The NBA is about to enter the postseason, that magical time of year when the stakes get higher and higher, when the same owners who insist more time off for players to rest and recover doesn't prevent injuries or raise their level of play suddenly insist on off-days between every game. Almost like the billionaires are trying to pull something over our eyes. Sound familiar?
Pleasant surprises abound, league-wide. The Detroit Pistons are this year's Cinderella, rising from the rags of a 14-win season just a year ago to the bell of this year's ball, one given a puncher's chance in their series with New York. Two years ago, the Houston Rockets lost 60 games; this year they're the two-seed in the West. T
wo playoff teams, winning teams, fired their head coach with just a handful of games left in the season. Dallas, Sacramento, Phoenix and Philadelphia would each normally be the frontrunner for the league's saddest flop, if this weren't the Year of the Flop. Thankfully the fumbling four aren't the rule, but at this point they're no longer exceptions.
There were unexpected delights on an individual level, too. Before the play-in begets the playoffs, let's take some time to appreciate some of the weirder, woolier truths of the 2024-25 campaign. Let's celebrate the NBA's freaks.
Meet the weirdest statistical outliers from the NBA 2024-25 season
In this the latest year of the longball, five players shot 40 percent or better from deep on 10+ attempts per 36 minutes. Most of the names come as no surprise: Steph Curry, duh (40 percent, 12.5 tries). Malik Beasley, who may have had the greatest high-volume 3-point season for anyone ever besides Curry (42 percent, 12.1). Anthony Edwards established himself as equally dangerous above the rim or the break (40 percent, 10.2). Possible Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard was as prolific from deep as he was on the glass (40 percent, 10). If you don't follow Oklahoma City closely, you may never have guessed Isaiah Joe put up 10.5 3s per 36 and drilled 41 percent of them. Even if you didn't know about Joe, though, you might have guessed at some/most of the others. So let's make our search a bit funkier. Who are the NBA's best biggest shooters?
More than ever the league is all about freeing the beasts from deep, letting the 4s and 5s fire away from behind the arc. It's still an exhilarating sight, unless you tune in to one of those games where the teams combine to shoot like 25-of-85 on 3s; those are the dark nights of the soul. But just because more bigs have license to let fly doesn't mean most of them are all that good. Who are the very best? The top-five 3-point bombers to stand 6-foot-10 or taller?
Michael Porter Jr. is the NBA's best 'big' shooter
Michael Porter Jr. made 193 from deep on 40 percent shooting. Mind-blowing not in a "I never would've guessed" way but more a shake-your-head-at-the-wonder-of-nature way, Kevin Durant -- in year 18! -- made 160 at a 43 percent clip; to maintain the metronomic scoring success he did this year on a Phoenix team literally degrading in real-time in front of us won't get a lot of hype when KD's inducted into Springfield, but it's impressive nevertheless. Myles Turner continues his run as a premier 3-and-D center (156/40 percent). Then there's Jaren Jackson Jr. (146/38 percent), with fifth a tie between Karl-Anthony Towns and Victor Wembanyama (142 makes each, 42 percent and 35 percent shooting, respectively).
Still, these are all facts that mostly make sense. We need to narrow down even more to get into the good stuff. So let's flip the script on the biggest and best 3-point shooters -- what about the best short kings? And since we're used to littles firing from afar, let's take the inversion all the way and figure out who were the NBA's 6-foot-4 and under 2-point marksmen?
De'Aaron Fox and Jalen Brunson were the NBA's best 'small' scorers in the paint
Jalen Green vascillated between a career year and a typical one for him, numbers-wise, but for a Rockets team that finished middle of the pack offensively (rated 13th) and bottom-third in 3s taken and maken, the 6-foot-4 Green ranking 35th in the league in 2s made was medicine his team desperately needed. Slightly above him in 33rd was Denver's Jamal Murray, who might have finished first among all the shorties if he hadn't missed 15 games. Between Jokić's post-up wizardry and Porter Jr.'s precision from 3-point range, the Nuggets need Murray's midrange marauding to keep the Clippers and their third-ranked defense off-balance. Ant finishing 27th in 2s made is incredible, given he also led the league in 3-point tries.
Far ahead of the pack -- farther, even, had they not missed 20 and 17 games due to injury -- De'Aaron Fox and Jalen Brunson are the kings of little men living large in the land of the giants. Yet the two couldn't do it more differently from one another. Brunson's game is ragtime, all syncopated rhythms and half-step key changes. When the ball's in his hands, the fat lady doesn't sing until the ball's just about finished slipping through the twine. Anticipate what Brunson's gonna do and you're already two steps behind him. Fox doesn't worry what you might be thinking; before you consider the question he's already blown by you. Brunson moves from A to B like a Teletubby, hoppity zig-zagging everywhere. Fox moves like Sonic the Hedgehog. Hops-wise, Fox has his own highlight reel of dunks. Brunson is so ground-bound he could be a troll.
We can get stranger, though. Let's look at one more strange-but-true category. And since so many NBA fans sitting at home like to think that despite their quotidian heights, they too would find a way to make their mark on the league, let's see which smallest dudes come up the biggest. Who are the NBA's top 6-foot-4 and shorter rebounders? Not surprisingly, the league's leading 100 rebounders only include seven that fit the bill.
Given how quickly Derrick White has established himself as a beloved, seemingly bespoke two-way piece of the Celtic title puzzle, the Washington Wizards can be excused for loving the fact that rookie Bub Carrington is already hitting the glass with the same vigor as DW; they're tied for 94th. Three spots ahead of them, Royce O'Neal is a good reminder that pro's pros who average 13/7/3 and shoot 40 percent from deep don't grow on trees -- whatever's rotten in the state of Ishbia, Big Meal O'Neal isn't it.
Russell Westbrook and Jalen Green are in the same neighborhood; the five mentioned in this paragraph all rank between 75th and 94th in total rebounds. Adding to his case for the league's top 6-foot-4 or shorter player, once again Edwards' name appears, this time 47th. It's gonna be sad for NBA fans to have to watch Wolves fans have to watch Ant get traded to Miami or Brooklyn sooner than later. Why does winter feel longer than summer?
Josh Hart is the NBA's best 'small' rebounder
And yet none of them hold a candle to Josh Hart, who hauled in 737 total rebounds in 2024-25. That wasn't just exceptional this season -- only three men in the 80-year history of the NBA 6-foot-4 or shorter ever grabbed as many, and those three -- Westbrook, the Philadelphia Warriors' Paul Arizin and Cliff Hagan of the St. Louis Hawks -- are or will be Hall of Famers. And to be fair, Arizin and Hagan played in a decade where the league's leading scorer could shoot 26 percent from the field, while Westbrook is so transparently obsessed with triple-doubles he probably tries to get official scorers to count the stats he puts up in practice. So it's possible Hart just finished the greatest rebounding season by an NBA shorty, ever. Magical indeed.