Historic Happenings To Open The 2021-22 NBA Season

 

The 2021-22 National Basketball Association Campaign kicked off with a bang. We had a future Hall of Famer moved inside the Top 10 in scoring in NBA history. We had a two-time Kia MVP and three-time NBA champion etched his name into his team’s and the league’s history books again. The defending NBA champions as well as the boys from “City of Brother Love” made some history of their own with their newest play-by-play persons.

Two-Time Kia MVP's Historic 40-Point Night

Last season, Golden State Warriors perennial All-Star and three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry reintroduced himself to “The Association” as the best shooter and one of the best scorers in NBA history after missing all but five games the season before with a broken left hand. He continued his stellar play to start this season and in his team’s home opener against their division rival with a historic performance.

In the Warriors’ (4-1) 115-113 win versus the Los Angeles Clippers (1-3) last week on TNT, Curry had 45 points and 10 rebounds on 16/25 from the field, including 8/13 from three-point range. The two-time Kia MVP scored 25 of his 45 points in the first quarter going a perfect 9/9 shooting, including 5/5 from three-point range. Curry’s 9/9 start is the most shots made without a miss in any quarter of his career.

Curry saved his best for last as he made a three from almost half court that put the Warriors back in front 108-107 after they led by as many as 19 points. Moments later off a pass from brother-in-law Damion Lee, Curry made another triple that put the Warriors ahead 111-109 with 56.8 seconds left in regulation.

The reigning NBA scoring champion also got a key rebound with 36 seconds left before he hit two crucial free throws with under five seconds left, capping his eight registered in the final 1:54 of regulation.

This 45-point performance by Curry was on the heels of a 21-point game on 5/21 shooting, including 2/8 from three-point range in the Warriors season-opening 121-114 win at the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 19 on TNT. Curry did have his eighth career triple-double in the win with 10 assists and 10 rebounds in helping his team rally from a 10-point deficit (84-74) late in the third quarter.

“Moving on from last game, the law of averages, keep your confidence, and once I saw the first couple go in, its just staying aggressive. Something that I try to do all the time,” Curry, who had his first career game (regular season or playoffs) with 45 points and 10 rebounds said in his postgame presser.

To put how magnificent of a performance this was from Curry, this was his eighth career game with 40^th career game with 40 points with eight made three-pointers. No other player in NBA history has more than four such games. 

Curry was one of five players to register a 40-point performance in the opening week of the 2021-22 NBA campaign, but the only player to do so in a win by his team. 

Also, Curry became the oldest guard since Hall of Famer and six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan in 2001 with the Washington Wizards with 45 points and 10 boards in a game.

“Steph Curry was just Steph Curry, you know,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said after the win about the performance of his floor general. “There’s never been anybody like him. Those last two threes were ridiculous.”

What this performance by Curry also highlighted the elite level of conditioning as well as the kind of attention that he draws when he is on the floor.

Whether he is running the floor with or without the ball or moving in the half court off the ball, the kind of attention not only is how Curry can get open triples even to close to halfcourt but it opens up his teammates for open shots like when earlier in the contest Andrew Wiggins got an open three in transition because Curry ran towards the basket, which drew the entire defense of the Clippers.

Also, the kind of performance that Curry had shooting wise in the win at the Lakers, his teammate for a decade, and fellow All-Star Draymond Green said after the game that he was going to come out “firing” the next game.

“Definitely impressed. But not surprised at all,” Green, 2017 Kia Defensive Player of the Year said about Curry’s performance versus the Clippers. “It was incredible to see and obviously, you know, enjoy playing with the guy because he’s [bleep] incredible.”  

It also helps that Curry has developed through repetition during the off-season and in practice of shooting long range threes from half court, off-balance and off the dribble.

Most Made 30-Foot Three-Pointers Last Six NBA Seasons (Second Spectrum)
Damian Lillard (POR): 136
Trae Young (ATL): 126
Stephen Curry (GSW): 69
LeBron James (LAL): 28

As Green pointed out in his postgame presser, some of the threes he has seen Curry take that can make you scratch your head and say, “What the hell?” Green expects those 9-1-1 attempts Curry takes to go in and a majority of them he has seen go in that would give the Warriors moment and break the spirit of the opponent.

“Some of them like, ‘Jesus Christ, What the hell?’ And a majority of them—even though some of the ones I’m like, ‘What the Hell?’ Still kind of thinking it’s money, it’s just like why in the hell did he just shoot that shot?” Green said about Curry’s unconsciousness to shoot long threes. “But I expect all of them to go in, regardless how ridiculous some of them are that he decides to take. Still expect them to go in because he makes those ridiculous ass shots and that’s what he has done over the course of his career.”

