25 Early NBA Season Highlights You Can't Miss

Already we are more than a quarter of the way into this exciting, yet sloppy NBA season in which there have been plenty of reasons to watch the games as much as possible.

Chris Paul throwing alley-oops to everyone on the Clippers, rookie point guards running around the floor and impressing everyone, buzzer-beaters and half-court shots galore, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant and of course, those three dudes hanging out down in Miami.

Sure, the compacted schedule and short training camp has made for some sloppy play early on here, but that doesn't mean that the season is devoid of exciting highlights. In fact, there have been some very impressive and exciting things going down on a nightly basis.

So, without making you guys wait any longer, here I have 25 plays, passes, dunks, shots and just highlights in general that will both tell the story of the young season and leave you with your jaw on the floor.

25. I Can't Leave out the White Mamba

C'mon now, guys, you ought to know me well enough at this point to know that I can hardly let a day pass where I don't think about Brian Scalabrine in some way. Call it a man-crush of sorts, but this man can not only play basketball, but he does it with the distinction that only a man with the nickname "White Mamba" could play with.

Here we see Scal, whom most people assume to be a worthless waste of space on the bench, taking on the Nets down low. He shakes his defender with the help of some terrific ball movement and some terrible defense, gets the ball in the paint and goes up and under for a slick little layup.

The best part about this highlight? He does it in the second quarter, a rare sighting of Scalabrine that early in the game (although the Bulls were up by 13 already at that point).

24. Kyrie Irving's Globetrotting Layup

The green 19-year-old that's happened his way into Cleveland has started to heal wounds that were created with the departure of a superstar and a season that perpetually teetered on the brink of terrible and historic until the Cavs eventually made it historic with their 26-game losing streak.

But now that Kyrie Irving is not only living up to, but surpassing, expectations early on, the people in Cleveland and around the state of Ohio are not only warming up to him, but falling in basketball love all over again, and it's because of plays like this.

Irving is incredibly adept at getting into the lane, and once he's there, he really knows how to control his body, as you can see with this layup that he puts in up and over his own head.

All I know is now that Kyrie is the early favorite for the Rookie of the Year Award, all of those people who advocated drafting Derrick Williams No. 1 overall are starting to make the Irving Bandwagon a bit rickety.

23. John Wall Is Relentless

Playing for the hapless Wizards this season, there are a few things that John Wall has needed to be. He's needed to be the team's leader, he's needed to play well every night for them to have a chance to win, but most of all, he's needed to be relentless. Leading by example, if you will.

This shows Wall in a pack of four Charlotte Bobcats missing his first layup attempt, fighting for the rebound with four dudes who are taller than him and then clutching the ball close to his chest, finally putting the shot up and in as he fell to the ground.

It wasn't flashy, but it was damn impressive.

22. At Least Luke Tried

Sometimes, Russell Westbrook is on his game and can juke other players badly enough that he gets a ridiculous amount of space to drive to the lane, and sometimes, he's defended by Luke Ridnour.

This particular highlight depicts Westbrook preparing to drive to the lane, in the process putting Ridnour on his butt without even touching him.

I've heard of being juked out of one's shoes, but I think in this case, Luke's shoes stayed where they were supposed to be; it was the rest of his body that he was juked out of.

21. Nobody Does Layups Like Derrick Rose

I've noticed something in today's NBA: We don't appreciate layups nearly enough. Thankfully, there's a man out there who is capable of bringing the layup back into style and making it more exciting, fluid and artistic than your average, everyday dunk.

This particular layup was the most ridiculous that I can recall seeing so far this year, as Rose bursts into the lane, pings into Kevin Garnett, pongs off Brandon Bass, ends up with his back to the basket in mid-air and puts up what can only be described as a backwards finger-roll.

The fact that this goes anywhere near the hoop leaves me in awe, because I'm pretty sure if I would have tried this, it would end up somewhere in the stands, even without Garnett and Bass there to bump into me.

20. Dirk Will Not Be Denied

It seems like there have been an unordinary number of buzzer-beaters and game-winning shots this early in the season, and one of my favorites so far has been Dirk's layup and-one against the Celtics.

Kevin Garnett is guarding him so tight that he could probably pinpoint which type of deodorant Dirk had on, and the fact that Dirk got the first step on him is pretty impressive (or indicative of Garnett's age, I'm not sure which yet).

He then gets into the lane, draws contact with just about every Celtic since Larry Bird and puts a shot up whilst falling down, which of course goes in.

19. Break 'Em Down for the Setup

This is my favorite part about the new kids in town over in Los Angeles. It's not the showboaty alley-oops or the open-court, fast-break dunks; it's the combination of two players' skills that really shows off every facet of why basketball is entertaining (offensively at least).

