NBA: The Signature Career Moment for Each Team's Star Player

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The NBA is a unique league.  In no other sport can a team rely solely on one player to make their team effective, but last year Steve Nash made the Phoenix Suns a team that threatened the playoffs despite having no more firepower than a paintball gun.  It's a superstar's league.

Most teams in the league have that one go-to guy that they can count on to get their 20 points, 10 assists or lockdown defense in every game, but some team's stars are obviously better than others.

Those stars can usually have their careers whittled down to one instance, one game, one season or one event that epitomizes their career up until that point.

The stars can be easily dissected for the most part, and can be easily defined, so I have taken a look at each team's star and whittled their career down to a defining moment.

Atlanta Hawks: Joe Johnson

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Joe Johnson started with meager beginnings in Boston and was traded to Phoenix in his rookie season, at which point his career his productivity started to take off.

Phoenix wanted to re-sign him in 2005, but he signed a huge offer sheet with the Hawks and promptly told the Suns not to re-sign him.

Then last summer he signed a maximum contract with the Hawks and proceeded to have his worst year ever in Atlanta.

That re-signing for me defined his career.  He has the perception of being an elite player, but in reality he is a very good player at best.

Boston Celtics: Paul Pierce

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The most defining moment of Paul Pierce's career has to be getting his nickname from Shaquille O'Neal.

As a young buck he was a good player, but after a game against the Lakers Shaq took a reporter aside and told him, "My name is Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce is the (expletive) truth.  You can quote me on that and don't take nothing out.  I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this.  Paul Pierce is the truth."

To me that just shows how Pierce elevates his game when it really matters, when he is on a bigger stage he always tends to come up with the big shot or a big defensive play, or just a solid performance altogether.

Charlotte Bobcats: They Have a Star Player?

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Is there really a star player for the Bobcats?  Do you want me to bring down DJ Augutin's career down to one moment?  Or Boris Diaw?

Yea, I'll go ahead and wait until Bismack Biyombo has a 13 block game or Kemba Walker leads them to a first round playoff victory, until then, they get nothing.

Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose

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Derrick Rose has been an impressive force in the playoffs and he started doing it from game one.

In his rookie year, facing the Boston Celtics in what seemed to be an impossible series to win with the young and inexperienced team that he was asked to lead.

He truly left it all on the floor in that game, playing 49 minutes and scoring 36 points (tying the record for the most points by a rookie in his playoff debut) along with 11 assists, perfect free throw shooting and most importantly, a win for his team.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Baron Davis

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Baron Davis is such a unique player that he needs two minutes to truly define his career.

His first most career-defining moment was the series against the Mavericks in the 2007 playoffs where the Warriors were an eight-seed, taking down the top seeded Mavericks.

Golden State beating Dallas and quitting on the Hornets.  Davis averaged 25 points, nearly six assists and more than eight rebound three times.  It shows just how good he can be when he is really trying.

His second moment (which actually happened before the Mavericks series) was the 2004-2005 season when he was traded from New Orleans to Golden State for being such a distraction to the team.  He still scored a good amount of points, but he was doing so by jacking up three pointers like it was going out of style, averaging more than eight threes a game in that season.  That showed just how he can quit on a team when he gets unhappy or in a bad situation.

Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki

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By all accounts, Dirk Nowitzki had a terrible game in the final game of the Finals this year, but he really kicked it on when it mattered.

Dirk went 1 for 12 in the first half, but he never gave up on his shot and kept chugging away until the shots started to fall, which they eventually did.  He went 8 for 15 in the second half and won Finals MVP honors.

It just shows the resiliency of Dirk throughout his career.

Denver Nuggets: Nene

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Nene has overcome adversity many times in his career, getting past a torn ACL in the 2005-06 season to have a strong season the following year.

The biggest moment he overcame, however, was in 2007 when he survived a scare from testicular cancer, returning in a win against the Dallas Mavericks later in the season to a standing ovation.

Detroit Pistons: Richard Hamilton

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During the 2003-04 season, Richard Hamilton changed his image permanently when he broke his nose twice (plus once more in 2002), so he started wearing that clear plastic face mask.

Players have worn the plastic mask before in the NBA, but he was the first to really popularize it and his is the most recognizable in the facemask.