Curry’s performance is how he won his 17^th Western Conference Player of the Week for Oct. 19-23 with averages of 31.0 points, seven assists, nine rebounds and, 2.3 steals in helping the Warriors to a 3-0 mark. Those 17 times Curry has won Western Conference Player of the Week are the most in Warriors history.

This week was just another example of why Curry was voted as one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history with his 45-point performance in Warriors home opening win versus the Clippers. How preparation and practice mixed in with cohesion with his teammates and head coach Steve Kerr, coupled with the willingness of his teammates in Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, and Andre Iguodala, and new additions in Otto Porter, Jr. and Nemanja Bjelica is how Curry and the team can thrive.

Coupled that with the eventual return of fellow “Splash Brother” Klay Thompson to this lineup and the return of No. 2 overall pick from 2020 draft in center James Wiseman, there is real optimism for how special the Warriors can be this season after missing the playoffs the last two seasons after making it to The Finals the previous five seasons, winning titles in 2015, 2017, and 2018.

Carmelo Anthony Moves Into Top 10 All-Time Scoring List

There was a time three seasons back that the career of Carmelo Anthony was over after things did not work out for him with the Houston Rockets after just 10 games. He got a second chance with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2019-20 and revived his career and is this off-season signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, teaming up with fellow future Hall of Famer and perennial All-Star LeBron James in hopes of winning a title. At the start of this week, Anthony moved the up charts of the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

In the Lakers’ (2-3) 121-118 win versus the Memphis Grizzlies (3-2) on Sunday night, Anthony led the Lakers with 28 points on 10/15 shooting, including 6/8 from three-point range as he passed the late Hall of Famer Moses Malone (27,409) on the league’s all-time scoring list now at 27,440 and counting.

NBA’s All-Time Leading Scorers 1-10
1) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 38,387 points
2) Karl Malone, 36,928 points
3) LeBron James (LAL): 35,445 points and counting
4) Kobe Bryant: 33,643 points
5) Michael Jordan: 32,292 points
6) Dirk Nowitzki: 31,560 points
7) Wilt Chamberlin: 31,419 points
8) Shaquille O’Neal: 28,596 points
9) Carmelo Anthony (LAL): 27,423 points and counting
10) Moses Malone: 27,409 points.

“It’s an honor. It’s a blessing,” Anthony, a 10-time All-Star selection in his 19^th NBA season told Spectrum Sportsnet’s Mike Trudell postgame about moving up to No. 9 on the all-time scoring list. “I’m still doing it 19 years in man. I’m still passionate about the game. I’m still passionate about my craft. My teammates, they uplift me every single day.”

Prior to joining the Lakers and the Trail Blazers previous to that the prior two seasons, Anthony in his three previous stops with the aforementioned Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017-18 and the New York Knicks the previous 6.5 seasons (2011-17), Anthony had developed a reputation of being someone that considered himself a star player and not someone who could be a role player.

As a result, he only lasted one season with the Thunder after traded there in the off-season of 2017 by the Knicks as his pairing with fellow perennial All-Stars in Russell Westbrook, now a teammate of Anthony’s with the Lakers and Paul George, now with the Clippers.

Joining the Rockets in 2018-19, the thought was he could play his role in teaming up alongside James Harden, now with the Nets and Chris Paul, now with the Phoenix Suns. That experiment failed 10 games into that season as then General Manager Daryl Morey, now with the Philadelphia 76ers said that the “fit” they had envisioned with Anthony was not materializing.

The Rockets in January 2019 eventually traded Anthony to the Bulls, who waived him at the start of February, 2019.

In Nov. 19, 2019 Anthony signed a one-year, non-guarantee deal with the Trail Blazers after an absence of one year and 11 days from his last game with the Rockets on Nov. 8, 2018. He would spend the next two seasons in “Rip City” reviving his career where he developed into a spot-up three-point shooter.

This off-season as mentioned, Anthony joined the Lakers, teaming up with his longtime friend and peer from the 2003 NBA Draft in LeBron James, where they went No. 1 and No. 3 to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets respectably.

Considering where Anthony grew up in Baltimore, MD where he said just like the title of his memoir that he wrote with D. Watkins came out this summer “Where Tomorrows Aren’t Promised: A Memoir of Survival and Hope,” if there was anyone that was going to figure out how to end their NBA career on their terms is Anthony.

