NBA 2016 Review: Looking Back at the Best and Worst of the Year in the NBA
You thought you were all done with 2016, didn't you? The good, the bad, the ugly, the worse-than-bad, the worse-than-worse-than-bad...that was supposed to go the way of the dinosaurs once the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1.
Except, the dinosaurs, while gone, weren't forgotten. Neither can the NBA's 2016 be buried—not yet, anyway.
It was a remarkable year in pro basketball, to say the least.
LeBron James cemented his legacy with the Cleveland Cavaliers' first-ever championship. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett sealed theirs in retirement. Stephen Curry kicked it up a notch, then took a backseat to another MVP in Kevin Durant. Joel Embiid, already a giant on social media, turned out to be an even better basketball player.
Nick Young went from goat to...well, not the GOAT, but a consistent starter for the Los Angeles Lakers.
There's so much more in store for 2017, from Giannis Antetokounmpo's rise to superstardom and something (anything?) big from the Boston Celtics, to showers of threes from the Houston Rockets and part three of the Cavaliers-Golden State Warriors trilogy.
But before we get too wrapped up in the year to come, let's look back at the best and worst in five categories from the year that was.
Best Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
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By pure wins and losses, the Warriors dominated 2016. They won a whopping 87 games during the calendar year (72 in the regular season, 15 in the playoffs), well ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers (77).
But the Cavs came out on top when it counted most, making all sorts of history in the process.
They became the first team in NBA history to battle back from a 3-1 Finals deficit to claim the Larry O'Brien Trophy. In doing so, they quenched Cleveland's thirst for a pro sports championship, ending a drought that had dragged along for 52 years.
The Cavaliers have since shown that their magical run was no fluke. They ran up a 25-6 record during the current campaign before the calendar turned to 2017—the best in the East and just two-and-a-half back of the supercharged Warriors league-wide. Better yet, that mark included a thrilling Christmas Day victory over Golden State, despite Kevin Durant racking up 36 points and 15 rebounds and the Dubs building a 14-point fourth-quarter lead.
As NBA.com's Sekou Smith noted, that game looked a lot like a microcosm of the 2016 Finals:
"The same issues the Cavaliers exposed in the Warriors in June remain all these months later, even with Kevin Durant in the mix. The Cavaliers proved they are mentally strong enough to battle back from whatever fireworks the Warriors throw at them. I know some people are already grumbling about a potential rubber match in June, but not me. If they both find their way back to The Finals, I'll have my popcorn ready for another show from both teams.
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And if the Warriors come ready, perhaps they can keep Cleveland from repeating not only as champions but as the team of the year...assuming there's a difference.
Worst Team: Brooklyn Nets
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Picking out the worst team of 2016 requires a wider lens than what the calendar allows.
On record alone, the Philadelphia 76ers were the pits. They finished 2015-16 as the NBA's worst offensive team, closed out 2016 in that same spot this season and wound up with an abysmal 15-65 mark between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31.
The Brooklyn Nets, though, weren't far behind...or ahead, depending on your perspective. They wound up 19-62 in 2016 and were a bottom-four outfit on both sides of the ball however you slice up the dates.
The Sixers at least have shown some improvement as a team on defense, witnessed the debut of one potential superstar (Joel Embiid) and drafted another (Ben Simmons).
The Nets, on the other hand, were just as terrible and hopeless when the year ended as when it started, if not more so. They conveyed their No. 3 overall pick in 2016 to the Boston Celtics, who spent it on Cal freshman Jaylen Brown.
That embarrassment could go from bad to worse for Brooklyn in the years to come. The Celtics still have swap rights on the Nets' 2017 pick—which could wind up No. 1 based on Brooklyn's league-worst record thus far—and own their 2018 first-rounder outright.
By the time the Nets finally have control of their own top selection in 2019, the Sixers could be well on their way to shifting the East's balance of power toward the City of Brotherly Love. And even if Brooklyn somehow bounces back before then, it'll still likely play second fiddle in the Big Apple to the New York Knicks, especially if Kristaps Porzingis remains on his rocket ride.