Golden State Warriors: Monta Ellis

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Monta Ellis has always been a gamer, never afraid of taking the big shot near the end of games.  The first such instance happened in 2007 when he hit his first game-winning shot against the New Jersey Nets.

With time winding down and Baron Davis leading the fast break, Davis kicked the ball over to Monta Ellis who drained a 17-footer as time expired.

Houston Rockets: Kevin Martin

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In June of 2007, a little boy died in a school bus accident in Ohio, which seemed to really shake Kevin Martin.

From there he became an advocate of school bus safety and donated money to pay for the little boy's funeral.

It just shows how kind-hearted the guy is and how he sticks to a cause and tries to do his best to fight for it.

Indiana Pacers: Danny Granger

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So far throughout his career, Danny Granger has been a very good player stuck on a team that, well, hasn't been that good.

That's why his 2008-09 season is a defining moment for his career.  In the second year of him being the real leader of the Pacers, Granger averaged 25 points a game and five rebounds while playing for a Pacers team that finished 36-46.

Los Angeles Clippers: Blake Griffin

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Blake Griffin has been a dunking machine in his single year in the NBA, and has become known for his insane pace of play and his high-flying highlights.

It could end up with Griffin's career defining moment being his injury in his first season in the NBA if the Clippers bad luck infects him, but for right now it is his thunderous dunk on Timofey Mozgov.

The dunk on Mozgov was the first real moment where the rest of the league stopped and took notice of the monstrosity that is Griffin.

Los Angeles Lakers: Kobe Bryant

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I would be willing to bet anything that after his career is all said and done, if you ask Kobe Bryant which championship was his favorite, he would be sheepish and tell you that they were all great, because they were championships after all. But way down, deep down inside he would really relish the 2009 title above the rest.

2009 was the year that Kobe shed the stigma of only winning titles as part of a team with Shaquille O'Neal, which people used against him for the longest time.

Memphis Grizzlies: Zach Randolph

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For all the unfortunate things that have happened in Zach Randolph's career, from the multiple suspensions to the fallout in New York, Randolph thankfully found redemption with an unlikely team.

The Grizzlies existence in the NBA had gone much unnoticed until Randolph finally got his act together and became the leader of the first Grizzlies team to ever advance past the first round of the playoffs in a stunning sweep of the San Antonio Spurs this year.

Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade/LeBron James

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Instead of picking one player from the Heat as the superstar, I wanted to show you how different these two superstars are.

Dwyane Wade's defining moment is without a doubt his 2006 Finals, where he was undoubtedly the best player on a championship team, regardless of how the title came about (insert conspiracy theory here).

However, it's impossible to say that anything other than The Decision is LeBron James' defining moment, as it is the thing that people will always point to as the reason why they hate the man.  It turned him from a guy who was at least accepted and respected as a great player into the most hated man in the NBA.

Milwaukee Bucks: Andrew Bogut

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The second half of the 2010 playoffs was very impressive for the Milwaukee Bucks, as they went on a tear just to make it into the final eight Eastern Conference teams.

Part of the reason for this run was the section of lower level seats dubbed "Squad Six" after Andrew Bogut who bought the tickets for fans who would bring up the decibel level in the arena.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Kevin Love

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The 30 point, 30 rebound game that Kevin Love put up earlier this season against the New York Knicks was one of the most impressive single-game performances of the season.

Love told Michael Beasley at halftime that he was going for 30, and sure enough he went ahead and put up the first 30-30 game in 28 years.

New Jersey Nets: Deron Williams

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Getting drafted before Chris Paul is something that forever linked Deron Williams to the man.  Many thought Paul was the superior guard at the time, but Williams had the size, so the Jazz picked him over Paul.

This single act, not even perpetrated by Deron Williams created endless comparisons between the two, with each of them having the lead at some point or another, with no clear-cut winner yet to be had.

New Orleans Hornets: Chris Paul

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Just as getting drafted before him linked Deron Williams to Chris Paul, getting drafted afterward linked Paul to Williams.

I don't know if it put a chip on his shoulder or if he is just naturally an amazing player, but the comparisons between the two guards are seemingly never-ending.

New York Knicks: Carmelo Anthony

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I think Carmelo Anthony's real defining moment is yet to come, so we will just have to wait and see what happens with the rest of his career, but for right now I call his defining moment the 2003 NCAA Championship game.

