2 Things I Liked…and 2 Things I Didn’t: NBA Week 2(ish) (10/26–11/5/26)

 Note: This column was written before last night's games concluded (11/5), so statistics and results from those games are not included.

Things I liked this week:

1. Cooper Flagg Might Actually Be The Next LeBron…

This is crazy, right? But like, is it crazy? No, no, no, it’s definitely crazy.

Okay, but is it though…

We’re now over a year into the Cooper Flagg experience, and it’s getting increasingly difficult not to make the comparison. Both players debuted when they were 18 years old. Their birthdays are nine days apart, with Flagg born on December 21 and James on December 30. Though Flagg was born just a few years later (LeBron was in his third season the year Flagg was born).

The expectations for both were monumental, even if for very different reasons. James was “The Chosen One,” on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16 and arguably the greatest prospect of all time. Flagg was originally part of the following year’s recruiting class before reclassifying and entering Duke a year early. He’s still younger than every player drafted this past summer despite being a year into his NBA career, and he had to fill the shoes of Luka Dončić, who was shockingly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2024-25 season.

Through 75 Career Games (Flagg’s Current Total):

Cooper Flagg: 21.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 4.7 APG, 47.4% FG, 29.3% 3PT, 83.5% FT

LeBron James: 21.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 5.8 APG, 41.6% FG, 29.5% 3PT, 75.9% FT

Flagg has the edge in overall efficiency, albeit in a league that is significantly more efficient than it was at the start of James’ career. James holds the edge in playmaking, which isn’t all that surprising based on what we’ve seen from him over the past 23 years. He’s one of the best creators of all time.

It’s not an overstatement to say that these are the two best teenagers we’ve ever seen in the NBA. The craziest part might be that Flagg wasn’t even pegged as a generational offensive prospect. His calling card entering college and the NBA were his intangibles and defensive chops. He’s a good, not great, physical athlete, but his motor never stops, and he’s an incredibly cerebral player.

The offense progressing at the level it has is what makes this a conversation in the first place. The 3-point jump shot is still a question mark, and he needs to be more consistent and intentional about finding the open man when he gets into the paint and draws multiple defenders. But what makes him so special to this point is his ability to get into the lane, attack the paint and create, particularly off the dribble. Add in his touch on floaters and push shots, off a variety of spins, stepbacks, and step-throughs and we’re looking at a player who will only continue to grow as a creator and initiator of offense.

I never loved Jason Kidd as a head coach from an X’s and O’s standpoint, but if there’s one thing he’s going to do, and do well, it’s force his 6’9”-6’11” young superstar forwards to play with the ball and initiate the offense. It really seems to pay off (See: Giannis Antetokounmpo. He’s a decent player).

Look, Cooper Flagg is most likely not going to play 20-plus years. He’s probably not going to be the focal point of 11 Finals appearances. It would be a rousing success if he entered the top 10-15 all-time discussion, much less the top five. But I’ve been watching this game for 25-plus years now, and he’s the best 19-year-old I’ve seen since The King.

Maybe I’ll start calling him The Prince. That has a good ring to it.

2. Unc’s Turning Back The Clock 

Man, last Friday felt like a dream. For a brief moment in time, I was 24 again, sitting on my $40 Habitat for Humanity couch, watching Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and LeBron James at what felt like the peak of their powers.

Curry and Thompson raining down threes. Durant using his insane length to rise up and shoot over his defender (and throw down a monster slam dunk). LeBron doing a little bit of everything.

Their stat lines Friday, October 30:

• Stephen Curry vs. Lakers: 31 points, 8 three-pointers

• Klay Thompson vs. Pacers: 25 points, 7 three-pointers

• Kevin Durant vs. Mavericks: 28 points

• LeBron James vs. Knicks: 20 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists

They’re all a little slower. They don’t jump as high. Thompson has often looked like a shell of his former self over the past few years. That’s to be expected given his injury history, and he was never quite the same after the injuries. But for an evening, it was shades of that night in Sacramento in 2015, when Thompson scored an NBA-record 37 points in a quarter (52 total), including going 9-for-9 from 3-point range.

