[Highlight] SGA “ I model my game after Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, And Allen Iverson” bringing back the midrange game
I modeled my game after Curry, Walton, and Antetokounmpo… and of course I’m talking about Seth, Luke, and Thanasis.
Seth was a lot better than those other two lol
Don’t diss my man Luke like that, he had some skills and logged in 10k minutes in this league lol.
At least seperate him from the Nepo brother.
Luke also saved the lakers from being swept in 04!
Oh yeah I remember that game, the entire series in fact.
Probably in my top 5 finals series ever from the ones I was able to follow game to game and live.
(16’ Cavs, 04’ Pistons, 11’ Mavs, 05’ Spurs and of course being biased here but 25’ Thunder)
Also shoutout to Duncan’s 2003 finals, I still think it’s the best finals performance of the post Jordan era at least.
That 2003 Spurs ring is one of the most impressive title runs I’ve ever seen.
Parker and Manu weren’t who they’d become, and Robinson wasn’t who he’d been.
That closeout game is one of the most dominant performances I’ve ever seen. 21/20/10 with 8 (official) blocks that really should have been 10.
I think people discredit that ring because it was the Spurs with Parker, Manu, and Robinson, but in terms of actual production, it was an extremely weak supporting cast.
2021 Giannis has gotta be up there too
It was a good series for sure, but idk I’d rather have the 13’ Heat instead even though I hated them at the time.
Now if we’re going for single games during the final series, that Giannis 50 piece is surely an all timer, not arguing that.
Edit: oh you mean compared to 03 Duncan? Nah, I still take TD over him.
Nepo brother was objectively better
is this a joke or did you not get my comment?
better respect luke
No Lebron Jr.? Smh
I’m more of a Chamberlain, Russell, and Bird kind of guy. And by that I mean Neville, Kurt, and Big.
Unironically think Big Bird could’ve been nasty with the right coaching and work ethic.
Imagine how many blocks he would average. And steals too. He’d be leading the league in squaks per game
only with snuffleupagus
Seth Curry was really good at one point.
All players who would be superstars on any court you would ever play in
Speak for yourself. My middle school team played at staples once
Didnt know they played against nba teams grats to them
Same court! lol
Surely you meant Eddy Curry
Wasn’t Luke Walton a solid role player for like 10 years lol
So you are in the NBA? Congrats!
I model mine on Zion, Simmons, Westbrook, and Dort.
Seth shouldnt be in that group
The mid range game never left
Its just a VIP area reserved for the stars now
I’d say it’s more reserved for shot creators. Guys like NAW and Mikal Bridges operate in the midrange too.
You just aren’t gonna see many dudes spotting up and taking catch and shoot middys anymore. That’s what’s been eliminated
Love NAW
Yeah, CJ also on the Hawks puts up a lot of middies on pretty good efficiency
Hell, his last couple years in Portland CJ was better from long 2’s than he was in the paint lol
Sam Hauser too.
He does a great fake from the corner dribble into a 14 footer that he sinks at a 58% rate. Now most teams do think he will pass out of it, so usually they protect the rim in case he’s driving which gives him the space to do it.
If he started doing it more than 2 times a game then that rate probably comes down.
What if there is a guy who when he gets to that specific spot he hits it at a 80-90% rate? Would that be enough to make catch and shoot mid range make a comeback?
For that specific guy, sure. You’re positing a guy who can treat midrange shots like dunks. But unless the rest of the league can figure out how to do that, they won’t follow his lead.
There was a stretch of a few years in the late 2010s/early 2020s where offenses figured out the math on three point attempts and defenses hadn’t worked out how to counter a spread offense and midrange shots were legitimately a bad shot in most circumstances.
Defenses have figured that out now and if you expect to get by exclusively on threes and layups good teams will take your lunch money. All the good offenses right now, even the ones that take a ton of threes like Boston, balance that out by deliberately attacking from the midrange on a decent number of possessions.
This is exactly it. You can and should take midrange shots but you need to be actually efficient and do it because 3s and layups are well guarded. In 2017 people weren’t guarding 3s enough so it made way more sense to just take more of those. Now that people actually guard 3s enough you should take midrange shots.