Best Player: LeBron James
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Stephen Curry's slippage over the course of 2016, while not entirely unexpected, was no less stark. He crushed the competition from January into April, was up-and-down amid injuries during the playoffs and hasn't been quite the same destroyer of worlds since Durant joined him in Golden State:
| Segment | Minutes | Points | FGA | FG% | 3P% | Rebounds | Assists | Turnovers | Steals |
| 2015-16 | 33.8 | 29.8 | 20.6 | 50.0% | 45.8% | 5.3 | 6.8 | 3.1 | 2.1 |
| Playoffs | 34.1 | 25.1 | 18.8 | 43.8% | 40.4% | 5.5 | 5.2 | 4.2 | 1.4 |
| 2016-17 | 33.2 | 23.9 | 16.7 | 46.6% | 40.3% | 4.2 | 5.9 | 2.7 | 1.7 |
James, by comparison, not only got better in the postseason but played the best ball of his career as the Cavaliers approached the finish line. He closed out the Cavs' thrilling championship run with a triple-double in Game 7 against the Warriors (27 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) and became the first player in league history to lead both teams in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks during a Finals series, per ESPN Stats & Info.
For his follow-up, James commenced the next phase of his career as Cleveland's facilitator-in-chief, albeit while still pacing his squad in scoring:
| Segment | Minutes | Points | FG% | 3P% | FTA | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks |
| 2015-16 | 35.4 | 25.0 | 54.3% | 34.7% | 5.9 | 7.5 | 7.2 | 1.3 | 0.6 |
| Playoffs | 39.1 | 26.3 | 52.5% | 34.0% | 5.9 | 9.5 | 7.6 | 2.3 | 1.3 |
| 2016-17 | 37.1 | 25.6 | 51.1% | 38.4% | 6.9 | 7.9 | 8.7 | 1.4 | 0.6 |
Ultimately, though, James' supremacy boils down to what he did to end more than a half-century of pro sports heartbreak for Cleveland.
“Look at LeBron’s face,” Cavaliers general manager David Griffin told Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins of the photo above. “Look at that joy. I don’t know what he can do that’s bigger than this. I really don’t. It’s like if the best player on this year’s Cubs were from Chicago, or the best player on the 2004 Red Sox were from Boston. He broke the curse at home.”
Worst Player: Kyle Singler
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Perhaps no player stood to benefit more from the Oklahoma City Thunder's tumultuous offseason than Kyle Singler. Without Durant, the Thunder would need the Duke grad's production on the wing to ease Russell Westbrook's Herculean burden.
Instead, Singler saw his role in OKC shrink over the course of 2016:
| Segment | Minutes | Points | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | Rebounds | Assists | Turnovers |
| 2015-16 | 16.3 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 43.3% | 1.5 | 35.4% | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| 2016-17 | 10.5 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 40.0% | 1.1 | 23.8% | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
As the calendar wound to a close, Singler slipped further and further behind starting small forward Andre Roberson on head coach Billy Donovan's depth chart. Spanish rookie Alex Abrines (5.6 points, 35.1 percent from three through the end of 2016) rose up the ranks.
So did Jerami Grant, who was surprisingly effective from three (42.2 percent through the end of 2016) after arriving from Philadelphia while providing the same blend of athleticism and energy he brought to the Sixers.
The Thunder may have to take their lumps with Singler at the end of their bench for the foreseeable future, as his contract is guaranteed through the end of the 2018-19 campaign. Yet, with OKC facing the kick-in of Victor Oladipo's extension and Roberson's restricted free agency after this season, even Singler's relatively modest salary (under $5 million per year) could cramp the team's ability to retool around Westbrook.
Best Moment: LeBron James Blocks Andre Iguodala from Behind
5 of 10Curry's half-court buzzer beater to stun the Thunder? Unbelievable.
Bryant's 60-point career finale? Legendary.
Neither of those came close to deciding the NBA's ultimate prize. Technically, James' chase-down block on Andre Iguodala late in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals didn't either. Had Iguodala gotten to the cup ahead of James' right hand, his score wouldn't have been enough to secure a Warriors victory if Kyrie Irving still steps up for his title-sealing three over Curry.
But no counterfactual can take away from how spectacular a play James made, let alone from the magnitude of the moment in which it happened. Even Iguodala couldn't knock it.
"People don't realize, somebody just made a great play," he told ESPN.com's Chris Haynes.