James, the oldest of the four, has to pick his spots these days. He showed his first real signs of decline last season and, for the first time in his career, is probably not the first or second-best player on his team. But he still has these moments, much like Friday, when you’re reminded what a terror he was in his prime. A freight train in the open floor, a floor maestro in the half court, and flying around as a help defender. He wants another title. I don’t blame him. Performances like that will go a long way in that quest.

Curry and Durant are so fun because they’re so different. Curry, a 6’2” long-range bomber with literal hours' worth of highlight reels on YouTube featuring some of the most ridiculous ball-handling and shot-making in NBA history. Durant, a 6’11” sniper and the best handler and shot-maker at his size the league has ever seen. He was literally created in a lab to put the basketball in the hoop.

Durant is part of a true title contender with the Houston Rockets, a mix of young studs and cagey veterans. Off to a hot start, they’re a real threat to compete for the NBA title. Durant is no longer necessarily the focal point of the offense, though he’s still incredibly efficient (20.8 PPG, 66.1% TS). But when it gets to crunch time, he’s still the guy, and the Rockets will need him to be if they want to establish themselves as one of the teams to beat.

Curry is trying to drag a mediocre Golden State Warriors team to relevancy just one more time. He’s arguably been one of the five best players in the NBA to start the season, putting up insane scoring and efficiency numbers in very modest minutes (30 PPG, 68% TS, 28.8 MPG). After a slow start to begin the season, the Warriors are 5-3. They’re still far from title contention, but if Curry can keep them afloat until Jimmy Butler returns, and the team can find a way to turn Kristaps Porziņģis’ contract into a real asset, they could put themselves in position to make a miracle run like they did in 2022, when Curry secured his fourth NBA title.

These guys won’t play forever. Father Time comes for us all. I was 11 years old when LeBron debuted with the Cleveland Cavaliers. I’ll turn 35 in January. As their careers wind down, it often reminds me of my own mortality. But nights like last Friday transport me back to that couch in Newport News, Virginia. A 20-something-year-old kid who couldn’t imagine life getting any better.

Things I Didn’t Like This Week:

1. Injuries, Injuries, and More…Injuries

Jalen Williams. Anthony Edwards. Chet Holmgren. Paolo Banchero. Tyrese Haliburton. This is just a sample of the players currently out, either for the season or an extended timeframe. And it’s not even close to the full allotment of players currently on the shelf with various other ailments.

This doesn’t even factor in recent lost seasons for Haliburton, Damian Lillard, and Jayson Tatum due to Achilles tears, a fast-rising epidemic in the NBA. Kyrie Irving missed all of last season with an ACL tear. I could go on and on.

The NBA has an injury problem. And nobody seems to have a resolution.

Shorten the season to 70 games.

Lower the minutes in a game to 40.

Stretch the length of the season so teams play fewer back-to-backs.

These are just a few of the solutions that have been floated by various voices around the NBA. Will the league take notice and change? That’s a tougher sell.

Fewer games per season means less money for the teams and owners. Good luck with that. Reducing the minutes per contest brings up questions surrounding statistics and league records, another tough sell. Stretching the length of the season, possibly even shortening the preseason as well, seems like the most likely change.

But that doesn’t really address the root cause: The floor is more spaced than ever, players are covering more ground, there’s more stopping and starting, and players are specializing at a much younger age and playing far too many games in their youth. Sports therapists have pointed to this as a major factor in the increase in injuries, particularly those of the non-contact variety.

I don’t know what the best solution is. What I do know is this: The league needs to fix this ASAP. It’s hurting the product.

Ticket prices are skyrocketing, and fans are more strapped for cash than ever. And yet they’re spending their hard-earned money to attend games where their favorite player might not even play.

Teams can load manage (something the Warriors are doing with Curry, the 76ers with James and Joel Embiid, and various other teams with their key players). But that doesn’t solve the issue of the fan experience. There’s still that risk you show up to the arena, only to find out Curry, James, or Embiid aren’t suiting up.

The NBA is always going to prioritize profit. They’re a business, after all. But they’ve worked very hard to establish themselves as the No. 2 professional sports league in the U.S. (The NFL will always be king).

And if they’re not careful, they’ll find themselves in a similar place to the MLB a few years back: losing viewers rapidly and scrambling for solutions.