People say that, but guys like Nembhard, McConnell, KPJ, Ty Jerome, Tobias Harris and Devin Vassell take a good portion of their shots inside that 10-16 foot area.
It’s less about being reserved for stars and more about guys who can get to that spot consistently and knock it down comfortably. Nembhard’s midrange game is a work of art.
Big ups Thunder bro
It thrives in the post-season when defenses key in on the paint or the perimeter so you have to rely on your star being able to create in the middy down the stretch. Kobe, Derozan, and ofc the goat Shaun Livingston.
Shout out Livingston. One of my favorites ever
Still feel bad for him with that injury
D Book has made a very large bag operating in the mid range.
Bro what in the fuck is this comment section lmao we need an actual basketball sub
I miss having a superstar on my team that everyone genuinely hated with a burning passion to the point where it just looks stupid. Enjoy the moment while you can.
This is what I wish more OKC fans realized. This is what peak fandom feels like. There isn’t a world where you are both a dominant dynasty and well-loved by everyone. If you want to win a bunch it will come with the extreme hate.
Just lean into the hate and rage bait them. It’s hilarious.
You find the few sane OKC fans and challenge them to be obnoxious like yourself.
I bet you think it’s hilarious when you support trump too
Didn’t vote for him, that guy can fuck off all the way off to hell.
No i just realize the people who hate on him don’t actually watch the games and will never change their mind so why not troll them and make them even more miserable. Miserable people will continue to be miserable so I’ll just help them on their journey
Generalizing a group is a bad take no matter who it is. I didnt vote for him either and im college educated. Most people I speak to that voted for him are just genuinely gullible and live in their bubble within 5 miles of their rural home. (I work in medical DME and do rural deliveries all over oklahoma). Like legit these people are so poor they didn’t have the option to leave their hometown to get education and thats a failing of the state, not them as a person. And they keep voting for it out of ignorance not ill will towards others. Cause all they hear on TV is “im gonna make america great again” and hell i want america great too, they just don’t read the fine print and we mostly do.
Good point lol
This is the way
You know he’s great by how absolutely unhinged his haters have become
There’s been a stark difference in this sub’s audience the last few years, it’s glaring
that’s what r/nbadiscussion is supposed to be for. i have not heard good things about it.
I genuinely thought that was a troll sub for the longest time
why? i just went and took a look, the bam 83 post from 2 days ago actually had great talking points, people clearly watch the game and not the box score
way better then all the hating we have here
https://www.reddit.com/r/nbadiscussion/comments/1rqhu13/bam_scores_83/
its awful lol
nbadiscussion is the best of NBA, nbatalk, and itself. At least in nbadiscussion they try to have thoughtful conversations. Nba and nbatalk are just circlejerks a lot of the time
I gave up on NBADiscussion because it was just the same dumb stuff as here, but padded out to meet the post/comment length minimums. Or just long posts using stats out of context in ways that make no sense.
At least here the goofballs are respectful of our time
Hey fuck you.
See respectful of your time.
nba talk is so bad lol. it’s like instagram comments but on reddit
I think every week there’s some iteration of Jordan vs LeBron
That place sucks now too. The internet is an awful place to discuss sports (or idk I guess anything really)
i think it’s genuinely better. you sometimes get blind leading the blind and some kind a bad takes but people by and large put in genuine effort
This sub isn’t for discussion, it’s the sfw circlejerk sub
Anyone who has watched him play can see that Kobe/MJ game. You can tell he grew up idolizing Kobe. In his first couple seasons with us, I said he’s a blend of Kobe and Clyde Drexler.
He also called himself the black Steve Nash
I think that’s because he’s Canadian.
i thought shaq was the black steve nash?
Shaq is the black Steph curry
oh shit you right
Shaq is Dark Nowitzki
It’s clear as day. It’s not 1 to 1 but when I see Shai and Kawhi the Jordan/Kobe influence is clear.