“The grind is worth it. The journey is worth it. I’m from where tomorrows aren’t promised. So, you know, I got to enjoy every moment,” Anthony said to Trudell reflecting on his NBA journey.

More than anything, Anthony is in a position where he is on a team where his offensive production is necessary because the Lakers are without key contributors due to injury in Trevor Ariza and Kendrick Nunn, who along with Anthony were signed in the off-season.  

They are also now without James due to a right ankle sprain and fellow perennial All-Star Anthony Davis is dealing with a knee issue.

After a season where the Lakers dealt with injuries to James and Davis that wrecked their chances of repeating as NBA champions a season ago, they priority this off-season was to add depth to their roster, which they did with the addition of Anthony, Ariza, Nunn, 2017 Kia MVP and fellow perennial All-Star Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, Wayne Ellington, Deandre Jordan, Dwight Howard, and Malik Monk.

On Sunday night, Carmelo moved up the NBA’s all-time scoring ranks passing the late Moses Malone to No. 9 spot and helped the Lakers to a win over the Grizzlies as they are still in the initial stages of journey that ends with them winning the franchise’s 18^th title.

The next person Anthony will try to catch on the league's all-time scoring list is Hall of Famer, four-time NBA champion and current NBA on TNT/NBATV studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal (28,596). That will require Anthony to score 1,174 total points, equating to a scoring average of nearly 15 points the rest of this season. Whether he catches him remains to be seen. But for Anthony, his focus is trying to earn the one thing missing from his career resume and that is a championship ring. At the same time, he is also happy to still be playing in the league at a high level and hopefully competing for a title.

“I’m just happy to be hear, man. It’s third game. So, you know, hopefully there’s many more to come,” he said on Sunday night. 

Milestones For Nets

In a season that will be judged on if they win a title or not, or at least reach The 2022 Finals this June, a future Hall of Famers and one borderline Hall of Famer reached some significant milestones in the NBA’s first week of action.

Perennial All-Star guard and 2018 Kia MVP James Harden in the Nets (3-3) 114-109 win on Friday night on ESPN passed former 76ers; sharpshooter Kyle Korver to claim the No. 4 spot on the league’s all-time three-pointers made list.

Harden, who had 20 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and two steals in the victory his second of three triples on the night marked the 2,451^st of his career and now trails Hall of Famer Reggie Miller by 109 triples for the No. 3 spot. He is 391 triples behind the Warriors Stephen Curry for the No. 2 spot on the list and 522 threes from the all-time leader in fellow Hall of Famer Ray Allen.

All-Time Leaders In Made Three-Pointers In NBA History
1) Ray Allen: 2,973 made threes
2) Stephen Curry (GSW): 2,842 made threes and counting
3) Reggie Miller: 2,560 made threes
4) James Harden (BKN): 2,451 made threes
5) Kyle Korver: 2,450 made threes
6) Vince Carter: 2,290 made threes
7) Jason Terry: 2,282 made threes
8) Jamal Crawford: 2,221 made threes
9) Paul Pierce: 2,143 made threes
10) Damian Lillard (POR): 2,051 made threes and counting 

In the Nets 105-98 victory versus the Pacers on Oct. 29, fellow perennial All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, who scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half, reached the 20,000 points for his career. The former Portland Trail Blazer and San Antonio Spur became the 48^th player in NBA history and only the seventh active player to score 20,000 career points.

“He has scorer’s instincts,” 2014 Kia MVP and two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant, who had 22 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists in the win versus the Pacers said after the game. “(It’s a) huge accomplishment… (A) huge milestone.”

What makes this milestone even more significant for Aldridge, who is in his 16^th NBA season was he signed with the Nets in late March last season after reaching a buyout agreement of his contract with the Spurs. But in the middle of April retired suddenly citing concerns from an irregular heartbeat.

After receiving medical clearance in early September to return to playing pro basketball, Aldridge re-signed with the Nets and hopes to play a big role in their quest for a championship whether perennial All-Star guard and NBA champion Kyrie Irving, who is out right now because he has yet to get the COVID-19 vaccine.   

New Play-By-Play Announcers For Bucks and 76ers

Last season brought to a conclusion of two magnificent play-by-play careers for two legendary NBA local television play-by-play announcers that lasted for over three and four decades respectably. They were the voices that brought the ups, downs, joys, and sorrows for the boys from the “Deer District” and “City of Brotherly Love.” The predecessors that replaced these two legends are two familiar faces to the broadcast sports scene, especially to the NBA that made history when they took the microphone at the start of this season.

After 35 seasons of Jim Paschke as the play-by-play television voice of the now defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks, their new television voice is Lisa Byington, who is making history as the first full-time female television play-by-play announcer for a men’s major pro sports team.

