September 15, 2025 • 31 mins
Jason kicks off Hoops Tonight's "Top-10 Week" with the top-10 player peaks of the last 25 years including LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers, Steph Curry with the Golden State Warriors, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett on the Boston Celtics, and more.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. All right, welcome to him tonight, you're at
the volume heavy fun to everybody. Hope all of you
guys had a great weekend. Well, we were officially done
with player rankings, so we're gonna try to find something
(00:23):
else fun to do over the course of the last
few weeks of the summer. As we get into October,
we're gonna shift gears into season reviews and we're gonna
cover some preseason games as well. But in this phase
we're gonna do for this week list week. So every
day this week we're gonna have a top ten ranking
of something fun that we can debate over the summer.
Today's top ten list is going to be the top
(00:46):
ten individual peaks of the last twenty five years. Then
we'll have similar lists on Tuesday through Friday this week.
The following week we are going to do our rewatch
series on playback to rewatch a bunch of famous playoff
games over the course the last couple of decades. It's
gonna be starting with twenty sixteen Finals Game seven on Monday.
(01:09):
Make sure you guys come hang out for that one.
We'll send out some tweets. Make sure you guys follow
me on Twitter underscore JSNLT. You will send some announcements there.
Then we'll get into our preseason prep as we move
into the next NBA campaign. But our first list of
this list week of our top ten week, i should say,
the top ten individual peaks of the last twenty five years.
You guys know the job before we get started. Subscribe
(01:30):
to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss
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keep droping mail bag questions in the YouTube comments. Probably
(01:52):
won't have a mail bag this week, but we'll start
getting back into them in the next few weeks and
continue to do them at least once a week throughout
the remainder of the year. All Right, let's talk some basketball.
So one little rule here. This is the last twenty
five years, so I'm going from two thousand and one Ford.
I'm also going to be heavily emphasizing playoff basketball. Lots
(02:13):
of these guys have different regular seasons where they reached
a higher level, but for the purposes of this list,
I'm gonna be focusing on APEX basketball on the Apex stage.
And the first one that we're hitting today at number
ten is actually a player who didn't win a championship
in this particular year. There are a couple guys like
that on this list, but two thousand and four Kevin Garnett.
(02:37):
Kevin finally broke through as a champion in two thousand
and eight when he finally made his way to a
championship level roster alongside Paul Pearson Ray Allen in Boston.
But I thought he reached a higher individual peak in
two thousand and four. He averaged twenty four points, fourteen rebounds,
and five assists with a staggering three point seven blocks
per game in that two thousand and four campaign, one
(02:58):
MVP of the League for First Team All NBA and
First Team All Defense. The trifecta of dominance and he
followed it up with a Western Conference Finals run where
he maintained that same level of production just in Game
six and a dog fight against the Lakers in the
fourth quarter they ended up losing. They would have won
that game, they would have forced a Game seven at
home with a shot to make it to the finals.
(03:19):
In Game five of that series, he had a thirty
to nineteen that extended that series to game six. He
was just an absolute two way monster at this point
in his career, kind of like the Anthony Davis of
his era in terms of a super versatile defensive big
that was a dominant rim protector, but it could also
slide his feet out on the perimeter, arguably the best
defender in the sport at this point in time. To
(03:40):
go with the fact that he was a very good
mid range shooter, consistently shot just under about fifty percent
on mid range jump shots, was consistently one of the
best post players in the league, with reliable turnarounds and
hooks over both shoulders, good footwork on counters, things like that.
But what really said him a part of like from
like that ad archetype in today's game, was that he
was a free key competitor with an insane motor and
(04:03):
was the emotional leader of his basketball teams. He never
had that inconsistent, night in, night out kind of level
of competitiveness that plagued Anthony Davis in his career. He
was a psycho, regularly inventing reasons to get pissed off,
sometimes out of thin air, to get himself going competitively
night to night. And I think he's the focal point
(04:24):
of one of the great what ifs in NBA history.
After winning the title in two thousand and eight, the
Celtics started the following season twenty six and two. In
their title defense. They looked like far and away the
best team in the league, and then KG hurt his
knee and by the time he made it back to
the team the following season, he was just a shell
of himself at that point. Yeah, that Celtics team made
(04:46):
it to the finals, but they were not the same
kind of like regular season dominant team that they had
been in years past. The Celtics might have won multiple
championships in that sequence had it not been for the
injury to Kevin Garnett. But Kevin Garnett in two thousand
and four ranks at number ten in our Greatest Peaks
of the last twenty five years. Number nine twenty twenty
(05:07):
one Yannis Antena Kumpo. This is the year it all
came together for Giannis. He averaged thirty points, thirteen rebounds,
and five assists in the playoff run as the Bucks
won the title. He conquered one of his most consistent
weaknesses that he's faced throughout his career free throw shooting.
After shooting just fifty four percent at the foul line
through the first three rounds of the playoffs, he shot
(05:27):
sixty six percent at the line in the in the
NBA Finals, including his seventeen for nineteen at the line
performance when he hung fifty points in fourteen rebounds with
five blocks, one of the greatest Finals games ever in
Game six against Phoenix, when he clinched the trophy, and
to put it very simply, had he not shot that
well on free throws in that series, they probably lose
(05:49):
that series. And then I thought. He tied everything off
in that series with two of the greatest highlights in
the history of the NBA Finals, an amazing drop coverage
rep where he was defending the ball and the role
man Devin Booker on his left hand side and Deandraytan
on his right hand side, and he's successful successfully stunted
up at Devin Booker to get him to throw the pass,
(06:09):
but recovered to block Deandrayton on the lob. One of
the best drop coverage reps you'll ever see and one
of the best alley up dunks that we've seen in
the finals. A play where a steal from Drew Holliday
and a runout along the right side of the floor.
Chris Paul throws a nasty dirty shove on Giannis as
he's going up to dunk it, but he dunks it anyway,
and Yannas didn't care because it sealed the win in
(06:32):
that one. Just an unbelievable exclamation point on the twenty
twenty one Bucks title run. This was the apex of Giannis,
the same unstoppable downhill force that you could book for
an efficient thirty points per game no matter what, while
simultaneously being a top two or three defender in the
world with that youthful motor that allowed him to play
(06:52):
both ends of the floor with one hundred percent effort
every single night no matter what. That's a big difference
I've been getting a lot of crap for putting Yon
Set four in our actual player rankings list, and like
this is a guy who's missed eight of his last
sixteen playoff games and has failed to play seventy games
in the regular season in five of the last six seasons.
