Tyler Conway @@jtylerconway Featured Columnist IV May 22, 2024
David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images
Since LeBron James joined the Miami Heat in 2010, he’s spent more than a decade ensuring he plays alongside at least one other superstar.
That said, James knows the value high-quality role players can bring to a championship team. The Los Angeles Lakers star heaped praise on Minnesota Timberwolves forward Naz Reid, Indiana Pacers guard TJ McConnell and Dallas Mavericks forward PJ Washington as the “MVPs of role the players” in the 2024 NBA playoffs.
“The role players right now, with these four teams that’s left, are making all the plays. … Always, we know the narratives are always going to go to the star guys. But, to be honest, these games have been won by the MVPs of the role players,” James told JJ Redick on their Mind the Game podcast.
James highlighted Reid’s critical plays in the fourth quarter of the Timberwolves’ Game 7 win over the Denver Nuggets, Washington’s critical role knocking down threes in Dallas’ second-round win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, and McConnell for being a “coach’s dream” for his ability to make the right plays for Indiana.
While not mentioned by James, the Boston Celtics have their own MVP role player in Derrick White, who has taken over as the team’s third scorer while Kristaps Porzingis is injured.
The 2024 playoffs have been dominated by teams that build full, deep rosters rather than top-heavy outfits. Rudy Gobert is the only player among the NBA’s 15 highest-paid players to reach the conference finals.
While these playoffs have not been lacking for stars—Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton are part of the next generation taking over the game—we’re seeing firsthand how the NBA’s new punitive tax rules benefit teams that don’t go all in on creating so-called superteams.
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