Byington, who was the play-by-play announcer for the now WNBA champion Chicago Sky for the 2021 season will work Bucks games alongside color analysts in former Bucks Marques Johnson and Steve Novak and sideline reporter Zora Stephenson.

“I’m absolutely thrilled for this opportunity, and the ability to work with a first-class franchise and a championship organization like the Milwaukee Bucks,” Byington said back in the middle of September. “My sincerest appreciation and thanks go out to so many, but, in particular, Bucks President Peter Feign and Bally Sports Wisconsin Executive Producer Tony Tortorici for making this such a smooth process from start to finish.”

“I know that I will be stepping into the role long-held by Jim Paschke, and I appreciate his passion for the team and the memorable moments his voice will always be a part of.”

Following 39 years covering Philadelphia 76ers basketball on television first as the halftime host and the last 27 years as the television voice, Marc Zumoff this off-season announced his retirement. The 76ers announced in late September that California native and play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports coverage of Copa America and Concacaf Gold Cup Kate Scott would be the new television voice of the 76ers.

Scott is the first woman to ever call games for a pro sports squad in Philadelphia and joins Byington as the second woman to be an NBA squad’s full-time play-by-play announcer. She will work 76ers broadcasts for NBC Sports Philadelphia with Alaa Abdelnaby.

“Being the voice of the 76ers is a dream come true,” Scott said back in late September. “As a kid playing hoops in my driveway, I actually used to imagine I was Allen Iverson; the clock would wind down in my head, people would scream, ‘You’re too small! You don’t belong!’ But I’d fade away, hit the shot, and the crowd in my mind would go wild.”

“To now get the opportunity to be the voice of that team is incredible, and I look forward to earning the respect and trust of the phenomenal city of Philadelphia, and 76ers fans everywhere, one call and one game at a time.”

While Byington, native or Portage, MI and Scott will be new to the basketball scene in the eyes of many Bucks and 76ers fans respectably, these are familiar voices to the pro and collegiate sports scene, who have broken the glass ceiling in their own respects in the sports broadcast field.

Back in March, Byington became the first female play-by-play announcer to work the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament calling the opening-round for CBS and Turner Sports (TNT & TBS) and in the past worked as a sideline reporter for NCAA Men’s Tournament for CBS and Turner Sports.

She also was the first female play-by-play announcer for college football calling games for the Big Ten Network More recently, she called men’s and women’s soccer during the 2020 Olympic Games this past summer in Tokyo and was also the play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports coverage of the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

Byington throughout her broadcasting career, which began at two local television stations in Michigan before moving to the aforementioned FOX Sports and the Big Ten Network has had roles both as a play-by-play announcer and sideline reporter also with for FOX Sports 1, the Pac-12 Network, ESPN, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Network and NBATV during their coverage of Summer League.

“We’re thrilled to add Lisa to Bally Sports Wisconsin team,” Executive Producer of Bally Sports Wisconsin Tony Tortorici said in the middle of September. “Through her work on college basketball and the many other sports she’s covered, Lisa is ready for this opportunity.”   

Scott has broken her own glass ceilings in sports broadcasting as well being the first woman to call an NFL game on radio. She was the first woman to call a broadcast for the four-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors as well as the first woman to call college football games for the Pac-12 Network.

Scott did play-by-play for the first all-female broadcast crew to work an NHL game when the St. Louis Blues took on the Chicago Blackhawks on NBC Sports on Mar. 8. Joining Scott for the color analysis was Olympic gold medalists AJ Mleczko and Kendall Coyne Schofield, with Kathryn Tappen and Jennifer Botterill anchoring in-studio coverage. In the production truck was producer Rene Hatlelid and director Lisa Seltzer, who came out of retirement just for this historic moment.

That game along with NHL tilt between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Calgary Flames for Sportsnet also had an all-female broadcast crew in honor of International Women’s Day.

“There’s only one of two reasons I would ever come out of retirement,” Seltzer told the NHL. “One is to give back to the industry in terms of women and help mentor for the next generation to come along.”

This moment that became a reality was pitched to NBC executives by producer for the network Kaitlin Urka last year during the Stanley Cup Playoffs when Mleczko’s daughter visited a production truck during a game and she told CNN that instead of her daughter being in awe by the experience, she instead asked. “Mom, where are all the women?”

They had stepped into a production truck that did not have any women working that NHL telecast and Urka began to think how can more talented women that do exist to become more visible?