At this point in his career in twenty twenty one,
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he was still that every night, reliable two way monster
that was dominating the league and had the crown at
that point in time, number eight, the eighth greatest peak
of the last twenty five years. Twenty seventeen, Kevin Durant,
after spending years playing alongside a roster built for defense
(07:34):
in Oklahoma City and alongside a co star and Russell Westbrook,
then often hijacked the offense despite being the inferior player,
Kevin Durant immediately exploded in the Golden State Warrior system
alongside Steph Curry. In the twenty sixteen Western Conference Finals run,
his last year with Oklahoma City, he posted a true
shooting percentage of just fifty four percent. In the following
(07:56):
playoff run in twenty seventeen, he posted a true shooting
percentage with Golden State of sixty eight percent, a fourteen
percent increase year over year, in my opinion, the greatest
basketball team ever assembled. Obviously, they won fifteen consecutive playoff
games that year before hosting the finals MVP Trophy in
a monster Game three against Cleveland where he hit the
(08:19):
game winner over Lebron obviously had a similar season in
twenty eighteen. I want to kind of zoom in at
this twenty seventeen twenty eighteen stretch because, like again, the
degree of to give it difficulty wasn't the same. He's
on the greatest basketball team ever ever assembled. They were
rarely threatened over that span, But I thought this was
where CAD's versatility on both ends of the floor really
(08:39):
came to the forefront, playing in a system like this
where he was actually forced to exist both on and
off the ball seamlessly as the offense flowed from side
to side, operating as a two man game partner, and
one of the most devastating two man game actions in
the league at that point in time, the one to
three pick and roll, with Steph and Kevin Durant having
to anchor units when Steph was off the floor. He
(09:00):
was constantly feeling like a half dozen different types of
offensive roles during that span, something that Kevin Durant has
been underrated for in his career as a very versatile
basketball player, and I thought this was twenty seventeen in
twenty eighteen the peak of Kevin Durant as a defensive
player in the NBA. These were the only two years
in his career where he averaged over one and a
(09:21):
half blocks per game, did a lot of great work
as a low man, help side rim protector behind Draymond,
and obviously had the ability to switch out onto the
perimeter as well. This was an incredible demonstration of the
versatile basketball player that Kevin Durant was. Back to back
Finals MVP's preposterous efficiency, a couple of iconic shots twenty
(09:45):
seventeen Kevin Durant the eighth highest peak of the last
twenty five years, Number seven an interesting one here. Twenty
eleven Dirk Nooviski arguably the most impressive individual playoff run
when you factor in the degree of difficulty in the
rivals that he faced. He averaged twenty eight points and
eight rebounds on sixty one percent true shooting. In the
(10:07):
finals run. He shot forty six percent from the three
point line forty nine percent from the field, forty six
percent from three to ninety four from the line, so
almost fifty forty five to ninety five, which would have
been insane, ran an absolute gauntlet, swept the defending champion
Los Angeles Lakers in the second round, hung two forty
pieces on the Kevin Durant Thunder in the Conference finals,
(10:28):
including a forty eight point game in Game one, and
then beating a substantial favorite Miami Heat team in the final,
soundly out playing Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, including a
game winning driving layup in Game two in a monster
fourth quarter comeback, going right around Chris Bosh for a
lefty layup that stole home court advantage in that series.
(10:48):
The simplest way that I could put the Dirknoviitsky experience
during that era as someone who actively rooted against him
during those days was to say that he could not
be guarded anyone. There was a phase in his career
in the late twenty tens where he kind of struggled
with shorter, stockier wings that would get up underneath him,
(11:08):
but he had basically solved that with a dominant face
up game around the elbows, where he got really good
at using his shoulder to create tiny bits of separation
in a super compact release. He didn't draw his release out.
He was super compact with it. He could get to
it in these super tight windows around his shoulders and
just rise up over the top of these smaller wings
(11:29):
that would get up underneath him. He was way too
fast and skilled for Biggs. You basically just had to
pray that he would miss, and as the number showed,
he usually didn't miss. THEYRK had a complicated up and
down career, but when it comes to absolute peaks that
a basketball player can reach, you absolutely have to factor
in Dirk's twenty eleven playoff run on a list like
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this number six two thousand and three, Tim Duncan a
big fundamental in the season twenty three points, thirteen rebounds,
and four assists with three point six stocks per game.
The trifecta. Like Kevin Garnett the following year, MVP of
the league, first Team All NBA and First Team All
Defense that season went up to twenty five points, fifteen rebounds,
(12:15):
and five assists per game on three point nine stocks
per game. In the playoff run, similar type of gauntlet,
especially in the Western Conference, went through Amarty Stottamayer in
the first round, Shaquille O'Neal in the second round, Dirk
Noviski before his injury in the third round. He had
three games in that playoff run, three different games where
he put up twenty points, twenty rebounds, and six blocks
(12:38):
in the same game, two of which were in the
NBA Finals. Tim Duncan's all time resume is one of longevity, consistency,
and leadership, as he anchored seemingly five completely different eras
of Spurs basketball, but he also had a crazy high peak.
He was a devastating rim protector who made fifteen All
Defense teams even late in his career, he made second
(12:59):
team defense in twenty fifteen. As a proverbial old man
in the NBA right one of the best rebounders in
the game, a monster low block like post up shot
creator with a powerful set of moves towards the rim,
turnaround bank shots over his right shoulder, face up bank shots.