"There's nothing to change about somebody making a great play because I even thought I could have went off to the other side [of the rim], but [LeBron] was so high over the rim, he would have had both sides covered. I mean, I wouldn't have changed anything about it. If somebody just makes a great play, you just give them respect for making a great play."
If the man who got his shot blocked can tip his cap to a play that stands as the defining moment of James' career to date, so should we.
Worst Moment: All of Draymond Green's Crotch Shenanigans
6 of 10The Cavaliers might not have been in position to upset the Warriors during the 2016 Finals without Draymond Green's swing at James' nether regions in Game 4.
Green might not have been suspended for Game 5 had he not previously kicked his legs between Steven Adams' in the Western Conference Finals.
And Green might not have had to answer for his own privates had he not tried to put them on Snapchat at all.
Those moments distracted and detracted from Green's on-court brilliance as the engine under the hood of Golden State's winning machine. He went to great lengths to make up for his playoff transgressions, at least as far as his own team was concerned. In that fateful Game 7 of the Finals, he was the only Warrior who acquitted himself well, leading Golden State in points (32), rebounds (15) and assists (nine).
Green wasn't cited for any more swipes through the end of 2016, but he finished the year ranked toward the top of the league in technical fouls with seven.
"I only know how to be Draymond. That's who I've been my entire life, that's who I'll continue to be," Green said after getting whistled for another tech during Golden State's Christmas Day loss in Cleveland, per ESPN.
"I won't be exhausted from acting when I get home. That ain't going to work for me. I won't change my approach for anything. There's no point."
Indeed, Draymond being Draymond helped the Warriors reach the mountaintop. But in 2016, it might've also stunted a budding dynasty.
Best Move: Golden State Warriors Sign Kevin Durant
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I know, I know...you're probably sick of hearing anything more about Golden State and Cleveland. But, well, 2016 was the Year of Warriors and Cavaliers—if not Another Year of Warriors and Cavs.
The Dubs made sure of that on the Fourth of July when Durant helped set off fireworks league-wide with his free-agent announcement on the Players' Tribune:
"The primary mandate I had for myself in making this decision was to have it based on the potential for my growth as a player — as that has always steered me in the right direction. But I am also at a point in my life where it is of equal importance to find an opportunity that encourages my evolution as a man: moving out of my comfort zone to a new city and community which offers the greatest potential for my contribution and personal growth. With this in mind, I have decided that I am going to join the Golden State Warriors.
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Durant might still be in Oklahoma City had Golden State not suffered the same fate during the Finals that his Thunder had against the Warriors when they salted away a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals.
"I guess you could say I'm glad that they lost," Durant said in October, per ESPN's Ethan Sherwood Strauss.
The rest of the NBA probably wasn't, at least as far as Durant's decision was concerned. The league's latest collective bargaining agreement includes provisions that, perhaps, would've compelled him to stay—most notably, allowing teams to offer more lucrative extensions to homegrown superstars.
In OKC's case, it proved to be too little, too late.
Golden State got itself the best consolation prize in NBA history and is well on its way to dominating the West for a third straight year as a result.
Worst Move: Los Angeles Lakers Splurge on Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng
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Even before the NBA and the players union sorted out a new collective bargaining agreement, the contracts the Los Angeles Lakers handed out to Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng looked to be instant albatrosses.
Mozgov, 30, inked a four-year, $64 million deal to essentially replace the slightly younger (and then-similarly paid) Roy Hibbert. Deng, 31, hopped on for $72 million over four years.
There was some justification for these signings. Mozgov had been key to the Cavaliers' run to the 2015 Finals and had a positive rapport with Lakers assistant Brian Shaw during their days together in Denver. Deng was among the league's most respected two-way players, with ample winning experience from his stints in Chicago and Miami.
The Lakers, for their part, had to overpay if they were going to attract veterans to a young team coming off the worst stretch in franchise history.
Still, the warning signs were abundant with both. Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver was prescient in his evaluation of Mozgov, who's been the brittle backbone of the NBA's least effective defense:
"L.A. is left hoping (praying?) that Mozgov can bounce back from a rocky 2015-16 season, as he ranked 75th out of 76 centers in Real Plus-Minus and posted a below-average 14.6 Player Efficiency Rating following offseason knee surgery. Even at full health, though, Mozgov will struggle to cover for his teammates’ many defensive deficiencies and he’ll need to completely adjust his expectations after going from a contender to one of the league’s worst teams.
