The year of LeBron James?
If you were to choose the brightest star in basketball in the world in 2023, it would be difficult to name any other name than LeBron James.
Starting in February, “the king” officially climbed to the throne when he conquered one of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s most difficult records to break, becoming the player with the most points of all time .
A few months later, James and the Los Angeles Lakers shocked the team by conquering a series of opponents in the Western NBA, including the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies. They only stopped before the team that later won the championship, the Denver Nuggets.
After the season, LeBron briefly thought about retiring, but this did not last long as he entered the 21st season of his career with the goal of revenge.
The Lakers’ 2023-24 season journey had many thorns, but LeBron James and his teammates reaped the first sweet fruit by winning the NBA In-Season Tournament championship, lifting the trophy of the tournament for the first time. position in history.
2023 can be called the year of LeBron James and it has come to an end. But no one will dare to say that next year he will “shine” less or create less resonance because it feels like every time the 39-year-old “king” takes the field, he will almost make something historic.
The descendant of LeBron James – Victor Wembanyama appears
If 2023 belongs to LeBron James, the future of the NBA will likely be filled with the image of the “French unicorn”. A big man with a height of up to 2m24 but has an extremely diverse playing style and is compared to King James, that’s Victor Wembanyama.
More than a year before setting foot in the NBA, “Wemby” left an impression on world basketball fans with a friendly match with the G-League Ignite team. “The French unicorn” then immediately stood up. at the top of the test draft list of many reputable websites, predicting that 99% will be selected in the first round.
When the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA Draft Lottery event in May, many fans smiled when they saw veteran coach Gregg Popovich once again have the opportunity to turn Wembanayama into an outstanding talent.
Since setting foot in the NBA, Victor Wembanyama has created a fever everywhere he appears. Even the Summer League was sold out with a huge number of fans wanting to see this young European talent play.
Now, he is one of the most watchable rookies in the NBA, competing directly and attractively with Chet Holgren for the Rookie of The Year title.
The historic championship for the Denver Nuggets and the throne belongs to “The Joker”
Already having 2 MVP titles and 5 All-Star appearances, “The Joker” Nikola Jokić has another bright spot in his collection of achievements, which is the NBA championship ring that comes with the Finals MVP title.
The quintessence of Nikola Jokic’s playing style and playing style has been shown over the past year, especially in the journey to bring the Denver Nuggets to the championship.
“The Joker”‘s smart mind and extremely high basketball IQ have always put his teammates in an advantageous position. Along with that, his body shape and physical foundation made everyone surprised to help Nikola Jokic stand up. steadfast in the face of all challenges.
Even in Game 5 of the NBA Finals when the Serbian big man had a problem with a personal error, he still calmly steered the ship through each challenge, defeating his opponents, a stubborn Miami Heat team that never gave up. give up.
The performance of 28 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists while being foul-trouble to lead the Nuggets to a 94-89 victory was a beautiful ending for Nikola Jokic, NBA champion, Finals MVP title holder and worthy player. The best basketball player in the world in 2023.
What’s interesting is that behind the huge body of the best basketball player at the moment is an extremely gentle personality and sometimes even entertains fans.
Jokic’s comments after winning the championship such as “I’m so happy, let’s go home” or wanting to go back to Serbia to watch horse racing can still make fans smile.
