Everyone loves highlights. It is what we live for as sports fans. Now, NBA highlights are different from any others, simply because of the size of the athletes. In the NFL you have 300 pound-men running at top speeds.
In the MLB you have astronomical reaction times, in the NHL you have incredibly skilled athletes. But, in the NBA, there is just something that leaves us in awe about men playing a sport 10 feet in the air.
Whether it is a high-flying block, a rim-shaking dunk, or an ankle-shattering crossover. The NBA has produced some incredible highlights this season.
There are four categories. Blocks, crossovers, dunks, and one play that is just mystifying.
Here is a look at the best plays in the NBA this year. What is your favorite?
Blocks
A great block can change the game. Below is an incredible play by Mason Plumlee of the Brooklyn Nets. This block on LeBron James ended the game and won the contest for the Nets.
Sometimes, the player with the ball has absolutely zero chance to succeed at the basket. Denver Nuggets’ forward Kenneth Faried denies Cleveland Cavaliers’ guard Dion Waiters with authority here.
This next play is one of the most incredible plays you will ever see. First off, this is a two-on-one rush, nearly an impossible situation for a defender. Not only does Magic guard Victor Oladipo prevent an easy fast-break bucket, he denies Damian Lillard on what is the best block of the season. A great highlight show host by the name of Linda Cohn once said “For the love of elevation.”
Crossovers
Remember playing basketball in the driveway when you were younger? You always wanted to cross-up your younger brother in front of everyone and embarrass him. Why? That is what brothers do. How often can you do it in the NBA? Well, Jeff Teague got to live the dream and cross up his younger brother Marquis here.
What a move by the elder Teague, but all-world ball handler Kyrie Irving gave it back to Teague this year too. You win some, you lose some. Jeff Teague definitely lost one here. What a move by Irving.
When you think of crossovers, what is the first position you think of? Point guard? Shooting guard? Small forward? The last thing on your mind is a power forward, right? Well Tim Duncan shows off his ball handling as he destroyed Raptors’ forward Amir Johnson’s ankles here.
Dunks
Ah, yes. Finally what everyone loves about the NBA. The dunk. There is something majestic about jumping four feet into the air and throwing a round leather ball through a basketball net. But, when there is “authority” on a dunk, it makes it electrifying. Now, how about when one of the best athletes of our generation nearly clears his opponent and levels him in the process? That is what is called “posterizing”. LeBron James did just that to Ben McLemore here.
What you are about to see may defy what you learned in 11th grade. Your physics teacher may have taught you that what goes up, has to come down. Not in this case. Toronto Raptors’ guard Terrence Ross literally flies through the air and jams on one of the best defenders in the NBA in Kenneth Faried. Take a look.
Watch the following clip a few times, then come back to this.
Yea, exactly. How did he do that? That is a 360, Paul George did a 360 dunk in a game. Not to mention the added tomahawk slam to cap it off. What an incredible dunk, this could be watched on loop for hours and still entertain us.
Now there is one category left, and there is just one play that could possibly go into the category called “mystifying.”
How in the world does John Wall pull this off? It does not make sense. What an incredible effort, and an even better result.
Photo via Geoff Burke, USA Today Sports Images