He was an underrated passer. He was a great two
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man game partner with Parker and Jenobili. Many folks consider
him to be the best player of his era, even
over guys like Kobe and Shack Now I personally think
those guys were better players at their peaks. But as
I mentioned earlier, Duncan's case is one of consistency, leadership,
and longevity, and it's a damn good case. He seamlessly
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fit into so many different iterations of Spurs basketball and
was one of the top players in the league even
into his late thirties, Like he was straight up eating
Chris Bosh's lunch, one of the best power forwards in
the league in the twenty thirteen and twenty fourteen finals
as a thirty six and thirty seven year old. Again,
his peak I don't think was as high as a
(14:03):
Shack or a Kobe, and that's why the Spurs never
won consecutive titles in my opinion, But I thought Duncan
was closer to his peak more consistently for a longer
period of time. And what that does is that opens
up opportunity, opportunity for a roster to go right, whether
it be Manu or Tony hitting a specific peak in
(14:26):
a specific playoff run, or role players capturing synergy like
the twenty fourteen ball movement Spurs did right, or maybe
circumstances around the league a certain team gets knocked out,
a certain opportunity opens up, but Duncan's consistency and longevity
allowed the spurs to crack through on five different occasions
(14:50):
to win the title. That's his case again. I have
his peak lower than some people would believe who have
different opinions about this era, But I understand that case
that centers around his longevity, his consistency, and his leadership.
Number five, two thousand and one, Shaquill O'Neal. We are
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Jack's not going to show up as high on all
time lists because of his conditioning issues and his relatively
brief prime compared to his peers around the league, but
there was no debating who the best player in the
league was during that three year stretch from two thousand
to two thousand and two. He's often referred to as
the most dominant player of all time because during this
(17:03):
era it felt silly to even try to compare anyone
else to him. He was a physical monster of never
before seen and never since seen proportions. He was simply
impossible to keep from the rim without fouling him. This
is a crazy stat. Shaquillo Na led the league in
two point field goals made per game for an astonishing
(17:26):
seven consecutive seasons and nine out of ten in two
thousand and one. He was so dominant the Lakers almost
won an entire playoff run without losing, had it not
been for Allen iverson'ce crazy Game one in overtime to
steal one single game from the Lakers in that playoff
run before they promptly were beaten four times in a
(17:48):
row after that. More crazy stats. In the two thousand
and one playoff run, Shack had five twenty twenty games,
He had three forty twenty games. He had a forty
four point twenty one rebound, four assist, seven block game
in Game one against the Sacramento Kings. He was quite
(18:10):
literally indomitable. When you went up against the Lakers when
Shack was at his peak, you just got to lose.
And the result was that was the last team in
NBA history that actually successfully won three championships in a row.
And that's a feat that I do not believe we
will see ever again. And it's under selling it to
(18:31):
just put it down to power. He had great footwork.
He had a decent little left shoulder baby hook on
a little turnaround over his right shoulder. He was an
underrated passer out of double teams. And for all to
talk about his free throw shooting, he teered up during
his prime in those three seasons, and in that two
thousand and two playoff run their third straight title, he
got up to sixty five percent at the foul line
(18:51):
on eleven attempts per game. His peak might have been short,
but it was as dominant as anyone who has come
into the league before or since. Number four twenty twenty two,
Steph Curry. Steph stands out like a sore thumb on
this list because he's the only player here that doesn't
(19:13):
have supreme physical gifts. We've talked about monstrous centers, there's
another one ahead on this list. We've talked about seven
footers that could shoot better than some of the greatest
shooters ever. We've hit a couple of those guys. Freaky
athletic two guards. We're gonna hit one here in just
a minute. Hybrid forwards who might be the greatest athletes
to ever play the sport, like Giannis or Lebron, who
(19:37):
are gonna hit later on in this list. And then
there's Steph Curry six', three with mediocre, athleticism and yet
here he is with the fourth best peak of the
last twenty five. Years it's important to acknowledge That steph
does have a remarkable natural. GIFT i think he is
the best hand eye coordination of any Athlete i've ever,
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seen which extends far beyond just shooting the. Basketball he's
already entered into the world of golf and become a
prominent presence. There Steph curry may not be able to
impact the game defensively or on the glass the way
his peers on this list, can BUT i View steph
as the second best offensive player to ever play the.
Game the combination of being far and away the greatest
(20:21):
jump shooter that we've ever, seen an apex handler of the,
basketball and a relentless softball, mover it literally breaks. Defense
it took a half decade for teams to even figure
out the best way to guard, him and they still
don't have a great option still to this. Day just last, Season,
steph with mediocre to bad offensive talent surrounding, him hung
(20:44):
a one twenty offensive rating when he was on the,
floor according To cleaning The glass in twenty twenty, two
following an incredibly dominant regular season in twenty twenty, one
remember over the last thirty four or last forty three
games of the twenty twenty one season thirty four points
per game on sixty seven percent true. Shooting but he
(21:04):
followed it up in twenty twenty two with one of
the more impressive titles of this, era carrying a team
where his supporting offensive talent was essentially made up of
a surgically Repaired Klay, Thompson Andrew, wiggins a guy pretty
universally considered to be a bust relative to his draft,
pick And Jordan, poole who's on his third team already
since entering the, league and he ripped through nicoleokicch in
(21:28):
the first, round the two Seeded Jomorant grizzlies in the second,
round red Hot lukadancic Led MAVs in The Western conference,
finals and one of the great defenses of this era
in The Boston celtics in THE Nba. Finals AND i
thought he capped it off with the greatest individual performance
of his, career a, game by the, way that we
will be rewatching on playback next. Week game, four down
(21:52):
two to one on the, road forty three points and ten,
rebounds fourteen for twenty six from the, field seven for
fourteen from, three unbelievable shot. Difficulty he had a half
dozen of the most difficult shots he's hit in his
career in that. Game it was just an absolutely amazing
display of carrying your team to the. Trophy and, again
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LIKE i, said one of the more impressive titles of
this era twenty twenty. Two steph our fourth highest peak
at the last twenty five, years number, three two thousand and.
Nine Kobe. Bryant kobe is a guy who has become
underrated as the years have gone by because younger basketball
fans and some of the basketball fans that consume basketball
through the form of analytical, data you, know the looking
(22:35):
at basketball reference, pages things along that. Line that those
two groups have a really hard time Understanding kobe's basketball reference.
Page the scoring guards of this era are just a
lot more efficient Than, kobe, right and so it's really
difficult to kind of reconcile that for a lot of.
