie has a lot to prove this season because he’s playing for his next job. This is a contract year, the result of having to opt in to the final year of his current contract after he could not find his way to the Lakers this offseason.
Kyrie is out to prove that his team can count on him. In three seasons with the Nets, he has played in 103 regular season games out of 226 possible. Going back to his days in Boston, his antics have been a distraction of the worst variety. The Celtics, the very team that Kyrie previously spurned and ravaged, swept the Nets right out of the first round of last year’s playoffs. The Nets were the only team to get swept, gone fishin’ faster than you can say “play-in champions.”
Kyrie played three seasons with LeBron in Cleveland, and the Cavs won 10 playoff series during that run. In his other eight seasons in the NBA, Kyrie’s teams have won four playoff series in all, and he was actually active for only two of them. (Celtics-Pacers first round 2019 and Nets-Celtics first round 2021.)
Depending on how this season goes in Brooklyn, perhaps Kyrie and LeBron will become teammates once again.
2. Julius Randle — New York Knicks
The NBA’s 2020-21 Most Improved Player, Julius Randle was a third-team All-NBA selection and an All-Star two years ago. But last season Randle experienced a New York fall from grace.
Whether it was grappling with his own fans or storming off the court after a win, it was a tough look and an even tougher season after the grand surprise of the season prior.
The Knicks lost their defensive identity (until they found it in March), and Randle stopped making all of the ridiculously difficult shots that he always takes.
If anything else, Jalen Brunson’s arrival to the Big Apple will significantly alleviate Randle’s previous enormous shot-creation responsibility. The addition of a good point guard can work wonders for teams and players. The court should open up for Randle, who can focus on defense and being a bruiser — less fadeaways and more attacking the rim.
During a late-season ESPN broadcast during a Knicks game, Doris Burke said it best, “Play hard and play well, and the fans will cheer for you.”
1. Anthony Davis — Los Angeles Lakers
No player in the NBA has dropped more precipitously in the player ranks than Anthony Davis since the Bubble. His health and availability are the biggest reason why. It’s difficult to be one of the game’s best players if you aren’t actually playing games on the court. Lakers fans would be ecstatic to see even 60 games from Davis this season. But before that, AD has to prove he can play more than half the season, something he hasn’t done in either of the last two years.
AD has been moving better so far this preseason. Sitting out the Lakers’ second game with lower back tightness was concerning, but he suited up and played in the third game against the Warriors on Sunday night when LeBron, Westbrook and Pat Bev all sat out. That is encouraging, just like his game-high 28 points and shooting 8-for-8 on free throws. His shot appears to have a much better rhythm to it.
A healthy Anthony Davis completely changes the conversation surrounding the redemption-seeking Los Angeles Lakers.
Anthony Davis told ESPN he plans to have a chip on his shoulder this season, channeling the same approach he brought to LA in 2019-20. The Lakers have training camp T-shirts that say “CHIP” across the front, a little double entendre for their mindset and motivation.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) September 26, 2022