Dime is the premier basketball magazine, covering the NBA, NCAA, High School, Playground and International basketball - as well as sneakers, fashion and music.
Issue link: http://dimemagazine.epubxp.com/i/130678
JAMES HARDEN & THE 5 PLAYERS WHO MADE "THE LEAP" THIS SEASON WORDS. SEAN SWEENEY & ANDREW GREIF PHOTO. SKULLCANDY Every NBA season brings fresh blood and improved players, but only a select few make "The Leap." It's the moment we all dream about as kids – when you go from being just another name to the main attraction. This season, many players have a shot at the Most Improved Player award, but only a few have truly arrived. Only five made "The Leap." A "leap" year in the NBA isn't counted the way a regular calendar defnes it. It happens every season and adds, for the lucky few, superstardom. New scenery or a new coach can fuel the leap. So can a new approach or more maturity. But don't get it twisted. This isn't the league's Most Improved Player award. This is about jumping from one class to another. Leaps can take a player from anonymous to a known commodity (think Jeremy Lin), but the best jump from exemplary to elite (take Kyrie Irving). With less than half a season still to play, count on these fve to continue the seasons of their lives. 5 BROOK LOPEZ In the same season the NBA removed "center" from its All-Star vocabulary, it's ironic Lopez is turning in one of the best seasons at that position in years. When Shaquille O'Neal said before the season he would take Lopez over Dwight Howard, it seemed, frankly, insane. But now Lopez is putting up statistics the likes of which haven't been seen since ... O'Neal did it in 1999-2000. The numbers are 22.9 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per 36 minutes, numbers that got Lopez his frst All-Star selection of his career. Just a year ago he was shooting 10 percent- 65 age points worse, averaged half as many boards and only 1.1 blocks per game. A self-professed super fan of comic books, Lopez isn't Superman quite yet. He still shoots a fairly low percentage (52 percent) and can stand to be more of a presence rebounding. The critique is that he doesn't have the aggressive attitude to ft his massive body, yet he's changing there, too, by using his strength and massive proportions to shoot a career-high 73 percent at the rim and average the league's fourth-best PER. Who's better? Chris Paul, LeBron James and Kevin Durant. We'd take him over anyone down low now, too.