People but first of, all all scoring guards from that
(22:59):
era were inefficient by modern. Standards you gotta look at
it through that. Lens but even if we accept those,
confines this version Of kobe was incredibly. Underrated from two
thousand and eight to twenty, ten over sixty seven playoff,
games he averaged thirty, points six, rebounds and six assists
(23:20):
with two point five stocks per game on fifty seven
percent true. Shooting fifty seven percent even by today's, standards
that's pretty. Good Shay Shake Gilvis alexander just hung a
fifty seven percent true shooting in this year's final run
relative To kobe's. Era that was. Insane that was efficient
(23:43):
for a player of his, archetype especially when you factor
in the difficulty of shots that he was. Taking often
in that, Offense in that three year, span he wrote
won a regular SEASON, mvp he won two finals. MVPs
he was the greatest scorer in the, game but he
was also playing far and away the best team basketball
of his career in that, span operating as a high
(24:05):
level passer in the triangle offense while simultaneously being one
of the best defenders in the. League he Made All
Defense First Team All defense all of those three, years
as part of a stretch where he made it six
times in a, row and he won back to back,
titles which again is an increasingly rare feat in the MODERN.
Nba the only time it's been done over the course
(24:26):
of the last decade Was Lebron james with you, Know Dwayne,
wade who wasn't the same guy that he was when
when they first teamed, up but still was, very very.
Good and Then Kevin durant And Steph, curry two of
the top three players in the league at the. Time
it's an unbelievable. FEAT i am not going to let
the nerds and the kids convinced me That kobe was
(24:48):
bad or. OVERRATED i think he's the third best player
of all. TIME i think he's a guy that for whatever.
Reason people just struggle to reconcile some simple statistical. Realities
but even when you really dig into, it he was
so much better than people give him credit For number,
two the second greatest peak of the last twenty five
years twenty twenty, Three Nikola. JOKIC i think he's quite
(25:12):
simply the greatest offensive player to ever play the game of.
Basketball he was A shaquille O'Neil esque dominant interior. SCORER
i shouldn't say. Was he still is A shaquille O'Neil
esque dominant interior score that literally cannot be defended one on.
One he's variants, proof and that he relies on short
range shot making shots inside of ten feet that he
can hit well over sixty. Percent here's how good he
(25:35):
was at short range shot making in twenty twenty. Three
he was Over he was sixty seven percent on, floaters
sixty seven percent on hooks, in seventy four, percent seventy
four percent on jump shots inside is seventeen. Feet that's
the most reliable short range shot making we have ever
seen by a. Mile and he combined all of that
(25:59):
with being the best pas in. Basketball he went absolutely
nuclear in that playoff run from. Three he hit forty
six percent of his threes on four tempts per, game
including a handful of some of the wildest leaning you,
know somber shuffle shots With Anthony davis smothering him that
you'll ever. See he made fifty two. Percent he made
(26:21):
fourteen of, them fifty two percent of his off the
dribble jump shots in that playoff, run an unbelievable stretch
of shot. Making, again all of this while being the
best passer in the. Sport AND i, actually you, know
this is similar to The kobe, thing where another dynamic
That i've seen that has been really difficult for people
to reconcile as wind. Totals one of the most common
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things you'll see people who say that Are jokics detractors
say is they'll be, like he's never beat a fifty win.
Team AND i think win totals are primarily a factor
of depth of talent in the. League there are several
teams in The World Western conference last year that if
you pick them up and put him up in different,
(27:03):
years would have won sixty. Games but the league is
so deep with talent now it's harder to hit higher win.
Totals there are years where you go into The west
and there are multiple teams that have won in the
high forties that are every bit as good as fifty
five to fifty eight win teams from years. Past in that,
year he went Through Anthony edwards And Karl Anthony, Towns
(27:24):
Kevin durant And Devin, Booker Lebron james And Anthony, davis
And Jimmy, butler and Bam adebayo without getting threatened a single,
time without being alongside An All, star without being alongside
An all defense. Player it was him and a bunch
of role, players and he literally ran through a gauntlet
(27:44):
of star. DUOS i think he's the best offensive Player
i've ever. Seen he hasn't let go of the crown
of the best player in the league. SINCE i think
he's had the second best peak That i've seen in
the last twenty five. Years number, One no shot here twenty.
Eighteen Lebron lebron had a title run in twenty sixteen
(28:05):
that many people would point to as his, peak and
it's hard to argue with. It he the only player
IN nba history to pull off a feet like defeating
the seventy three Win warriors like he did in that,
season back to back forty point games in the, finals
one of the most iconic highlights IN Nba finals. History
that's all. GREAT i Thought lebron was a better basketball
player in twenty. EIGHTEEN i think twenty Eighteen lebron is
(28:30):
the best basketball player that has ever played the. Sport
it was the last year Where lebron was a real apex,
athlete but it was also his peak as a shot,
maker as a playmaker, overall as a floor, general as
like an improvisational. Score, unfortunately it coincided with the worst
(28:50):
roster that he's ever played with in his. Career but
it allowed us to see a unique thing that happens in,
basketball SOMETHING i talk about all the, time having to
do with adversity bringing the absolute best out of. People
it allowed us to see what happens when the best
basketball player ever has to be at his very best
every single night in order for the team to. Win
(29:12):
in two playoff runs spanning twenty, seventeen in twenty eighteen
a forty game, sample so forty playoff games his last
two playoff runs In, Cleveland lebron averaged thirty four points
per game to go with nine rebounds and nine assists
to go with two point eight stocks per game on
sixty three percent true. Shooting i'm gonna read that again
(29:37):
because it's batshit thirty four to nine to nine with
two point eight stocks on sixty three percent true shooting
over forty playoff, games made it to the finals twice
and just ended up losing to the greatest basketball team ever,
assembled That Kevin Durant Steph Curry Golden State warriors. Team
(30:01):
he hung ten forty point playoff games in that. Span
one out of four, nights you were getting. Forty he
hung nineteen thirty five point games in that. Span it
was a coin, flip you were gonna get thirty five
plus out Of. LEBRON i Think lebron is the third
(30:24):
best offensive player That i've ever seen in the, sport
all while still being one of the most impactful two
way athletes in the, game even in twenty, eighteen something
that obviously guys Like Steph CURRY. Nicolea jokic couldn't do
given their athletic. LIMITATIONS i think twenty Eighteen lebron is
the peak of basketball that has ever been played on this,
earth and that twenty eighteen stretch is one That i'll
(30:47):
always look back on very. Fondly All, right, guys that's
all we have for today's top ten peaks of the
last twenty five. Years we'll be back tomorrow with another
top ten and we'll have him throughout the rest of this.