There’s a video floating around of a SGA and Kobe side by side. They’re doing the exact same moves, with the exact same footwork, with the exact same results. It’s uncanny how much of a copy and paste you can get in basketball.
The footwork
well the kawhi one is obvious, Pop personally went to his mortal enemy, kobe, to train Kawhi. It’s literally why Kawhi came into the 2017 season looking like he was geared to take down the KD warriors in game one. Evolution went Dr. J, MJ, Kobe, Kawhi, SGA.
Good lineage
The famousness of their dunking ability decreases every generation lol
I think its a longevity thing. Highlight dunks are cool, but awful for longevity, SGA has a poster a year and im chill with that. He was springy the first few years of the league and I think he purposely toned it down and worked on flexibility instead of power. He’ll be dropping middies on 60% until his mid 30s.
Yeah, they don’t move like them the way Kobe moved like Mike but you can see the influence
Yup. One of the reasons I enjoy watching him even with the egregious foul-baiting.
*Demar DeRozan weeps
That man is a hall of famer if the 3pt line is two feet closer
He’s a hall of famer anyways I’m pretty sure. The nba hall of fame isn’t selective
There is no NBA hall of fame
Like 5% of nba players get into the hall of fame… yes it’s not as strict as other HOFs that only let 2% in but it’s not like they let ANYONE in…
It depends on the year and the class obviously. And it’s also the basketball hall of fame not just the NBA hall of fame so there’s a little more leeway
Doesn’t really have to be selective he’s higher on points made all time than Curry. He’s one of the most consistent healthiest scorers with a pretty long career. Plus the olympic and world championships golds
I’m not saying he won’t get in but honestly he probably shouldn’t get in. Players like him are pretty much the bar where if you can do better then that’s pretty much certified greatness but if you’re about as good as them you probably won’t accomplish a lot despite having every chance to show us that you can
I think he’s a HoFer any way, 18th in all-time scoring and ahead of guys like Steph, Tim Duncan, Paul Pierce. If Vince Carter is a hall of famer, DeMar definitely deserves it.
He already is a HOF
Never will be duplicate hit back to back buzzer beaters expanding 2 years
There sure are a lot of tears in this comment section
He’s shooting 27.7% of his FGAs from 10-16 feet and he’s shooting 59.3% on those attempts. 59.3%. I don’t think people understand how crazy that is.
iirc an elite middy shooter used to be in like the high 40s. 59 is bonkers
Gonna be a lot more when he wins MVP
If he wins a ring, mvp and finals mvp again, this sub and nbatalk may shutdown completely.
SGA’s a great player but I think some of us just don’t find parts of his game aesthetically pleasing to watch. He’s certainly not the worst offender when it comes to foul baiting but he is the most effective and I think I and lots of other people would like to see some rule changes to reduce guys ability to get those kinds of calls.
It’s a graveyard down there
Just start leaning into it more to rage bait them. Way more fun than trying to change their mind since they never will. Rub it in their face how we can we just play play football on defense and they can’t
Hes 6’6 Iverson
Imagine what iverson could have accomplished at 6’6…
Oh wait we are watching it every single night
Yup, Kobe’s famous quote was “We should all be fortunate Iverson wasn’t 6’5 or 6’6.”
Shai is basically the reality of that scenario.
Smooth as butter navigating defenses. Crazy that the dude was a 4 star who didn’t start half the season at Kentucky.
It’s because there were still some noticeable flaws to his game, and questions about the viability of his frame. He put the work in, and that work ethic has infected the entire OKC team, and you’re starting to see the results of that with their adaptable lineups and so many of their players seeing consistent improvement in areas you know they’re working on.
As a Heat fan I recognize a Culture when I see one growing and Presti has done a great job bringing in guys who fit (Caruso, Dort) and cutting ties with guys who don’t (Giddey) regardless of draft status. And SGA sets the example for how to come to work and be a professional, I partly credit Chris Paul for that too, he mentored SGA and SGA took it all to heart.
You could see the CP3 influence with that stare-down he had after the game toward his trolling teammates, did they care though? Hell no. XD They’re gonna soak their leader breaking an all-time record, regardless of him staring daggers at them.