Chris Paul breaks down the Bulls defense off a perfect pick-and-roll in which he draws the attention of both his man, Derrick Rose, and the guy filling up the lane, Joakim Noah. That leaves everything clear for Blake Griffin to streak in behind their backs, receive the bounce-pass and throw it down with power and grace.

18. Merry Christmas, Everyone

I can remember watching bits and pieces of this Heat-Mavericks game on Christmas Day, and I remember exactly what was going through my head when I saw this particular play.

With such a rout going on, I was wondering why I had left the television on this channel, got up and started to get ready to head out for the regular Christmas activities, and then this happened. At that point, I said out loud, "Oh, that's why."

Such an impressive passing display and a Harlem Globetrotter-esque double-alley-oop is always in play when Miami is on the floor, which gives you a reason to stick around during the blowouts.

17. DeAndre Jordan Blocks Shots All Day Long

Another Christmas Day special (and the only other game I watched in that particular slate of games) depicted DeAndre Jordan going to town on the Warriors' shorter, weaker men. 

The game was played well into the night, but some exciting dunks and these eight blocks from DeAndre Jordan made it all worth it.

My personal favorite is the final block he has in this clip, which shows him blocking the shot lefty and then tipping the ball to his teammate with his right hand. Bill Russell would approve of that one.

16. Smart and Talented

This is one of the many reasons it's hard for me to spread my dislike to Dwyane Wade when I sit down to watch the Heat play and actively try to dislike every player on the court.

Wade is just so smart, so heady, that he has the presence of mind to be completely settled after a three-pointer and a 9-0 run to chuck the ball from out of bounds to a streaking James for the easy layup.

The 30-plus yard pass shows off the incredibly timing and passing ability that he has always had.

15. Long-Neckin' and Pump-Fakin'

You should have known early on that there was going to be plenty of stuff from the Miami Heat on here, so don't start yelling if you get tired of seeing them running around here (hey, I'm nowhere near as bad as ESPN).

This particular dunk, however, could not go unnoticed. Chris Bosh uses a pretty little pump-fake off the pass to get his man off his feet, drives to the lane and dunks around and over D.J. White with all the force that a velociraptor could dunk with.

14. Rudy Gay's so Nice He Dunks It Twice

When I play a nice little pickup game, I'm stoked if I can dunk the ball once. Rudy Gay isn't happy unless he dunks twice in a span of 12 seconds.

He's no Reggie Miller against the Knicks in this instance, but the team defense allows him to grab a pass off a fast break and dunk the first one with ease, followed by a steal and another fast break, resulting in a happy little windmill.

13. How High Can One Man Jump?

You guys should know that just like any other red-blooded American running around this country, there are three things I enjoy: a good beer, a pretty lady and a monster blocked shot. That, of course, makes Dwight Howard appear all too often when I'm casually browsing YouTube for highlights.

The particular block in question shows Howard climbing the ladder and then standing tip-toed on that step you're not supposed to stand on to block this shot at the very top of its arc.

It was almost the perfect block, but in true Dwight Howard fashion, he swats it six rows into the crowd, giving the ball back to the Nets. Bill Russell does not approve.

12. Durant's Not Strong Enough

Let's go from one block to another while I'm in the frame of mind to check out some blocked shots, shall we?

If I were to ask you to name one player who you wouldn't expect to have one of the best highlights of the year, I'd have to imagine a guy like Jason Smith would be near the top of this list.

However, here we see Smith stopping Durant dead in his tracks and out-muscling the superstar, leading to not only a blocked shot, but his team getting the ball.

11. Kyle Lowry Blocks It and Then D's Up

However, no blocked shot has impressed me more this season than Kyle Lowry's chase-down of Jeremy Pargo. Everything he does in a span of about 20 seconds is perfect.

He chases Pargo down and is able to block his shot in a way that he's trying to get it to his teammate. When he's unsuccessful in that, he sprints back onto the court (his momentum had taken him out) and alters another shot, allowing his team to get the rebound. He then receives an outlet pass and draws the foul on the other end of the floor.

It takes skill to be that smart.

10. Blake, Callin' His Shot

Sure, why not? I'll throw in some Lob City action going down from The Showtime Blakers.

This is my favorite type of alley-oop that I see them run. Blake Griffin (or DeAndre Jordan, or anyone who can jump high enough) casually strolls behind the defense on the transition, calls for the shot and just leaps. Chris Paul (or Chauncey Billups or anyone who can toss a ball in the air) then heaves the ball up for Blake to grab and monster home through the hoop.