In that game, Anthony nearly posted a triple-double, putting up 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Orange, giving him the air of a champion that still lingers a bit today, even though he has yet to win anything in the NBA.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Kevin Durant

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During the Summer of 2010, everybody was talking about LeBron James, and odds are that is the single basketball event that Summer will be remembered for.

However, with LeBron dashing to South Beach, Kevin Durant was honing his leadership skills as he led the US Mens National Basketball team to the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Orlando Magic: Dwight Howard

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In the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest, Dwight Howard strapped on a Superman cape and threw down a ferocious dunk, attempting to create his own nickname in the process.

This shows that Howard is amazing when the stakes aren't that high, but there isn't really a defining moment for Howard yet that has him showing off his skill when it really matters.  There is also the fact that he has always been compared to Shaq, and that dunk just kept the two big man linked.

If he ends up moving to Los Angeles, that will overcome his moments in the dunk contest, but for now, his Superman moment will define his career.

Philadelphia 76ers: Andre Iguodala

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In the first season that Andre Iguodala played without Allen Iverson in Philadelphia, he was expected to step up and be the man for the 76ers.

He went ahead and had his highest scoring season of his career and led the 76ers to a playoff berth with a record of 40-42.

Phoenix Suns: Steve Nash

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Re-signing with the Suns created a defining moment in Steve Nash's career for the fact that it gave him the tools necessary to become one of the games greatest point guards.  I think he could have made it there on most any team, but playing for the Suns certainly helped.

Nash was never a great defender, and teaming up with Mike D'antoni in a lightening fast system allowed his strength as one of the best decision makers in the history of the game to be highlighted and his weakness as a defender to go largely ignored.

Portland Trail Blazers: LaMarcus Aldridge

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There are very few players that make "The Jump".  That is to say a very small number of players go from being a very good player to a superstar player within the range of just a season.  LaMarcus Aldridge did that this past season.

His numbers didn't improve all that much, going from 17 points to about 20, 7.7 rebounds to 7.9 and less than a block a game to just over a block, but his play on the court made it easy to recognize that he was making the jump.

He became the leader of the Blazers in a time when there was a power vacuum on that team, and he turned himself into a very good defender seemingly overnight.

Sacramento Kings: Tyreke Evans

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The buzzer beater this past season against the Memphis Grizzlies pretty much sums up Tyreke Evans for me.

Down a point with just a few ticks left on the clock, Tyreke Evans chucked a nearly three-quarters court shot that just plopped itself directly into the basket, and of course the crowd went wild.

It shows that Tyreke Evans is himself a good player, but he is often playing from behind, which makes him seem possibly a little worse than he actually is.

San Antonio Spurs: Manu Ginobili

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Everyone remembers the Halloween game back in 2009 when Manu Ginobili took matters into his own hands when a pest was flying around the court.  He locked on with his impeccable court vision and swatted a bat out of midair, calmly picked it up and disposed of it.

That is representative of Ginobili's game.  He is unorthodox and at times a little crazy, but he is always under control in his mind, and that is what makes him such a unique player.

Toronto Raptors: Andrea Bargnani

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On Valentines Day back in 2007, something interesting happened that seven-footers don't usually do every day.

Andrea Bargnani played 31 minutes, scored 15 points and...grabbed all of zero rebounds.  That's right folks, a guy who is easily the tallest player on the court failed to nab a carom even though he played in more than half the game.

This just goes to show how useless Andrea "It's Not Rebound-Ball" Bargnani can be when it comes to cleaning the glass.

Utah Jazz: Al Jefferson

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Al Jefferson is a seven-footer (or a hair under that) capable of scoring 20 points a game and grabbing 10 boards, so he's an elite player, right?  Well, if he was, then why would he have been traded twice in his short seven-year career?

The two trades in Jefferson's career show that he is an expendable player, just for the fact that teams don't just ship away guys that are huge and can put up numbers like he does.

Washington Wizards: John Wall

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In what was essentially his first big NBA game, John Wall put on a nice little show, even though his team did end up losing.

On December 7th earlier this season, John Wall and the Wizards went into Los Angeles to play the defending champions, and all Wall did was put up 22 points, 14 assists, five rebounds, three blocks and a steal.

Not bad for a rookie.