2. The Sacramento Kings. Oooooh Kings. 

When I started this column (originally to come out Monday, 11/2), the Kings were 0-6. Don’t look now, but they’re surging, now owners of a 1-7 record! In all seriousness, it’s just kind of sad at this point.

Look, they’re not the only bad team in the NBA as of this writing. Four other teams are 1-7, and another is 1-5 (the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Chicago Bulls are the 1-7 teams, while the Phoenix Suns are the 1-5 team).

What makes it so pitiful is that we’re just a few years removed from true relevance for the Kings, following one of the worst playoff droughts in league history.

Four years ago, during the 2022-23 NBA season, the Kings finished third in the Western Conference, and it seemed things were changing in Sacramento. With veteran coach Mike Brown at the helm, eager to quiet the doubters who mocked his shortcomings during his tenure as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers during LeBron’s first Cleveland run, then the Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland again, and a six-year stint as an assistant in Golden State, it felt like the team was on the up and up.

They featured a good young core featuring De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk, and Keegan Murray. The offense popped, and it felt like they were a few moves away from true contention. Here’s where they’ve finished in the Western Conference standings each year since:

2023-24: 9th (Lost in Play-In)

2024-25: 9th (Lost in Play-In)

2025-26: 14th (Did not qualify for Playoffs)

2026-27: 15th (Currently 1-7)

If you read my previous column, you know what I’m about to say…

“NOT GREAT, BOB!”

Their first mistake, honestly, was believing two point guards couldn’t play together, which led to them trading All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton, who was one Achilles tear in Game 7 of the 2024-25 NBA Finals away from a possible title, for Sabonis.

Sabonis is a fantastic player, a great facilitator, particularly on handoffs, short rolls, and other big-to-big sets, a bulldog on the glass, and a competent scorer. But he’s never fully developed as a shooter, something that would really unlock his offensive game. His athletic shortcomings and lack of length also really hinder him on the defensive end.

They’ve tried, I guess, to make moves to bolster themselves. They signed DeMar DeRozan in 2024, a move that never really made sense to me if you know anything about how I view him as a player (a fantastic one-on-one scorer whose lack of an outside shot and real contributions elsewhere, save some decent playmaking, limits any real upside).

They made a blockbuster trade sending De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in a multi-team trade that sent them Zach LaVine from Chicago, a bit of a head-scratcher when paired with DeRozan. They joined the Russell Westbrook experience last season, which would be his last before announcing his retirement this past summer.

The draft hasn’t been much kinder to them. Keegan Murray, their 2022 pick, looked like a great young foundational piece, and he’s been merely meh since his strong rookie year.

They traded their draft rights to the Dallas Mavericks the next year, traded their 2024 pick Devin Carter to the Hawks this summer before he was subsequently waived and signed a two-way deal with the Celtics, and their 2025 pick Nique Clifford is currently playing six minutes a game and averaging a single point. Gross.

Their future now rests on the shoulders of 2026 draft selection Darius Acuff Jr., the 6’2” guard out of Arkansas, taken seventh overall.

So far, Acuff has been a giant mixed bag of very high highs and low, low lows. The good: He currently ranks ninth in the NBA in PPG. The bad: He’s doing it while leading the league in shot attempts and making only 39.7% of them.

He’s been a good playmaker (7.0 APG), and his turnover rate is solid (12.4%), though the story might be the passes he hasn't made than the ones he has. Is he a future star? Or destined to be an explosive microwave scorer off the bench, à la his Kings teammate Malik Monk? Only time will tell.

In summary, it’s been a disaster, and things don’t seem like they’ll be changing anytime soon. There have been rumblings that Sabonis has unsurprisingly asked for a trade, LaVine is most likely on the block, and I’d be surprised if anyone not named Acuff is on the table.

I genuinely feel bad for Kings fans. Just a few short years ago, it seemed they’d turned the corner. After almost two decades of turmoil, they finally had a reason to celebrate.

They “Light the Beam,” a purple laser light shot through the ceiling of their arena, Golden 1 Center, after every victory, almost akin to Gotham City hailing Batman with the Bat-Signal.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure Batman and the rest of the Justice League can save the Kings…