Plastic-Dot-9278

I feel like if Carmelo Anthony was named George Hickson or something like that he would have no shot at making the top 75 and would be remembered similarly to Bernard King (as he should be).

Similarly if Cade Cunningham didn't have such a cool name people would be a lot quicker to call him a bust. He'd probably be out of the league already if his name was Paul George.

Can yall think of any other examples?

Without the Human Anchor Jeremy Sochan on the court this season, Victor is actually producing at an impressive level for a rookie.

Net rating:

Victor ON, Sochan, ON: 100.6 ORtg, 120.2 DRtg, -19.6 NET (307 minutes)

Victor ON, Sochan OFF: 117.8 ORtg, 111.7 DRtg, +6.1 NET (180 minutes)

Individual stats:

Victor w/ Sochan ON: 20.3 pts/75, 3.3 ast/75, 47.8% TS

Victor w/ Sochan OFF: 26.1 pts/75, 2.8 ast/75, 59.6% TS

Anyone who's been watching the Spurs this season is not gonna be surprised by these numbers. Sochan looks Victor off about 50 times a game and often pretends like he isn't even there when he asks for the ball in his spots.

The Lakers actually found a way for LeBron and Westbrook to work together last season, but the problem was that if LeBron wasn’t on the court the Lakers had too many gaps, not enough neutral or plus players, and Westbrook by himself on court couldn’t do anything.

Lakers in 2022-2023 with Westbrook

Westbrook + LeBron ON court (all games): 114.2 ORtg, 108.2 DRtg, +6.0 NET

Westbrook + LeBron ON court after 2-10 start: 117.8 ORtg, 108.7 DRtg, +9.1 NET

Westbrook + LeBron ON court, AD OFF court (all games): 119.8 ORtg, 111.8 DRtg, +8.0 NET

Westbrook + LeBron ON court after AD’s injury in December (24 games): 118.7 ORtg, 103.9 DRtg, +14.8 NET

Westbrook ON court, LeBron and AD OFF court (all games): 106.6 ORtg, 120.6 DRtg, -14.0 NET

Westbrook + LeBron + AD ON Court (all games): 113.8 ORtg, 112.0 DRtg, +1.8 NET

Westbrook + AD ON court, LeBron OFF court: 119.2 ORtg, 120.2 DRtg, -1.0 NET

This isn't to say I think Westbrook is still a good player. It's more a testament to how good LeBron was last season (and continues to be) than anything and how much credit he deserves for making it work contrary to popular unsubstantiated narratives about how he struggles to play with ball dominant guards.