Week as, always we appreciate you guys for supporting us
in supporting the, show and we'll see you
The volume. All right, welcome to him tonight, you're at
the volume heavy fun to everybody. Hope all of you
guys had a great weekend. Well, we were officially done
with player rankings, so we're gonna try to find something
(00:23):
else fun to do over the course of the last
few weeks of the summer. As we get into October,
we're gonna shift gears into season reviews and we're gonna
cover some preseason games as well. But in this phase
we're gonna do for this week list week. So every
day this week we're gonna have a top ten ranking
of something fun that we can debate over the summer.
Today's top ten list is going to be the top
(00:46):
ten individual peaks of the last twenty five years. Then
we'll have similar lists on Tuesday through Friday this week.
The following week we are going to do our rewatch
series on playback to rewatch a bunch of famous playoff
games over the course the last couple of decades. It's
gonna be starting with twenty sixteen Finals Game seven on Monday.
(01:09):
Make sure you guys come hang out for that one.
We'll send out some tweets. Make sure you guys follow
me on Twitter underscore JSNLT. You will send some announcements there.
Then we'll get into our preseason prep as we move
into the next NBA campaign. But our first list of
this list week of our top ten week, i should say,
the top ten individual peaks of the last twenty five years.
You guys know the job before we get started. Subscribe
(01:30):
to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss
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guys follow us over there. In the last not at least
keep droping mail bag questions in the YouTube comments. Probably
(01:52):
won't have a mail bag this week, but we'll start
getting back into them in the next few weeks and
continue to do them at least once a week throughout
the remainder of the year. All Right, let's talk some basketball.
So one little rule here. This is the last twenty
five years, so I'm going from two thousand and one Ford.
I'm also going to be heavily emphasizing playoff basketball. Lots
(02:13):
of these guys have different regular seasons where they reached
a higher level, but for the purposes of this list,
I'm gonna be focusing on APEX basketball on the Apex stage.
And the first one that we're hitting today at number
ten is actually a player who didn't win a championship
in this particular year. There are a couple guys like
that on this list, but two thousand and four Kevin Garnett.
(02:37):
Kevin finally broke through as a champion in two thousand
and eight when he finally made his way to a
championship level roster alongside Paul Pearson Ray Allen in Boston.
But I thought he reached a higher individual peak in
two thousand and four. He averaged twenty four points, fourteen rebounds,
and five assists with a staggering three point seven blocks
per game in that two thousand and four campaign, one
(02:58):
MVP of the League for First Team All NBA and
First Team All Defense. The trifecta of dominance and he
followed it up with a Western Conference Finals run where
he maintained that same level of production just in Game
six and a dog fight against the Lakers in the
fourth quarter they ended up losing. They would have won
that game, they would have forced a Game seven at
home with a shot to make it to the finals.
(03:19):
In Game five of that series, he had a thirty
to nineteen that extended that series to game six. He
was just an absolute two way monster at this point
in his career, kind of like the Anthony Davis of
his era in terms of a super versatile defensive big
that was a dominant rim protector, but it could also
slide his feet out on the perimeter, arguably the best
defender in the sport at this point in time. To
(03:40):
go with the fact that he was a very good
mid range shooter, consistently shot just under about fifty percent
on mid range jump shots, was consistently one of the
best post players in the league, with reliable turnarounds and
hooks over both shoulders, good footwork on counters, things like that.
But what really said him a part of like from
like that ad archetype in today's game, was that he
was a free key competitor with an insane motor and
(04:03):
was the emotional leader of his basketball teams. He never
had that inconsistent, night in, night out kind of level
of competitiveness that plagued Anthony Davis in his career. He
was a psycho, regularly inventing reasons to get pissed off,
sometimes out of thin air, to get himself going competitively
night to night. And I think he's the focal point
(04:24):
of one of the great what ifs in NBA history.
After winning the title in two thousand and eight, the
Celtics started the following season twenty six and two. In
their title defense. They looked like far and away the
best team in the league, and then KG hurt his
knee and by the time he made it back to
the team the following season, he was just a shell
of himself at that point. Yeah, that Celtics team made
(04:46):
it to the finals, but they were not the same
kind of like regular season dominant team that they had
been in years past. The Celtics might have won multiple
championships in that sequence had it not been for the
injury to Kevin Garnett. But Kevin Garnett in two thousand
and four ranks at number ten in our Greatest Peaks
of the last twenty five years. Number nine twenty twenty
(05:07):
one Yannis Antena Kumpo. This is the year it all
came together for Giannis. He averaged thirty points, thirteen rebounds,
and five assists in the playoff run as the Bucks
won the title. He conquered one of his most consistent
weaknesses that he's faced throughout his career free throw shooting.
After shooting just fifty four percent at the foul line
through the first three rounds of the playoffs, he shot
(05:27):
sixty six percent at the line in the in the
NBA Finals, including his seventeen for nineteen at the line
performance when he hung fifty points in fourteen rebounds with
five blocks, one of the greatest Finals games ever in
Game six against Phoenix, when he clinched the trophy, and
to put it very simply, had he not shot that
well on free throws in that series, they probably lose
(05:49):
that series. And then I thought. He tied everything off
in that series with two of the greatest highlights in
the history of the NBA Finals, an amazing drop coverage
rep where he was defending the ball and the role
man Devin Booker on his left hand side and Deandraytan
on his right hand side, and he's successful successfully stunted
up at Devin Booker to get him to throw the pass,
(06:09):
but recovered to block Deandrayton on the lob. One of
the best drop coverage reps you'll ever see and one
of the best alley up dunks that we've seen in
the finals. A play where a steal from Drew Holliday
and a runout along the right side of the floor.
Chris Paul throws a nasty dirty shove on Giannis as
he's going up to dunk it, but he dunks it anyway,
and Yannas didn't care because it sealed the win in
(06:32):
that one. Just an unbelievable exclamation point on the twenty
twenty one Bucks title run. This was the apex of Giannis,
the same unstoppable downhill force that you could book for
an efficient thirty points per game no matter what, while
simultaneously being a top two or three defender in the
world with that youthful motor that allowed him to play
(06:52):
both ends of the floor with one hundred percent effort
every single night no matter what. That's a big difference
I've been getting a lot of crap for putting Yon
Set four in our actual player rankings list, and like
this is a guy who's missed eight of his last
sixteen playoff games and has failed to play seventy games
in the regular season in five of the last six seasons.
