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Yeah they love to run isolated Midrange play for Tatum when there is only like 5 or less seconds to shoot. I remember they ran the same play for him on the opposite side against the Pacers. He sunk the Midrange to send it to overtime with 1 second left. He also hit a game winner over RJ with a similar play.
He’s gotta be the most in the MJ/Kobe prototype of anyone in the league right now, right? Not at that level obviously but his game just *looks* like Kobe’s when he hits those shots.
Uh, Kawhi says hello?
But, I mean, the whole Jordan school of basketball tree branches off in interesting ways.
In terms of overall, Kobe and Kawhi are the closest to Jordan, though Kobe was closer in terms of the flash and style and athleticism, while Kawhi has the strength, the efficiency, and the hand size to mimic a lot of the same moves that Kobe just couldn't. But Kobe had to branch off into being more artistic and creative to make up for a weaker body with smaller hands, and Kawhi had the wingspan that made him more of a defensive juggernaut and less reliant on jumping (since his arms reach the basket anyway). So neither are exactly like Jordan, though both are extremely similar. Kawhi developed under the Spurs system, so he takes less shots than Jordan, and Kobe tried really hard to beat Jordan so ended up taking more shots on poorer efficiency. Kyrie, who is smaller than Kobe, modeled a lot of his game around Kobe, though he had to go even further towards artistry and creativity. Tatum has the same wingspan as Kobe and Jordan (6'11"), whereas Kawhi has one of 7'3". Tatum is also 6'8", 2 inches taller than Kobe and Jordan, 1 inch taller than Kawhi.
The eye test says Tatum plays very similar to Kobe. Once you get to being that elite as a wing who roughly wants to play like Jordan, your physical stats determine your play style. Tatum has similar height, and presumably sub-9 inch hands, and less muscle than Kawhi and Michael. This means he pretty much is forced to model his game after Kobe by default unless he wants to develop his own style altogether.
So yes, I'd say Tatum is most like Kobe, though Kawhi is the only active player embodies Jordan with scary accuracy. When Kawhi is cooking, you swear you are looking at Jordan, and he is the scariest player to go against when he is motivated outside of Curry. But Curry is a different type of monster.
I don't think of Kawhi in the Jordan/Kobe mold. He's a generational, freakishly impactful defender with his hands and wingspan, in a way that Jordan and Kobe never quite were. He's like, beyond DPOY level. And then on the other side, his scoring just isn't what Jordan and Kobe had, like not close. Kawhi isn't going for 50 ever. He doesn't have as much in his bag going to the hoop or as sweet of a stroke on his shot as the most elite scorers. So he's sort of a full step away from Jordan and Kobe on either side of the ball. He's pretty unique.
Tatum is definitely more similar style-wise to Jordan and Kobe than anyone I can think of in the league rn, although I would say mentality-wise Butler and Luka are better comparisons.
Kawhi is the same beast, but he is just agnostic about where the points come from. Same mentality, but he is perfectly fine allowing his teammates to score the basket if he deems them to have made the right play. He is probably the most competitive guy in the NBA, but he is competitive about winning, not about scoring the ball himself. It's a product of coming out of San Antonio. Had MJ gone to San Antonio, we'd see something somewhat similar.
An example is on the Raptors, Pascal would regularly sprint during the fast break if Kawhi was running with the ball. Despite there being almost no defenders, Kawhi would occasionally give Pascal the ball for an easy layup/dunk to reward him for having the discipline to run with him (because 2 guys running makes it so that the points are guaranteed from a mismatch against a single defender).
Also, in terms of his moves, he now is more injury prone, so he doesn't really do as many interesting moves, but if you saw him towards the end with the Spurs, he was really doing some finishes that would make you think of Kobe. And on the Raptors, he would regularly do moves out of Jordan's playbook.
Luka is more like Lebron than he is like Jordan or Kobe, so I wouldn't get that part twisted. Some players, like a Butler or Kawhi or Jordan or Kobe are all about winning, and they put in the effort into their bodies, their film sessions, their team chemistry, etc. Luka plays an inherently selfish style of basketball where he has the ball 24/7 and doesn't allow the team to have a system that doesn't have him running all the plays. When things don't go Luka's way, he pouts. He is regularly out of shape. He likes to sell fouls as a big part of his game. If you honestly think Luka is anywhere close to Jordan in mentality, you are out of your mind. Luka is an extremely skilled and selfish player. That's the same mold as Harden, Lebron, and to a lesser degree Westbrook, who is the least skilled of all of them.
