Jordan made the playoffs every year he was on the Bulls.
And yes, he lost in the first round, but I wouldn't say the team wasn't good. They were a middle of the pack team with decent role players like Paxson and Oakley. The problem in the playoffs is that the Bulls played the Celtics, the defending champions and the #1 seed in the East, a team that had 4 HOFers on the roster.
I don't know if it's the end or not because folks will continue to sign him for quite a while. If I were him, I would hang it up soon. The constant injuries are painful, and he's not going to do much in the postseason again as a major piece. Why not just retire and rest?
As many have said, if a ref misses a call, he's pretty unlikely to change it, unless there's a formal challenge, but he will remember it and try to make up for it later.
I think the better idea is to get rid of all the stupid techs in the first place.
I also think that there are lines that shouldn't be crossed, and this rule only allowing techs for physical stuff might be too permissive. Like, I don't care about a stare down or even the casual "you can't guard me, bitch." But what about racist and homophobic slurs? We don't need that kinda stuff in the League.
I think the premise is wrong. You don't know at the beginning of the 5th season. At the start of his 5th season, Steph Curry was a zero-time all-star, averaging under 20 per night and thought to be too injury-prone to really make it in the League.
Now, he is unquestionably the greatest player of his draft class and a consensus top-20 player of all time.
Klay isn't a role player. He's a 5x all-star. This is a guy who can give you 60 points, the same career high as Larry Bird. Name a role player who can score like that. This is a guy who has put up 40 or more points in over 15 games. He's not Kyle Korver or something.
On a nightly basis, he puts up 20 points, next to Steph Curry, who's scoring like 30. He's clearly a sidekick, but one who's a star in his own right. It's quite a lot like Scottie Pippen scoring next to MJ or like CJ McCollum scoring next to Dame.
I actually don't think this is generally true.
Bird, McHale and Parish were not referred to as Larry, Kevin, and Robert regularly.
The great trio of the 90s, Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman were usually talked about by their last names.
Stockton and Malone were Stockton and Malone, not John and Karl.
Iverson, Mutumbo, Duncan, Ewing... Really the list goes on.
Even the great stars of today, many are usually referred to by last name. Think about the great calls.
"Bang! Bang! Oh, what a shot by Curry!"
"Blocked by James!"
Jokic, Embiid, Tatum - these guys are usually referred to by last name.
Tatum. I just happened to watch his first game. I'm forgetting if it was his first real game or first preseason, and I was like, this dude is the real deal.
The answer is Steph and Draymond. Steph is one of the best offensive players ever, and Draymond is a good PnR partner and one of the best defensive players ever.
I hate to be rude, but this is a silly, overblown post. Yeah, he's averaging 3.8 TOs this year, but that's not a signal of some major decline. Why?
Well, first, we're 20 games into the season, and the rotations are changing around quite a bit. He's playing with people he hasn't played with very often, especially Saric. Let's actually see what's what further into the season.
Second, he's actually averaged 3.8 TOs before. Was that the sign of something terrible? No, it was the 13-14 season, and he was named an all-star.
Third, we should consider how many turnovers he had in previous seasons. He averages 3.2 TOs per game for his career. 3.8 is more, but it's really not that much more.
Fourth, many high usage players have lots of turnovers. Durant is averaging 4 this year, and Giannis is averaging 4.1.
Also, far from being in decline, Curry is having one of the best offensive seasons of his career, averaging almost 30 per game shooting over 43% from 3 and over 94% from the line. All of these numbers are above his career averages.