Bonus points on this dunk for the semi-posterization of Mario Chalmers.

9. Kevin Love Cinches It

This was easily my favorite series of plays so far this year.

It all started off with Ricky Rubio sinking a game-tying three after shooting something like 1-of-384 up to that point in the game. It was truly an "ice water in the veins" moment for Rubio.

Then, as the Clippers defense failed to get anyone on Kevin Love off the inbound, he puts up this beauty of a shot that really seemed like a statement from Love. He's more than just a big guy who can grab boards and shoot a bit; he's a cold-blooded killer.

8. LeBron and Wade Play Football

It seems that plays like this have become commonplace in Miami, and with all the wonder around whether LeBron James could play football or not, it's not that surprising.

Here we see back-to-back full-court passes, one from Dwyane Wade to James, the other from James to Wade for an easy four points against the Bobcats.

A quick little side note here: I wasn't intentionally trying to pull the Bobcats down with these highlights, but it seems like they've been on the losing side of the clip on every other slide. If it makes you feel any better, this is the last time they'll be involved.

7. A Boring Half-Court Heave

I remember seeing this happen casually during a highlight at halftime of another game; I also remember having absolutely no reaction to it.

Andre Miller puts this shot up from beyond half court that honestly looked like a routine shot. He went up, flicked his wrist, and sure enough, the ball went in.

The crowd went wild, and Miller casually walked off the floor like he could do it again if they asked him to. Never have I seen a half-court heave so nonchalantly done.

6. Ricky Goes 5-Hole

The people around the world playing footy call this a nutmeg; the hockey guys would say he went through the five-hole. For now, I'm just going to say that this is Ricky being Ricky.

We haven't seen him play very much, but Ricky Rubio has lived up to his hype so far, and this silly, yet impressive dish out to Anthony Tolliver through Dirk Nowitzki's legs forces us to see the Steve Nash potential in this kid.

5. Iggy Channels His Inner Kobe

The first time I saw this play, I remembered Kobe Bryant doing something similar a few years back against the Houston Rockets.

The alley-oop to one's self during the course of a game is usually a narcissistic display meant to do nothing more than show off (see JaVale McGee), but when it's done out of necessity, rather than just a desire to show off, it's quite impressive.

The only question left is whether or not we should call that an assist, because Andre Iguodala couldn't have done that without that fine pass from Andre Iguodala.

4. Double-Clutch'll Get You Three Points

A buzzer-beater is impressive enough; a buzzer-beater with a man in your face is even better. However, if you take that buzzer-beater, make it happen behind the half-court line and sink it with a double-clutch shot? There you've got yourself an impressive shot.

Well, that's just what Lakers rookie Darius Morris did at the end of the first quarter against the Clippers, putting in the shot like it was no big deal, even though it was so a big deal.

3. LeBron Leaps a Human

I was so close. So. Freaking. Close.

However, after last night's Heat-Bulls game, I couldn't realistically keep LeBron James out of the top five of this highlight reel.

Here we see LeBron James leaping over another person's entire body (in this case, the person would be John Lucas). Sure, it's a shorter dude, but LeBron barely even touched the guy—a bit of a flare-out with his feet and it was like they never even crossed paths.

2. Kevin Durant Denies Vince's Game-Winner

It took me about five minutes to decide whether to put this or the No. 1 clip at the top of this list, but ultimately, I settled on this at No. 2.

I loved everything about this game when it happened. It was a desperate Mavericks team trying to break into the win column against a hungry Thunder team, and they both wanted to win as bad as the other.

Vince Carter sank what many of us thought was the game-winner. Twitter then exploded, proclaiming Carter to be back and ready to be a huge part of the Mavs' season.

However, the Thunder still had just over a second to get a play off, and oh, did they get a play off. Kevin Durant took the inbound and took a shot that looked like Dirk Nowitzki would have taught him, slightly off-balance, taking off with one foot, and then, nothing but twine.

1. Rudy Fernandez with the Alley, Faried with the Oop

As much as I loved that exchange of game-winners, everything going on with this play just left my mouth agape.

The Nuggets came away with the ball in a scrum at mid-court against the Kings, and Kenneth Faried passed the ball ahead to a streaking Rudy Fernandez. Now, the only player the Kings had on that half of the court was Jimmer Fredette, whom I could take to the hole, so Fernandez could have easily scored at that point, but he wasn't about to pass up this opportunity.

With the slightest glance over his shoulder, Fernandez saw Faried streaking behind him, so he tossed it up gently over his head, Faried took off, grabbed the ball in mid-air and slammed it home. Truly a thing of beauty.

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