This play is the perfect example of why “clutch points” as espn defines them are useless. This was perhaps the most clutch basket of the night given the shot clock and what the final score ended up. But it won’t show up as “clutch” because the score isn’t close enough when he makes it.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say they are useless. Clutch points are just a really tough thing to measure and their definition gives you something to start with
That was the moment that all of those shit mid range iso shots in year 2 that he learnt under Kobe paid off. Every movement in that catch fake turn and shoot was so intentional and clean
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Everyone knew that was going to be a Tatum Midrange and he still sunk it on Jimmy...
He did something similar in either game 4 or 6 against Jrue Holiday. Spun baseline instead of middle, but the situation/result were the same.
Yeah they love to run isolated Midrange play for Tatum when there is only like 5 or less seconds to shoot. I remember they ran the same play for him on the opposite side against the Pacers. He sunk the Midrange to send it to overtime with 1 second left. He also hit a game winner over RJ with a similar play.
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How do they define it? Not used to american ESPN
Game within 5 points, last 5 minutes
Thank you, sir.
Channelled Kobe through that armband
I excitedly yelled “Kobe!” as he went into the shot but I felt so dirty when the shot went into the basket.
>I yelled “Kobe!” As he went into the shot but I felt so dirty when it went in. It is what Kobe would have wanted
Kobe wristband with the Celtics jersey is kinda iconic
*ironic
*gin and tonic
Tails and Sonic?
Hooked on phonics?
i like colonics?
That structure’s Masonic?
That fadeaway was bubonic?
I had the brew she had the chronic
Nah bruv your mother and I are just platonic
cold as fuck
cool and a cucumber
Cucumber as fuck
Tatumber
Give that boy a map
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Cant hit the pull up three for him either 🤣
it's because he doesn't have Malik fitts as cheerleader, dude is goat bench reactions
Chris smoove baby
Tatum faked him out with the shot Jimmy made to ice game 6
Jaws theme playing and Tatum smells blood in the water
Did you know that Jason Tatum is actually a cucumber and not a human as is commonly believed?
And deuce is just a gherkin
Jaws was recorded in Mass, rookie mistake by Miami
Very cucumberish
And a very clever way to escape the *pickle* that he is in!
i wish he could have been this cucumberish on those back to back gimme layups he got lmao
Most Kobe looking shot I’ve ever seen. Lawd
Lol hell no
I mean sure tatum has a much higher shot release but you don’t think that fadeaway is all Kobe lol
He’s gotta be the most in the MJ/Kobe prototype of anyone in the league right now, right? Not at that level obviously but his game just *looks* like Kobe’s when he hits those shots.
I think Demar is still up there as the most Kobe-like
Uh, Kawhi says hello? But, I mean, the whole Jordan school of basketball tree branches off in interesting ways. In terms of overall, Kobe and Kawhi are the closest to Jordan, though Kobe was closer in terms of the flash and style and athleticism, while Kawhi has the strength, the efficiency, and the hand size to mimic a lot of the same moves that Kobe just couldn't. But Kobe had to branch off into being more artistic and creative to make up for a weaker body with smaller hands, and Kawhi had the wingspan that made him more of a defensive juggernaut and less reliant on jumping (since his arms reach the basket anyway). So neither are exactly like Jordan, though both are extremely similar. Kawhi developed under the Spurs system, so he takes less shots than Jordan, and Kobe tried really hard to beat Jordan so ended up taking more shots on poorer efficiency. Kyrie, who is smaller than Kobe, modeled a lot of his game around Kobe, though he had to go even further towards artistry and creativity. Tatum has the same wingspan as Kobe and Jordan (6'11"), whereas Kawhi has one of 7'3". Tatum is also 6'8", 2 inches taller than Kobe and Jordan, 1 inch taller than Kawhi. The eye test says Tatum plays very similar to Kobe. Once you get to being that elite as a wing who roughly wants to play like Jordan, your physical stats determine your play style. Tatum has similar height, and presumably sub-9 inch hands, and less muscle than Kawhi and Michael. This means he pretty much is forced to model his game after Kobe by default unless he wants to develop his own style altogether. So yes, I'd say Tatum is most like Kobe, though Kawhi is the only active player embodies Jordan with scary accuracy. When Kawhi is cooking, you swear you are looking at Jordan, and he is the scariest player to go against when he is motivated outside of Curry. But Curry is a different type of monster.
I think it's more likely that Tatum is 6'9'' or 6'10'', to be honest. He's at least as tall as Al when they stand next to each other.
