KD and the Position-less Basketball Revolution

(Collective) Sport eras come and go. Throughout the years, we see new teams: some are systemically similar (1), some improve upon past experiences, others mix tactics or utilize players differently. Talented coaches tend to get the best out of their players. The best coaches are the ones that solve in-game problems and propose new alternatives to different/adverse situations (2), but very rarely do we actually get to see something new.

Eventually though, the game evolves. New rules - both literal and environmental (3) - dictate new orders. Sometime, players with unique skill set (4) change the systemic landscape. When those conditions are met, once every generation, something truly unique emerges. Something that hasn’t been done before, that couldn’t have been done before under the established orthodoxies. Adding Kevin Durant to their team, though an imperfect decision in terms of basketball moral, makes the warriors absolutely fascinating in basketball form. Most importantly, it gives them an opportunity to represent an unique generational shift in paradigm.

In (European) football, those generational changes are more apparent and less disputed. Rinus Michels’ total football quite literally modernized the game. Much of the basic foundation of the game today are due to his philosophy. Thirty years later, Pep Guardiola pushed the envelope of Cruyffism even further with progressive tactics (5), effective use of high press, and by optimizing Messi’s performance with the false 9 positions. Ironically, KD’s fit within the Warriors position-less system looks awfully similar to Guardiola’s constant tactical switches and innovative uses of the false 9, false 10 and pseudo false 6.

My friend Cramsci made a compelling case for Kevin Durant to the warriors. His frienemies Dorly and Reimsky argued the legacy card and fairly questioned the consequences for the league’s competitive parity. My big brother Dan eloquently argued a neutral case from a basketball fan perspective. I personally am not particularly interested in talking about the moral aspect of the decision. Legacies aren’t decided today, but ten years from now. Winning helps alleviate the initial outrage. I subscribe to the libertarian argument of being able to make a decision without being judged. Golden State put itself in a situation to be able to get KD by drafting well and making excellent decisions in the last 8 years.

It is objectively weird that Durant left the team that would’ve been the favorites next year but my guess is that style and playing philosophy determined his ultimate decision. Royce Young excellent chronicle of this decision confirmed my doubts.This is where most people, including Reimsky and Dorly, are missing the point. What we will see next year might be the best collective display of basketball we’ve ever seen. As Dan notes in his piece, even as a basic spot up shooter à-la-Harrison-Barnes, Durant would probably average 20 a game. In the 2017 Warrior’s offense, there will be new schemes exploiting his ability on the post and his length instantly improves their defense and their rebounding.

My basketball mind is salivating at the possibility of seeing multiple KD/Curry pick-and-roll. Durant’s presence will create so much more space for everyone else that the Warrior’s 3 point shooting, already historically great, will get better. It also help that Curry and Klay are the best NBA players off the ball last time I checked. KD is also one the 10 best shooters in the league behind the arc if you adjust for volume and accuracy. He might possibly be the best player on this team.

Of course, there should be questions about the bench. I’ve always preferred a Spurs-like deep rotation as opposed to the superteam + very old ring chasers formula in places like the big-3’s Heat. The good news is that Iggy and Livingston will help provide options and there is high optimism for Damian Jones (he’ll have to start contributing from day 1). It’s also fair to question how Draymond will adjust to being the 4th best player on this team. He will no longer be asked to create his own shot offensively, although his play-making skills will be expanded with KD on the floor. Finally, the death lineup just got upgraded to death star status with really only one question, will we see alterations of the lineup with KD at the five?

Historically superteams are never organic. The Heat started their campaign close to .500 in 2010–2011 and eventually lost to Dallas in the finals. The 04 and 13 Lakers never produced transcendent basketball. The attractive theoretical Lebron/K. Love pick-and-roll never actually became a thing. Injuries could easily derail this master plan and we still do not know what their chemistry will look like on the floor. But let us keep focus on what is ahead of us. We should not let sentimental outrage cloud the fact we are about to see something truly unique.

This is not simply small ball basketball, this will be quite possibly the apotheosis of the positionless basketball revolution. Some teams will attempt imitations that probably won’t work as well and will be similar to Doom-clones video games of the 90s (the Warriors are obviously the Original Doom (6)). Others will try to defend it and develop scheme to counter it (I see you Pop).

The good news for the NBA’s future: sometime we need to see a Doom (1993) to get better refined version down the road say Duke Nukem 3D, Call of Duty or Half-Life. Much like the video game industry and total football, the conventions of small ball will endure forever.

The bad news for today’s NBA: much like Doom is considered to be the best first person shooter of all time, the death star iteration might as well be the best we’ll ever see of this basketball philosophy.

1. For the longest time Brazil’s football national team played a classic 4–4–2. Barcelona is another example of a team that traditionally plays a 4–3–3.
2. Think Popovich with the Spurs or Mourinho with many of his teams in the 2000s.
3. The 3 point line, the re-tinkering of the offside rule, Salary Cap, The Fielding 3 non-local players rule in European football in the 90s.
4. Lebron James, Lionel Messi, Ronaldo Luiz Nazario Da Lima, Xavi Hernandez, Stephen Curry, Rasheed Wallace, Derrick Rose… You get the point.
5. The 4–3–3 turned 3–4–3 depending on phases of the game.
6. The 03–07 Phoenix Suns have to be Wolfenstein 3D.

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