Biggest Takeaways from 2012-13 NBA Season

The Miami Heat clinched a second consecutive NBA championship by way of a Game 7 victory against the San Antonio Spurs in a dramatic ending to the 2012-13 season.

LeBron James’ resounding performance to earn back-to-back titles was a fitting way to cap a dynamic season.

While the league’s champion remained the same, so much changed this past season. New superstars arrived, up-and-coming franchises pushed their way into the fray, and never before has team leadership changed so drastically.

While many predicted the Heat would win another title, a multitude of surprises and dramatic moments created a memorable NBA season.

The Arrival of New Superstars

The league welcomed a new crop of superstars in 2012-13.

Paul George won the league’s Most Improved Player award and then went on to enter the superstar tier of NBA players in an Eastern Conference Finals battle against LeBron James’ Miami Heat.

While the Indiana Pacers didn’t win Game 7, George showed off his defensive talents while lighting up the rim.

Stephen Curry was the darling of the playoffs’ opening rounds. The fourth-year Golden State Warriors point guard averaged 3.5 three-pointers per game in the postseason, scoring 23.4 points per game and averaging 8.1 assists.

After his All-Star snub, Curry made a name for himself as one of the league’s most exciting up-and-coming players this season.

Everyone overlooks the difficulty of simply “becoming a superstar,” and James Harden deserves more credit for what he did. He stepped in and became a top-three scorer in the league at 26.3 points per game.

Kyrie Irving, despite injury, showcased that he’s fully a superstar in this league.

And Portland Trail Blazers Rookie of the Year Damian Lillard showed signs that he could one day headline the league's point guard position.

The West Is Shifting

The San Antonio Spurs will be back, at least judging by the postgame reaction of Tim Duncan after the team's finals loss. Duncan looked mystified when asked about the notion of possible retirement.

Tony Parker is still just 31 years old, and young up-and-comers Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green make the Spurs dangerous again next season.

It's only going to grow more difficult, however, as many teams out West have proven capable of threatening the old guard.

Russell Westbrook’s health should return the Oklahoma City Thunder back to the top. Meanwhile, the Memphis Grizzlies frontcourt, if it isn't broken up, will continue to eat up the conference.

The Los Angeles Clippers won their first Pacific Division title in history, while the Golden State Warriors had their best postseason run since the late ‘70s.

The Clippers' future may depend on Chris Paul’s decision to stay or go, but offseason posturing could create a rejuvenated effort next season. The Warriors have a young core that includes the league’s newest superstar, Stephen Curry, paired with Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes.

Making the conference all the tougher are the Houston Rockets, a franchise with blossoming young talent led by James Harden. And this offseason could bring further big-name talent such as Dwight Howard and/or Paul to Houston.

The fading of the Los Angeles Lakers into Kobe Bryant’s honeymoon of uncertainty further spreads the power out West.

Even the Sacramento Kings are trending in the right direction. It seemed as if the Kings were as good as gone, off to become the Seattle SuperSonics, thus removing a franchise buoyed by a market of dedicated fans. Instead, California's capital rallied, and new ownership could lead the Kings up the West standings.

The Failure of the Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers were supposed to be the league’s freshest superteam. Instead, their season was a complete nightmare.

Adding Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to the formula proved a failure, as the league’s golden franchise barely even landed in the postseason. The team replaced Mike Brown with Mike D’Antoni after a handful of losses, but ultimately the Lakers were too old and too unhealthy to string together a winning momentum.

Howard’s back health was an issue early on, Nash was rarely himself and Kobe Bryant’s season-ending injury before the playoffs stripped away any hope.

Not every superteam finds chemistry. There was too much on-court bickering, teammate squabbling and losing.

The Year of the Superstar Injury

The 2012-13 season was littered with injuries to the game’s greatest talents.

Here’s a recap:

Neither the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose nor the Philadelphia 76ers’ Andrew Bynum ever played a single game in recovering from their respective knee surgeries.

Dirk Nowitzki played just 53 games after a late start to the season following knee surgery, and his absence, plus rust-shaking games, cost the Dallas Mavericks a postseason.

Rajon Rondo wasn’t a part of the Boston Celtics’ final run as a Big Three following a season-ending torn ACL.

The Lakers were drilled by injuries. Dwight Howard was clearly suffering from lingering back issues through the first part of the year, Steve Nash played just 50 games, Metta World Peace had in-season knee surgery, and Kobe Bryant suffered a torn Achilles tendon just before the playoffs.

Danny Granger missed out on the Indiana Pacers’ run because of knee surgery, and Russell Westbrook’s postseason ended early against the Houston Rockets due to a knee injury that required surgery.

Kevin Love missed all but 18 Minnesota Timberwolves games due to a hand and knee injury, while Kyrie Irving only played 59 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers due to an assortment of injuries.

Golden State Warriors All-Star David Lee suffered a torn hip flexor in Game 1 of the postseason against the Denver Nuggets, though he somehow eventually played limited minutes despite what was first thought to be a season-ending injury.

How’s that for an all-NBA injured list?

Apparently, Coaches Are Dispensable

The only thing more prevalent than superstar injuries this past season was the multitude of coaching changes.

When the Coach of the Year gets fired, you know something is off. George Karl was fired by the Denver Nuggets in seeking a contract extension with the team despite three division titles with the franchise and an overall record of 423-257.

We should have known something was up when Mike Brown was fired from the Los Angeles Lakers after just five games and a 1-4 start. Mike D’Antoni did hold on to the job, however.

