The orchestrator of the last title team led by an up-and-coming point guard resides in Boston.
The conductor of Lob City calls Los Angeles his home.
The point guard who can make the legitimate claim as a 1A option, at worst, is in Oklahoma City.
The reigning MVP, who also happens to play the point, is in The City of Wind.
All four of these point guards are regularly on national television. Shoot, one of them is ranked number one by four contributors as the best point guard in the NBA on this very site, and three of them even have another one above the man who this story is about.
However, the best point guard in the NBA resides in New Jersey, on a team who’s never on national television. In order to see him, you have to live there or have League Pass. If not, you may even forget he’s alive. Don’t forget, though; he’s not only alive, but alive and well. That man, the best point guard in the NBA, is Deron Williams.
The best point guard in the NBA’s season has been a strange one. It started with him fleeing Siberia (New Jersey) before the lockout-abbreviated season began and heading to Turkey to play for a team that once had Allen Iverson walk through their door. By the time he left Besiktas, his jersey was hanging in the rafters, with little kids telling their friends about a man who came through their gym, wowed the crowd and vanished just as quickly, and just as quietly, as he arrived.
Quick: name another good-to-great player on those four teams named above.
Boston: Paul Pierce. Los Angeles: Blake Griffin. Oklahoma City: Kevin Durant. Chicago: Carlos Boozer.
Hell, name another player on the four teams named above that’s good and productive.
Boston: KG. Los Angeles: Caron Butler. Oklahoma City: James Harden. Chicago: Joakim Noah.
Now…just for the hell of it, try to do the same for New Jersey *mind draws a blank*
For real; who is another player on the Nets that is good-to-great? Name another one who is good and productive. Name one; I dare you. Now, far be it for me to be disrespectful to anyone who plays the game of basketball for a living, but for God sake, look at what he has around him. In the case of people who don’t have League Pass, or are relegated to only watching nationally-televised games, or just don’t follow the Nets like that, allow me to give you some names he plays with:
Anthony Morrow, Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks, Gerald *bleeping* Green. Kris Humphries, God bless him, is having the best season of his career, and it’s a direct product of playing with Williams. Before that, we know when the only time Kris Humphries had his name mentioned (which isn’t a bad distinction to have, mind you).
For the past three years online (and longer than that outside of it), I have made it a mission to tell the masses that Deron Williams is the best point guard in basketball. The amount of support, in recent years, has grown, but there are still dissenters, which is fine (besides, some people just don’t like to admit they’re wrong; it’s cool). Sometimes, it takes a stark reminder for people to realize how dope he is. Shoot, this season, when the Eastern Conference All-Stars were getting their teeth kicked in during the All-Star Game, two players led the resurgence of the East: LeBron James and Deron Williams. However, it took the freaking All-Star Game for some to remember that he’s still alive.
Recently, in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats, the Nets offense was so putrid, so anemic, so awful, so despicable, so disgraceful, so disgusting that Williams had to channel his inner-MJ and go for 57 points; 57 that were needed for the Nets to win, and win at the end, at that. It took Williams away from what he does best, which is set people up (see Humphries again, as Williams has made his life much easier) and make the game as easy as possible for his teammates, and while it was amazing to see, the definition of point guard is not to score a bunch of points.
When one has to do it once in a blue moon, like he did the other night, then cool. However, he’s a prototypical pass-first, shoot-second point guard. He was that way when I watched him play in high school, he was that way for the Fighting Illini, that way in Utah, and he’s that way now. Sure, there are some other things that have changed in the world of team sports, but the way the point guard position is played should not be one of them.
Fans, it’s easy to forget someone when they’re not around much for us to see, and yes, it’s tempting to fall head over heels for players who are readily accessible. However, don’t forget about a man who resides in New Jersey for the time being. It may have to come with another change of address, or it may have to come with an awakening from the viewing public, but the time will come when the masses finally realize who the best point guard in the game is, and that man is D-Will.
Be easy.