At this point in his career in twenty twenty one,
(07:14):
he was still that every night, reliable two way monster
that was dominating the league and had the crown at
that point in time, number eight, the eighth greatest peak
of the last twenty five years. Twenty seventeen, Kevin Durant,
after spending years playing alongside a roster built for defense
(07:34):
in Oklahoma City and alongside a co star and Russell Westbrook,
then often hijacked the offense despite being the inferior player,
Kevin Durant immediately exploded in the Golden State Warrior system
alongside Steph Curry. In the twenty sixteen Western Conference Finals run,
his last year with Oklahoma City, he posted a true
shooting percentage of just fifty four percent. In the following
(07:56):
playoff run in twenty seventeen, he posted a true shooting
percentage with Golden State of sixty eight percent, a fourteen
percent increase year over year, in my opinion, the greatest
basketball team ever assembled. Obviously, they won fifteen consecutive playoff
games that year before hosting the finals MVP Trophy in
a monster Game three against Cleveland where he hit the
(08:19):
game winner over Lebron obviously had a similar season in
twenty eighteen. I want to kind of zoom in at
this twenty seventeen twenty eighteen stretch because, like again, the
degree of to give it difficulty wasn't the same. He's
on the greatest basketball team ever ever assembled. They were
rarely threatened over that span, But I thought this was
where CAD's versatility on both ends of the floor really
(08:39):
came to the forefront, playing in a system like this
where he was actually forced to exist both on and
off the ball seamlessly as the offense flowed from side
to side, operating as a two man game partner, and
one of the most devastating two man game actions in
the league at that point in time, the one to
three pick and roll, with Steph and Kevin Durant having
to anchor units when Steph was off the floor. He
(09:00):
was constantly feeling like a half dozen different types of
offensive roles during that span, something that Kevin Durant has
been underrated for in his career as a very versatile
basketball player, and I thought this was twenty seventeen in
twenty eighteen the peak of Kevin Durant as a defensive
player in the NBA. These were the only two years
in his career where he averaged over one and a
(09:21):
half blocks per game, did a lot of great work
as a low man, help side rim protector behind Draymond,
and obviously had the ability to switch out onto the
perimeter as well. This was an incredible demonstration of the
versatile basketball player that Kevin Durant was. Back to back
Finals MVP's preposterous efficiency, a couple of iconic shots twenty
(09:45):
seventeen Kevin Durant the eighth highest peak of the last
twenty five years, Number seven an interesting one here. Twenty
eleven Dirk Nooviski arguably the most impressive individual playoff run
when you factor in the degree of difficulty in the
rivals that he faced. He averaged twenty eight points and
eight rebounds on sixty one percent true shooting. In the
(10:07):
finals run. He shot forty six percent from the three
point line forty nine percent from the field, forty six
percent from three to ninety four from the line, so
almost fifty forty five to ninety five, which would have
been insane, ran an absolute gauntlet, swept the defending champion
Los Angeles Lakers in the second round, hung two forty
pieces on the Kevin Durant Thunder in the Conference finals,
(10:28):
including a forty eight point game in Game one, and
then beating a substantial favorite Miami Heat team in the final,
soundly out playing Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, including a
game winning driving layup in Game two in a monster
fourth quarter comeback, going right around Chris Bosh for a
lefty layup that stole home court advantage in that series.
(10:48):
The simplest way that I could put the Dirknoviitsky experience
during that era as someone who actively rooted against him
during those days was to say that he could not
be guarded anyone. There was a phase in his career
in the late twenty tens where he kind of struggled
with shorter, stockier wings that would get up underneath him,
(11:08):
but he had basically solved that with a dominant face
up game around the elbows, where he got really good
at using his shoulder to create tiny bits of separation
in a super compact release. He didn't draw his release out.
He was super compact with it. He could get to
it in these super tight windows around his shoulders and
just rise up over the top of these smaller wings
(11:29):
that would get up underneath him. He was way too
fast and skilled for Biggs. You basically just had to
pray that he would miss, and as the number showed,
he usually didn't miss. THEYRK had a complicated up and
down career, but when it comes to absolute peaks that
a basketball player can reach, you absolutely have to factor
in Dirk's twenty eleven playoff run on a list like
(11:52):
this number six two thousand and three, Tim Duncan a
big fundamental in the season twenty three points, thirteen rebounds,
and four assists with three point six stocks per game.
The trifecta. Like Kevin Garnett the following year, MVP of
the league, first Team All NBA and First Team All
Defense that season went up to twenty five points, fifteen rebounds,
(12:15):
and five assists per game on three point nine stocks
per game. In the playoff run, similar type of gauntlet,
especially in the Western Conference, went through Amarty Stottamayer in
the first round, Shaquille O'Neal in the second round, Dirk
Noviski before his injury in the third round. He had
three games in that playoff run, three different games where
he put up twenty points, twenty rebounds, and six blocks
(12:38):
in the same game, two of which were in the
NBA Finals. Tim Duncan's all time resume is one of longevity, consistency,
and leadership, as he anchored seemingly five completely different eras
of Spurs basketball, but he also had a crazy high peak.
He was a devastating rim protector who made fifteen All
Defense teams even late in his career, he made second
(12:59):
team defense in twenty fifteen. As a proverbial old man
in the NBA right one of the best rebounders in
the game, a monster low block like post up shot
creator with a powerful set of moves towards the rim,
turnaround bank shots over his right shoulder, face up bank shots.
He was an underrated passer. He was a great two
(13:20):
man game partner with Parker and Jenobili. Many folks consider
him to be the best player of his era, even
over guys like Kobe and Shack Now I personally think
those guys were better players at their peaks. But as
I mentioned earlier, Duncan's case is one of consistency, leadership,
and longevity, and it's a damn good case. He seamlessly
(13:42):
fit into so many different iterations of Spurs basketball and
was one of the top players in the league even
into his late thirties, Like he was straight up eating
Chris Bosh's lunch, one of the best power forwards in
the league in the twenty thirteen and twenty fourteen finals
as a thirty six and thirty seven year old. Again,
his peak I don't think was as high as a
(14:03):
Shack or a Kobe, and that's why the Spurs never
won consecutive titles in my opinion, But I thought Duncan
was closer to his peak more consistently for a longer
period of time. And what that does is that opens
up opportunity, opportunity for a roster to go right, whether
it be Manu or Tony hitting a specific peak in
(14:26):
a specific playoff run, or role players capturing synergy like
the twenty fourteen ball movement Spurs did right, or maybe
circumstances around the league a certain team gets knocked out,
a certain opportunity opens up, but Duncan's consistency and longevity
allowed the spurs to crack through on five different occasions
(14:50):
to win the title. That's his case again. I have
his peak lower than some people would believe who have
different opinions about this era, But I understand that case
that centers around his longevity, his consistency, and his leadership.
