NBA Playoffs still pack plenty of punch

Youth being served!

We are now at the Final Four stage of the National Basketball Association playoffs, absent of several big-name superstars.

A-Listers including LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and James Harden failed to reach their respective conference final series.

Yet, the playoffs continue, and they have been remarkable. Yes, I said it. They have been remarkable.

Casual fans will probably tune out the remainder of the playoffs. But as a lifelong fan of The Association, I’m still loving every minute of the playoffs. We still have very compelling games and storylines with new heroes coming to the forefront.  We are also seeing some of the league’s young stars emerge right before our eyes.

So, before you reach for the remote to turn off the rest of the NBA playoffs, here are a few reasons to keep watching.

* Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks and Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns have been sensational in playoff debuts and leading their respective teams to the conference finals. These early 20-something guards are special talents.

They are part of the NBA’s new generation, joining the likes of St. Louis native Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell, Ja Morant and others. The future of the NBA is in good hands. The shot making from these kiddos is really something to see.

* The Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers have never won an NBA championship. The Milwaukee Bucks won their only title in 1971. The Atlanta Hawks franchise won in 1958 when they were the St. Louis Hawks. A new city will be celebrating a championship this summer. That is always exciting and refreshing.

* The oldest star still standing is 36-year-old Chris Paul and the NBA world is watching to see if this sage leader and future Hall of Famer can get his elusive first championship ring. Paul’s personal quest is on hold for now as he is in the health and safety protocol, thus missing the early part of the Suns’ conference finals series against the Clippers.

* The Kevin Durant-Giannis Antetokounmpo battle on Saturday night was one of the top Game 7 individual duels in the history of the NBA playoffs. Giannis had 40 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to an overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Durant was heroic in defeat with 48 points while playing all 53 minutes of the game. He hit an improbable shot to send the game into overtime. At the end of the game, both players were clearly exhausted as they looked like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at the end of the Thrilla’ in Manila. Giannis is trying to lead the Bucks to their first title in 50 years, when a young superstar named Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) led them to their only championship.

* We always see unsung heroes come out of nowhere to have that one shining moment. This year is no different as we saw Terence Mann and Kevin Huebert come up big when their teams needed them. 

Mann erupted for 39 points to lead the Clippers to a dramatic come-from-behind victory over the top-seeded Utah Jazz to clinch the Clippers’ first ever conference finals berth.

With star Kawhi Leonard sidelined with a knee injury and the Clippers trailing by 25 points, Mann had a dominating second half.

Huerter scored 27 points in the Hawks’ victory at Philadelphia in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. With Trae Young struggling from the field, the redhead stepped up in a big way with a huge performance.

* Another big storyline is that there are three African American coaches in the conference finals in Nate McMillan of Atlanta, Monty Williams of Phoenix and Ty Lue of Los Angeles. There are only seven black coaches out of the 30 franchises in the NBA. These coaches have been grinding at their craft for many years and had been fired at one time but have proven to be quality leaders of men. And with several head coaching positions open right now, hopefully the decisions makers will see this and act accordingly.