That led to Urka and her team putting together the historic broadcast that became a reality following what took place in Canada on International Women’s Day two days earlier.

Urka called the moment of seeing all women at the controls for that NHL broadcast, “awesome.”

“Honestly, there was nothing like it that I’ve ever been a part of,” Urka added. “There was a buzz in the truck all day long. I think people knew that they were a part of something bigger than just the game.”

For Byington and Scott, there moment of becoming the play-by-play commentators for the Bucks and 76ers respectably comes four years after the Brooklyn Nets promoted sideline reporter Sarah Kustok became the third color analysts for a regional television broadcast, joining Hall of Famer Ann Meyers Drysdale, who shares color commentary duties with the Phoenix Suns with former Suns player Eddie Johnson alongside play-by-play man Kevin Ray. Two seasons back, Stephanie Ready, who now sideline reporter for the NBA on TNT as well as studio host for NBATV became the first full-time local NBA color analyst for the Charlotte Hornets, which she did for three seasons before moving on to work for Turner Sports.

Ready and Kustok glass ceiling moments are on the shoulders of the longtime ESPN color analyst Doris Burke, who has done both roles as a sideline reporter and color analyst for college basketball and NBA hoops since 2013 and in 2017 became the first woman at the national level to earn a full regular-season role as an NBA color analyst.

Prior to Burke, Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller, the older sibling of fellow Hall of Famer and longtime NBA on TNT color analyst Reggie Miller became the first female to serve as a color analyst for a national television NBA broadcast when she was on the call for the NBA on TBS’ broadcast of the Miami Heat at the Los Angeles Clippers.

“Finally, I understand the groundbreaking nature of this hire, and I appreciate the fact that during this process that aspect was addressed, but never made a primary focus,” Byington said of her hiring based on her credentials and not her gender. “In fact, I applaud the Bucks for taking the first step towards making hires like this more of the norm in the NBA. Because it’s time.”

The 76ers thought it was their time as well replacing Zumoff, 65 with Scott, who 76ers President of Business Operations Chris Heck said that Scott’s “energy, passion, and tremendous knowledge” of the basketball made her the “ideal” person to usher in a new era of 76ers hoops on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

“We’re thrilled that she’ll call our city home and look forward to the lasting connections and memories she’ll make with the best fans in sports,” Heck added. “Kate and Alaa are a dynamic broadcast pairing that 76ers fans will enjoy watching on the call this season and beyond.”

There was a time when you saw women at NBA games that they were the cheerleaders and dancers. Over the last 25 years, we have seen women go from occasional analysts calling games to now they are full-time parts of sports broadcast not just as color analyst, but now working on the production side as directors and producers and now in the case Lisa Byington and Kate Scott as the new leading voices for the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Byington and Scott’s rise to where they are now is because of their work ethic and how they saw themselves being in the positions they are because of how the women who broke the glass ceilings in broadcasting before them in Doris Burke, Ann Meyers Drysdale, and Cheryl Miller made their own distinct names themselves and in their own way passed on that knowledge to the next generation of women sports broadcasters.

Hopefully, there will come a day as Byington said that this will be the norm and not just an occasional occurrence.

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/1975/carmelo-anthony; https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameid/recap/401358774; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3975/stephen-curry;  https://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameid=401359896; https://www.espn.com/nba/history/leaders; https://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameid=401358779; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Ready; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaMarcus_Aldridge; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Burke; 11/26/1996 www.washingtonpost.com story, “Cheryl Miller Takes Shot On NBA Game Broadcast;” 8/27/2015 www.sports.yahoo.com story, “Stephanie Ready Will Become The NBA’s First Full-Time Female Local TV Commentator,” By Kelly Dwyer; 9/19/2017 www.sports.yahoo.com story, “Sarah Kustok Promoted To Brooklyn Nets Color Analyst, Breaking An NBA Barrier,” By Ben Rohrbach; 3/10/2020 www.cnn.com story, “NHL Broadcasts Make History By Featuring All-Female Crews For International Women’s Day 9/15/2021 www.nba.com story, “Milwaukee Bucks Name Lisa Byington As Television Play-By-Play Announcer,” By Nick Monroe; and 9/23/2021 www.phillvoice.com story, “Kate Scott To Become Sixers’ New Play-By-Play Announcer On TV Broadcasts,” by Michael Tanenbaum; 10/23/2021 www.nba.com story, “Nets Guard James Harden Claims 4^th On Career 3s List;” and 10/25/2021 www.nba.com, “Week 1 Rewind: 10 NBA Things To Know From Past 7 Days, By Brian Martin.