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Jack's not going to show up as high on all
time lists because of his conditioning issues and his relatively
brief prime compared to his peers around the league, but
there was no debating who the best player in the
league was during that three year stretch from two thousand
to two thousand and two. He's often referred to as
the most dominant player of all time because during this
(17:03):
era it felt silly to even try to compare anyone
else to him. He was a physical monster of never
before seen and never since seen proportions. He was simply
impossible to keep from the rim without fouling him. This
is a crazy stat. Shaquillo Na led the league in
two point field goals made per game for an astonishing
(17:26):
seven consecutive seasons and nine out of ten in two
thousand and one. He was so dominant the Lakers almost
won an entire playoff run without losing, had it not
been for Allen iverson'ce crazy Game one in overtime to
steal one single game from the Lakers in that playoff
run before they promptly were beaten four times in a
(17:48):
row after that. More crazy stats. In the two thousand
and one playoff run, Shack had five twenty twenty games,
He had three forty twenty games. He had a forty
four point twenty one rebound, four assist, seven block game
in Game one against the Sacramento Kings. He was quite
(18:10):
literally indomitable. When you went up against the Lakers when
Shack was at his peak, you just got to lose.
And the result was that was the last team in
NBA history that actually successfully won three championships in a row.
And that's a feat that I do not believe we
will see ever again. And it's under selling it to
(18:31):
just put it down to power. He had great footwork.
He had a decent little left shoulder baby hook on
a little turnaround over his right shoulder. He was an
underrated passer out of double teams. And for all to
talk about his free throw shooting, he teered up during
his prime in those three seasons, and in that two
thousand and two playoff run their third straight title, he
got up to sixty five percent at the foul line
(18:51):
on eleven attempts per game. His peak might have been short,
but it was as dominant as anyone who has come
into the league before or since. Number four twenty twenty two,
Steph Curry. Steph stands out like a sore thumb on
this list because he's the only player here that doesn't
(19:13):
have supreme physical gifts. We've talked about monstrous centers, there's
another one ahead on this list. We've talked about seven
footers that could shoot better than some of the greatest
shooters ever. We've hit a couple of those guys. Freaky
athletic two guards. We're gonna hit one here in just
a minute. Hybrid forwards who might be the greatest athletes
to ever play the sport, like Giannis or Lebron, who
(19:37):
are gonna hit later on in this list. And then
there's Steph Curry six', three with mediocre, athleticism and yet
here he is with the fourth best peak of the
last twenty five. Years it's important to acknowledge That steph
does have a remarkable natural. GIFT i think he is
the best hand eye coordination of any Athlete i've ever,
(19:57):
seen which extends far beyond just shooting the. Basketball he's
already entered into the world of golf and become a
prominent presence. There Steph curry may not be able to
impact the game defensively or on the glass the way
his peers on this list, can BUT i View steph
as the second best offensive player to ever play the.
Game the combination of being far and away the greatest
(20:21):
jump shooter that we've ever, seen an apex handler of the,
basketball and a relentless softball, mover it literally breaks. Defense
it took a half decade for teams to even figure
out the best way to guard, him and they still
don't have a great option still to this. Day just last, Season,
steph with mediocre to bad offensive talent surrounding, him hung
(20:44):
a one twenty offensive rating when he was on the,
floor according To cleaning The glass in twenty twenty, two
following an incredibly dominant regular season in twenty twenty, one
remember over the last thirty four or last forty three
games of the twenty twenty one season thirty four points
per game on sixty seven percent true. Shooting but he
(21:04):
followed it up in twenty twenty two with one of
the more impressive titles of this, era carrying a team
where his supporting offensive talent was essentially made up of
a surgically Repaired Klay, Thompson Andrew, wiggins a guy pretty
universally considered to be a bust relative to his draft,
pick And Jordan, poole who's on his third team already
since entering the, league and he ripped through nicoleokicch in
(21:28):
the first, round the two Seeded Jomorant grizzlies in the second,
round red Hot lukadancic Led MAVs in The Western conference,
finals and one of the great defenses of this era
in The Boston celtics in THE Nba. Finals AND i
thought he capped it off with the greatest individual performance
of his, career a, game by the, way that we
will be rewatching on playback next. Week game, four down
(21:52):
two to one on the, road forty three points and ten,
rebounds fourteen for twenty six from the, field seven for
fourteen from, three unbelievable shot. Difficulty he had a half
dozen of the most difficult shots he's hit in his
career in that. Game it was just an absolutely amazing
display of carrying your team to the. Trophy and, again
(22:12):
LIKE i, said one of the more impressive titles of
this era twenty twenty. Two steph our fourth highest peak
at the last twenty five, years number, three two thousand and.
Nine Kobe. Bryant kobe is a guy who has become
underrated as the years have gone by because younger basketball
fans and some of the basketball fans that consume basketball
through the form of analytical, data you, know the looking
(22:35):
at basketball reference, pages things along that. Line that those
two groups have a really hard time Understanding kobe's basketball reference.
Page the scoring guards of this era are just a
lot more efficient Than, kobe, right and so it's really
difficult to kind of reconcile that for a lot of.