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As for Deng, his decline has been precipitous, with career lows in points (7.9), field-goal percentage (38.7 percent) and assists (1.7) to show for his new deal. Each only figures to drop off further as Father Time continues to take a toll, and neither comes close to aligning with the developmental timelines of L.A.'s gifted youngsters.
That's nothing but bad news for the Lakers, who are on the hook for each of them through 2019-20. Over that same span, they may have to pony up to keep Julius Randle, D'Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram. Put that all together and the Lakers will either be stuck with the team they have for some time or need to sacrifice picks and assets to unlimber themselves of Mozgov and Deng en route to cap flexibility.
All the while, players like Mozgov and Deng won't sign for nearly as much going forward in a financial environment that's tilted further in favor of superstars and away from role players.
Best Coach: Gregg Popovich
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Gregg Popovich is to coaches today what Michael Jordan was to players in the 1990s: simply the best, even if he doesn't get awarded for it every year.
Sure, Pop's San Antonio Spurs didn't make it past the second round for the second consecutive season. But they still racked up the third-most overall wins in the Association during 2016 (72), despite LaMarcus Aldridge's uneven integration into the Alamo City, Duncan's retirement and the aging of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
Off the court, the 67-year-old remained the same salty dog he's always been, even (if not especially) in regard to Duncan, the player to whom he so often credits his own success as head coach of the Spurs.
When asked if he saw Duncan as a son the way the future Hall of Famer looked up to him as a father, Popovich replied dryly to Bleacher Report, "No, I don't really enjoy him that much. It's pretty much a one-way street. I was a great guy and he was a pain in the ass."
The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears described Pop as "the NBA's most 'woke' coach"—credentials he further burnished with his response to the tenor of a contentious 2016 presidential campaign. And when TNT's Craig Sager passed away in December, Pop, Sager's most notorious sideline interviewee, attended his funeral in Atlanta (on a day in which the Spurs were playing in Houston) and later gave the tie he wore to it to Craig Sager Jr.
With so much obsession over X's and O's, schemes and systems, rotations and play calls, it's easy to forget that coaching at any level is primarily about leadership and teaching.
Popovich taught that lesson to a T once again in 2016.
Worst Coach: George Karl
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What exactly went down between George Karl and the Sacramento Kings is tricky to sort from outside the empty chasm that was Sleep Train Arena. According to team owner Vivek Ranadive, Karl didn't do himself any favors when he advocated for DeMarcus Cousins' ouster during the summer of 2015.
"You know, look, George had tried to trade Cousins that whole summer, and there was not a lot of love between those two," Ranadive told USA Today's Sam Amick, "and so there was tension there. So that was not a new thing."
Whatever the source of that animosity, Karl's job in California's capital wasn't made any safer by his team's performance. The Kings finished at 33-49 in 2015-16, including a 21-29 record after the calendar flipped to 2016. That marked the first time since Karl's coaching debut in 1984-85 that he finished a full season with a sub-.500 record.
But that turned out to be just the beginning of Karl's regrettable year.
First came his criticisms of Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith (among others) from an advance copy of his forthcoming book, Furious George, per the New York Post's Marc Berman. Then, in a subsequent interview with New York magazine's David Marchese about the book, Karl put Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts, his former protege, in an awkward position when he criticized Damian Lillard.
You won't find much about Karl's tenure with the Kings in Furious George—not in the first edition, anyway. According to the Sacramento Bee's Ailene Voisin, the terms of his split with the team forbid him from speaking publicly about what happened. "His plan is to dissect his troubled relationship with DeMarcus Cousins, his disappointment in general manager Vlade Divac, and his outright disdain for principal owner Vivek Ranadive in an updated version when his contract expires."
Among the details that could emerge is a harsh picture of Ranadive, who Karl describes as "an immigrant whose success in the U.S. was beyond what he could've imagined, so he believes his instincts are infallible," per Sports 1140 KHTK's Carmichael Dave.
It's probably safe, then, to add Karl's NBA coaching career to the long list of notable people and things that died in 2016.
All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are via NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and listen to his Hollywood Hoops podcast with B/R Lakers lead writer Eric Pincus.
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