CP3 I think gave him a way to understand how to be a leader on and off the court, as well as managing a family whilst being in the NBA.
Yeah man I don’t care what anyone says about CP3, he was the original culture - setter in OKC. That year that was supposed to be a throwaway that CP3 said “fuck that” to and took the team to a 7 game series against Houston…I think it all started there
Presti gets straight dogs with good work ethic and light heartedness outside of game. You can teach shooting and screening and all that shit, you cant teach size, personality, and speed.
literally with a mixture of mj/kobe fs but he’s legit the answer to “what if AI was 6’6?””
He also once said he’s the black Steve Nash
he’s more like AI than the other two since he doesn’t have a lot of dunk highlights
AI had more highlight dunks than Shai too lol
He has AI like handles but he’s a much better shooter than AI. Shai is shooting 55% from the field this year and AI never got above 46% in his career.
To be fair considering the era and everything, AI was alright, especially in regards to some of the teams he played for
He was more than alright, but he was never close to as good as Shai is now. He was more like a Jimmy Butler level. Great player, fierce competitor who could will his team to the finals in a weak Eastern Conference, but not in any serious “best player in the world” conversations at any point
Bro stop it, Jimmy Butler was never as good as A.I.
AI has the worst efficiency of any all time great scorer/MVP ever (off the top of my head, feel free to correct me). He had multiple seasons where he was below league average efficiency (TS%) wise, which you almost never see for someone taking that many shots. Even someone like Kobe was consistently above league average.
If there’s anybody you’re gonna call inefficient, it’s him.
Westbrook was in the same ballpark.
76ers were amazingly built around him. At least around 00s. AI not a player that thrived with another stars. Nuggets and FIBA good examples of that. But yeah he was sent right to the rebuilding/fallen off Pistons at the end of his career.
coulda used kobe here too then he never got over 47%
edit: i’m sorry, am i wrong? if we’re using FG its just facts…
Feet work is everything to all of those guys. Getting shots off at crazy angles made them greater than the dunks
Jordan and Kobe were more than dunk highlights. Jordan specifically based his game on Gervin’s and you can see a lot of that in SGA with his patience when driving.
With Gervin, Jordan, Kobe, and SGA, they all have so many counter moves in the mid-range.
Not sure where I said Kobe and MJ were only dunk highlights but okay chief
Half of shai’s highlights are at the FT line
Just like AI, he is fearless in getting contact. Unlike AI, he does it to foul bait.
He has always looked like a lanky hyper efficient version of Iverson to me. Great comps.
Sounds like early/mid 90s MJ when shot more midrange
I see more of a James Harden than Kobe
dont hate the player
Bunch of losers in this comment section hahaha
It’s nuts that he might be a better midrange scorer than some, if not all, of them
He really feels like AI out there with the speed and footwork leading to those smooth shots.
The midrange never died it’s just role players stopped shooting long 2’s
SGA really is the best in the league it’s him and Joker. They both do everything right and they win.
IMO, current best 3 middie shooters, not in order:
KD
Kawhi
SGA
The rankings between those 3 are another conversation. They’re definitely proving that mid range shots can still be good in the modern game.
SGA is quite easily the best middie shooter of those 3 atm
his numbers and kd’s from pure and long two are about even
kawhi is the one like a tier below them
Kawhi is a tier above them in playoffs though. He’s an anomaly when it comes to shooting efficiency, one of the few that improve immensely
nah…
kawhi/kd are about the same
kawhi is like 1.5% better from pure
kd is like 4% better from long two
kawhi is pretty much identical shooting % across the board in rs and playoffs
the only difference appears to be he goes to the rim more, and him being 70% at the rim, makes his playoffs more efficient
Derozan is the mid-range king!
(Don’t forget Brandon Bass either.)
Aldridge with that turnaround fadeaway.