People but first of, all all scoring guards from that
(22:59):
era were inefficient by modern. Standards you gotta look at
it through that. Lens but even if we accept those,
confines this version Of kobe was incredibly. Underrated from two
thousand and eight to twenty, ten over sixty seven playoff,
games he averaged thirty, points six, rebounds and six assists
(23:20):
with two point five stocks per game on fifty seven
percent true. Shooting fifty seven percent even by today's, standards
that's pretty. Good Shay Shake Gilvis alexander just hung a
fifty seven percent true shooting in this year's final run
relative To kobe's. Era that was. Insane that was efficient
(23:43):
for a player of his, archetype especially when you factor
in the difficulty of shots that he was. Taking often
in that, Offense in that three year, span he wrote
won a regular SEASON, mvp he won two finals. MVPs
he was the greatest scorer in the, game but he
was also playing far and away the best team basketball
of his career in that, span operating as a high
(24:05):
level passer in the triangle offense while simultaneously being one
of the best defenders in the. League he Made All
Defense First Team All defense all of those three, years
as part of a stretch where he made it six
times in a, row and he won back to back,
titles which again is an increasingly rare feat in the MODERN.
Nba the only time it's been done over the course
(24:26):
of the last decade Was Lebron james with you, Know Dwayne,
wade who wasn't the same guy that he was when
when they first teamed, up but still was, very very.
Good and Then Kevin durant And Steph, curry two of
the top three players in the league at the. Time
it's an unbelievable. FEAT i am not going to let
the nerds and the kids convinced me That kobe was
(24:48):
bad or. OVERRATED i think he's the third best player
of all. TIME i think he's a guy that for whatever.
Reason people just struggle to reconcile some simple statistical. Realities
but even when you really dig into, it he was
so much better than people give him credit For number,
two the second greatest peak of the last twenty five
years twenty twenty, Three Nikola. JOKIC i think he's quite
(25:12):
simply the greatest offensive player to ever play the game of.
Basketball he was A shaquille O'Neil esque dominant interior. SCORER
i shouldn't say. Was he still is A shaquille O'Neil
esque dominant interior score that literally cannot be defended one on.
One he's variants, proof and that he relies on short
range shot making shots inside of ten feet that he
can hit well over sixty. Percent here's how good he
(25:35):
was at short range shot making in twenty twenty. Three
he was Over he was sixty seven percent on, floaters
sixty seven percent on hooks, in seventy four, percent seventy
four percent on jump shots inside is seventeen. Feet that's
the most reliable short range shot making we have ever
seen by a. Mile and he combined all of that
(25:59):
with being the best pas in. Basketball he went absolutely
nuclear in that playoff run from. Three he hit forty
six percent of his threes on four tempts per, game
including a handful of some of the wildest leaning you,
know somber shuffle shots With Anthony davis smothering him that
you'll ever. See he made fifty two. Percent he made
(26:21):
fourteen of, them fifty two percent of his off the
dribble jump shots in that playoff, run an unbelievable stretch
of shot. Making, again all of this while being the
best passer in the. Sport AND i, actually you, know
this is similar to The kobe, thing where another dynamic
That i've seen that has been really difficult for people
to reconcile as wind. Totals one of the most common
(26:43):
things you'll see people who say that Are jokics detractors
say is they'll be, like he's never beat a fifty win.
Team AND i think win totals are primarily a factor
of depth of talent in the. League there are several
teams in The World Western conference last year that if
you pick them up and put him up in different,
(27:03):
years would have won sixty. Games but the league is
so deep with talent now it's harder to hit higher win.
Totals there are years where you go into The west
and there are multiple teams that have won in the
high forties that are every bit as good as fifty
five to fifty eight win teams from years. Past in that,
year he went Through Anthony edwards And Karl Anthony, Towns
(27:24):
Kevin durant And Devin, Booker Lebron james And Anthony, davis
And Jimmy, butler and Bam adebayo without getting threatened a single,
time without being alongside An All, star without being alongside
An all defense. Player it was him and a bunch
of role, players and he literally ran through a gauntlet
(27:44):
of star. DUOS i think he's the best offensive Player
i've ever. Seen he hasn't let go of the crown
of the best player in the league. SINCE i think
he's had the second best peak That i've seen in
the last twenty five. Years number, One no shot here twenty.
Eighteen Lebron lebron had a title run in twenty sixteen
(28:05):
that many people would point to as his, peak and
it's hard to argue with. It he the only player
IN nba history to pull off a feet like defeating
the seventy three Win warriors like he did in that,
season back to back forty point games in the, finals
one of the most iconic highlights IN Nba finals. History
that's all. GREAT i Thought lebron was a better basketball
player in twenty. EIGHTEEN i think twenty Eighteen lebron is
(28:30):
the best basketball player that has ever played the. Sport
it was the last year Where lebron was a real apex,
athlete but it was also his peak as a shot,
maker as a playmaker, overall as a floor, general as
like an improvisational. Score, unfortunately it coincided with the worst
(28:50):
roster that he's ever played with in his. Career but
it allowed us to see a unique thing that happens in,
basketball SOMETHING i talk about all the, time having to
do with adversity bringing the absolute best out of. People
it allowed us to see what happens when the best
basketball player ever has to be at his very best
every single night in order for the team to. Win
(29:12):
in two playoff runs spanning twenty, seventeen in twenty eighteen
a forty game, sample so forty playoff games his last
two playoff runs In, Cleveland lebron averaged thirty four points
per game to go with nine rebounds and nine assists
to go with two point eight stocks per game on
sixty three percent true. Shooting i'm gonna read that again
(29:37):
because it's batshit thirty four to nine to nine with
two point eight stocks on sixty three percent true shooting
over forty playoff, games made it to the finals twice
and just ended up losing to the greatest basketball team ever,
assembled That Kevin Durant Steph Curry Golden State warriors. Team
(30:01):
he hung ten forty point playoff games in that. Span
one out of four, nights you were getting. Forty he
hung nineteen thirty five point games in that. Span it
was a coin, flip you were gonna get thirty five
plus out Of. LEBRON i Think lebron is the third
(30:24):
best offensive player That i've ever seen in the, sport
all while still being one of the most impactful two
way athletes in the, game even in twenty, eighteen something
that obviously guys Like Steph CURRY. Nicolea jokic couldn't do
given their athletic. LIMITATIONS i think twenty Eighteen lebron is
the peak of basketball that has ever been played on this,
earth and that twenty eighteen stretch is one That i'll
(30:47):
always look back on very. Fondly All, right, guys that's
all we have for today's top ten peaks of the
last twenty five. Years we'll be back tomorrow with another
top ten and we'll have him throughout the rest of this.
Week as, always we appreciate you guys for supporting us
in supporting the, show and we'll see you
Host
Jason Timpf
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