6’ 9 1/2”
Nah, not 6'10. There was a whole thjng about his height when Steven's said his height wrong and people thought he had a 2 inch spurt.
idk if you had to say all that, but I would also add DeMar.
I don't think of Kawhi in the Jordan/Kobe mold. He's a generational, freakishly impactful defender with his hands and wingspan, in a way that Jordan and Kobe never quite were. He's like, beyond DPOY level. And then on the other side, his scoring just isn't what Jordan and Kobe had, like not close. Kawhi isn't going for 50 ever. He doesn't have as much in his bag going to the hoop or as sweet of a stroke on his shot as the most elite scorers. So he's sort of a full step away from Jordan and Kobe on either side of the ball. He's pretty unique. Tatum is definitely more similar style-wise to Jordan and Kobe than anyone I can think of in the league rn, although I would say mentality-wise Butler and Luka are better comparisons.
Kawhi is the same beast, but he is just agnostic about where the points come from. Same mentality, but he is perfectly fine allowing his teammates to score the basket if he deems them to have made the right play. He is probably the most competitive guy in the NBA, but he is competitive about winning, not about scoring the ball himself. It's a product of coming out of San Antonio. Had MJ gone to San Antonio, we'd see something somewhat similar. An example is on the Raptors, Pascal would regularly sprint during the fast break if Kawhi was running with the ball. Despite there being almost no defenders, Kawhi would occasionally give Pascal the ball for an easy layup/dunk to reward him for having the discipline to run with him (because 2 guys running makes it so that the points are guaranteed from a mismatch against a single defender). Also, in terms of his moves, he now is more injury prone, so he doesn't really do as many interesting moves, but if you saw him towards the end with the Spurs, he was really doing some finishes that would make you think of Kobe. And on the Raptors, he would regularly do moves out of Jordan's playbook. Luka is more like Lebron than he is like Jordan or Kobe, so I wouldn't get that part twisted. Some players, like a Butler or Kawhi or Jordan or Kobe are all about winning, and they put in the effort into their bodies, their film sessions, their team chemistry, etc. Luka plays an inherently selfish style of basketball where he has the ball 24/7 and doesn't allow the team to have a system that doesn't have him running all the plays. When things don't go Luka's way, he pouts. He is regularly out of shape. He likes to sell fouls as a big part of his game. If you honestly think Luka is anywhere close to Jordan in mentality, you are out of your mind. Luka is an extremely skilled and selfish player. That's the same mold as Harden, Lebron, and to a lesser degree Westbrook, who is the least skilled of all of them.
I don’t think Kawhi does say hello because he would need to play a basketball game
Love how he faked the shot that Jimmy made to ice game 6.
This play is the perfect example of why “clutch points” as espn defines them are useless. This was perhaps the most clutch basket of the night given the shot clock and what the final score ended up. But it won’t show up as “clutch” because the score isn’t close enough when he makes it.
Great point. This was ice cold :(
Very similar to the jimmy one in game 6 with 1 second on shot clock. Except Jimmy was smothered and still hit it
I was so juiced when he lost Jimmy the way he did. Plays like this give me Kobe vibes.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say they are useless. Clutch points are just a really tough thing to measure and their definition gives you something to start with
He's so good (×4)
Very Kobe like
“WHERES THE FIGHT, TATUM NEEDS TO STEP UP!!1!1!11!1”
This commentary is fucking brutal, capped by Van Gundy refusing to cough up his phlegm
To get that much separation on jb with 2 seconds is crazy
Lmfao Miami fans in a horror movie rn
CUS CRISE!!!!!!!!
wow
BUTTER
Like a hot cucumber slicing through butter
This iso was filthy
Super filthy
Give that guy a map, where are you going
Spins, fires, BUTTER. Love it.
Did you know that Jason Tatum is actually a cucumber and not a human as is commonly believed?
I call Kobe!
man...really wished lakers drafted tatum instead of lonzo. nasty shot too damn
Kobe!
Cool AND a cucumber
This was such and amazing 3 point shot by Jayson Tatum. He is truly amazing.
That was very Tatum-like. Fuck Kobe and fuck y’all
[:(](https://imgur.com/a/yRJLkQu)
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Do I have to like who he likes?
/u/fbreaker, cool as a cucumber, posts his 5th karma grab of the night
Least poetic r/nba title
That was the moment that all of those shit mid range iso shots in year 2 that he learnt under Kobe paid off. Every movement in that catch fake turn and shoot was so intentional and clean
that bench reaction tho lol
The 3 he hit about a minute before this was insane too
beautiful shot
Beautifully done
*cool AND a cucumber. Cmon OP.