How can you leave Demar off
because it’s 2026 not 2014
2014 is crazy talk
Demar still makes 32.2% of his points off his middie, highest in the league
The next closest is Ingram at 24.5% lmao
He is still an amazing mid range shooter
smh can’t believe shai supports AI
People forget that Michael Jordan was really good at getting to the free throw line and so was AI, so I can see how SGA understood that
Game knows game
He is honestly the closest thing to late prime Jordan we’ve ever seen (he’s better than Kobe)
Some of these comments in here are making me laugh.
He is super deadly from midrange. He even got that 90 degree quick elbow push for the separation and he knows his spots. He got like 3 consecutive buckets in the clutch, and its all middy, different spots from the floor. He makes the game simple.
Definitely a student of the game.
I’m really enjoying the current trends in basketball. The rise of three-pointers has sparked a focus on analytics, which has, in turn, reduced the emphasis on mid-range shots. And then there’s this player who consistently scores from the mid-range and wins a championship with it!
someone a few months ago brought up how Kobe said “Iverson would have been even more scary if he were 6’6”, and how SGA is that
Forgot to say James Harden.
He’s a winning version of James Harden.
Glares in Jamal Murray
I tried to model my game after Dennis Rodman and later Ben Wallace because I couldn’t shoot or dribble.
Sometimes when he plays with his back to the basket, it is identical to Kobe
I modeled my game after Klay Thompson but unfortunately I’m not 6’7 and my swag is in fact limited
I model my game after Pablo Prigioni.
Its the goat build
Dork
More like a soccer player
He is much more efficient scorer than Kobe and Allen Iverson.
His game really reminds me of Paul Pierce tbh
I always think of Melo when I hear “midrange”
I mean if you got to pick a name, those three aren’t bad
Notice he didn’t say lebron
Who’d you model the foul baiting after then?
Dude’s a Harden.
[deleted]
That just means you aren’t trying hard enough
I swear he said something about him being Black Steve Nash?
Because they’re both Canadian,
He doesn’t really play anything like Nash
I know, but he said that 5 years ago, and he’s way, WAY better now.
He’s said before how Nash was important cause he was a pioneer for Canadian bball. He wanted to be the same since Nash was important to him growing up and starting the Canadian bball movement.
Eh there are some similarities. Like SGA, Nash wasn’t an explosive athlete and relied on hesitation moves and change of pace to get to his spots. Also really confident in his midrange shot. So when Nash would drive he had options based on the defense, go to the rim, midrange, or kick it to a shooter, etc. That’s really still the basis of SGA’s game. Neither Nash or SGA could just drive and blow everyone’s doors off like a Westbrook or Ant or whatever.
He also said this after his 3rd season when he was making a huge effort to play make more wasn’t yet the incredible scorer he is now.
Like he definitely doesn’t have the vision of Nash or anything like that but I think he saw himself at that time as a guy that could be an effecient +20ppg +10apg type player but his scoring got so good that he developed into the MJ/Kobe archetype. Like he wasn’t a scorer at all in college or his first year, so I do think his goal was more effecient 2nd or 3rd scorer and great playmaker at the beginning of his career.
I grew up watching 90s basketball. He may have modeled it off them but he is sure implementing it differently.
I feel like he plays more like Harden than either of them. Like Harden if Harden knew when it’s ok to shoot a middy instead of forcing every shot at the rim
I really don’t want to like this guy but those three awesome players to model your game from
I said that a while ago. Shai plays like AI in Denver
Who influenced the blatant and grotesque foul-baiting?
He modeled his acting/flopping from Leonardo DiCaprio
Who, the Refs?!!!!!
Fuck this kat. Pushes off non stop
All the downvotes you can tell the SGA lovers and casual basketball fans are in here lol
No cp3?
But they tried to score first and draw fouls second…
AI Flop
Not with the flopping
Ugly ass mf
None of those guys were feminine floppers though
So who does the flopping game modeled after?
what a coincidence i also model my game after Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Allen Iverson
fuck off mister free throw
Username is incredibly fitting. Well done.
This guy is so insufferable. I wish teams would actually foul him and bruise him up a bit. Nothing malicious but at least make him feel it
Grown ass goofy