Avery Johnson was Coach of the Month for October/November before being fired by the Brooklyn Nets in December. His replacement, P.J. Carlesimo, was let go at the end of the season and the job suddenly belongs to retiree-now-coach Jason Kidd.

Alvin Gentry lost his job with the Phoenix Suns and it was given to Lindsay Hunter, who was promptly let go at the of the season in favor of Jeff Hornacek. The Milwaukee Bucks fired Scott Skiles in January and never told a bothered Brandon Jennings.

It got worse after the season, when a record 12 NBA coaching changes were made, of which half were fired from playoff teams.

The non-playoff team firings include: Keith Smart (Sacramento Kings), Byron Scott (Cleveland Cavaliers), Lawrence Frank (Detroit Pistons), Mike Dunlap (Charlotte Bobcats), Doug Collins (Philadelphia 76ers) and Hunter.

And of course, playoff runs—even those that go deep—aren't enough to save coaches.

The following coaches were fired after their team fell in the postseason: Karl, Lionel Hollins (Memphis Grizzlies), Vinny Del Negro (Los Angeles Clippers), Larry Drew (Atlanta Hawks), Jim Boylan (replaced Skiles in Milwaukee) and Carlesimo.

All this, and Doc Rivers might actually get traded (though the potential deal to the Clippers would likely be killed by David Stern, according to Ben Golliver of SI.com)

Jason Collins Announces He Is Gay

In April, Jason Collin announced, via Sports Illustrated, that he is gay.

It was a historic announcement, as no active male player in a major U.S. sports league had ever revealed his homosexuality.

The sports world—fellow athletes and media alike—embraced Collins’ decision, and social media poured out in support of Collins.

Collins will enter free agency this season at 34 years old after averaging 1.1 points and 10.1 minutes through 38 games this past season with the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards.

It remains uncertain where Collins will settle next season.

The End of the Boston Celtics?

The Boston Celtics’ Big Three ran out of fuel in 2012-13.

Boston was first stalled by the injury to Rajon Rondo, which led to a mediocre regular season and a first-round playoff exit.

At first, it appeared the Celtics were somehow better without Rondo. After he first went down with a season-ending torn ACL, Boston won seven in a row. The Celtics had been 20-23 with Rondo, and it became a head-scratcher how and why they were playing better without him.

It even sparked Danny Ainge to tell ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan, “We are different without him. We're running better now because five guys are running. Honestly, I think we rely on Rondo too much.”

Then reality hit, and following the 7-0 start without Rondo, the team went on to finish the season just 14-16. Boston didn't have enough firepower in the postseason, falling to the New York Knicks in a low-scoring first round.

Now it looks like the Celtics’ superteam run will be capped at the team’s single championship, as Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce all seem unlikely to return.

The Celtics could become the East's next rebuilding effort.

New York Knicks Succeed, Yet Fall Short

It is possible to exceed expectations yet, at the same time, fall short.

The New York Knicks took a step in the right direction in finishing the Celtics in the first round, and their run lasted longer than usual. But Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler still didn’t reach the conference finals.

New York’s season ended on the shoulders of exactly what got them there. Carmelo Anthony scored 39 points in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, but the Knicks fell to a streaking Indiana Pacers.

Anthony, and the first scoring title of his career, drove the Knicks to their first Atlantic Division title since 1993-94.

Still, expectations were higher for a Knicks team that early in the season promoted defense above all else and seemed destined to face the Miami Heat in the conference finals.

New York settled into being a jump-shooting team behind Anthony and J.R. Smith, and the shots eventually stopped falling.

Kevin Durant Falls Short Again

Kevin Durant was set to make his stand this season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar was sick of being second, as he told Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated in April: 

"I've been second my whole life. I was the second-best player in high school. I was the second pick in the draft. I've been second in the MVP voting three times. I came in second in the Finals. I'm tired of being second. I'm not going to settle for that. I'm done with it."

Unfortunately, he was downgraded.

Durant did finish second in scoring to Carmelo Anthony, but he didn’t make it that far in the NBA playoffs. It wasn’t for lack of effort, as Durant averaged 30.8 points, 6.3 assists and 9.0 rebounds in the postseason.

The part he couldn’t control was the loss of superstar point guard teammate Russell Westbrook to knee surgery. The Thunder didn’t have enough offensive juice to move past the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference semifinals, and Durant missed opportunities near the end of games.

Maybe second isn’t so bad after all.

LeBron James and the Miami Heat Reign

Was there ever any doubt?

Well, of course there was.

But it didn’t come after Miami’s incredible 27-game win streak or when the Heat finished with the league’s best regular-season record. The doubts didn’t exist when LeBron James won his fourth Most Valuable Player award.

And nope, no one questioned Miami’s ability to defend its 2012 NBA championship when the Heat bullied through the first two rounds against the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls.

The doubt finally crept in when the Heat couldn’t seem to get a handle on the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. And major uncertainty clouded over Miami when the San Antonio Spurs went up 3-2 in the finals.

Then, James washed away any doubt.

The Heat superstar scored 32 points in a winning triple-double performance in Game 6 of the finals and scored 37 points in Miami’s Game 7 victory.

Miami finished 82-23 when combining the regular season and the postseason.

With all the questioning of Miami’s Big Three, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were just enough in all the appropriate moments. And the assistance of role players such as Mike Miller, Chris Andersen and Shane Battier was just as  important.

Of course, none of this would have been possible if not for the last-second three-pointer in Game 6 by Ray Allen, which saved the series.

Everything came together for the Heat, and they remain a dynasty in the making with a second consecutive title.

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