6 NBA Stars Failing to Deliver What Their Teams Need Most
Stardom comes at a price.
When NBA players enter into that celestial realm—or, at least, are expected to, based on predicted improvement and massive contracts—they're tasked with much more responsibility. It's on them to make sure their teams live up to or exceed the expectations, and the results aren't pretty when they fail to do so.
Every year, stars prove that they're capable of handling those burdens. The 2014-15 season has been no different, with guys like Stephen Curry and James Harden, among many others, carrying their squads to success. But others, like these six, fail to provide their teams with what they need most.
You won't find any players on successful teams here. These are the standouts—or supposed standouts—who haven't lived up to the widespread expectations and are starting to take their squads down with them.
Carmelo Anthony
1 of 6
Team: New York Knicks
Position: SF
Age: 30
2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 25.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.3 blocks, 20.9 PER
This isn't about what Carmelo Anthony is doing on the floor.
Though he's regressed a bit since last year's individual brilliance, he's still asserting himself as one of the best players in the league: dominating as a scorer, providing steady contributions on the glass and displaying an understated willingness to find open teammates. The blame for the New York Knicks' utter collapse should not be thrust onto his plate.
But Anthony still isn't filling the role the Knicks need. Phil Jackson's tenure was never about this season; it was all about rebuilding quickly, drawing big-name free agents in 2015 and then competing during his second full campaign in charge.
Now, the 30-year-old small forward is making that hard. As if his knee injuries weren't worrisome enough, there's the whole issue of Anthony supposedly being willing to waive his no-trade clause if the Knicks dealt him to an organization he likes.
"Five months after swearing his allegiance to New York and signing a five-year, $124 million contract, sources told The Post the All-Star forward would be open to dropping his no-trade clause if team president Phil Jackson strikes a deal with a team Anthony would like to play for," Marc Berman reports for the New York Post.
Of course, his agent, Leon Rose, denies it.
"Carmelo, as always, is committed to the Knicks," Rose told ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley. "There have never been discussions about trades or wanting to leave New York. Any story, rumor, report to the contrary is utter nonsense."
However, even though Anthony denies that willingness, this is a stunning reversal of course, coming only months after he fully committed himself to the Knicks. The about-face, even if it's just an inaccurate rumor, isn't exactly going to do wonders when trying to recruit marquee free agents to Madison Square Garden next summer, as it just corroborates with all the other evidence pointing toward New York as a dysfunctional organization.
If Anthony wants to change that, he needs to alleviate concerns about his health, stop getting in spats with teammates and leave no doubt that he's fully on board with the Knicks' long-term plans, even if they're painful to endure in the present.
Kobe Bryant
2 of 6
Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Position: SG
Age: 36
2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 25.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.2 blocks, 19.5 PER
Regardless of how you feel about Kobe Bryant's hard-nosed-high-school-football-coach strategies at the Los Angeles Lakers' practices, it's hard to deny that he's been an impressive player during the 2014-15 season. It's not exactly easy for a 36-year-old to come off major injuries and play at this level, chasing down legends on leaderboards and competing for yet another scoring title (even if he's doing so inefficiently).
Problem is, he's killing the Los Angeles Lakers by playing in this manner. It's possible to be a high-quality player on the court and still be providing harmful production.
Bryant is proving it.
Though he's admittedly been doing a better job involving his teammates in recent weeks—and they could stand to put up more resistance when he goes on one of his hero-ball sprees rather than passively deferring—Bryant's ball-hogging ways are making it rather difficult: A) for the Lakers to win, B) for his scoring to win over the hearts of intelligent basketball fans and C) for the Lakers to hold much appeal next offseason.
Are star players really going to want to spend a season taking a distinct back seat to an aging Bryant? Maybe.
But "maybe" isn't good enough for this organization, one that's badly in need of a quick turnaround. And if the legendary shooting guard, one who's a lock for the Hall of Fame, hopes to get a more definitive answer, he needs to display a willingness to play team ball and make more of a concerted effort on the defensive end of the court.
Bryant has scored a lot, but until he's more efficient and focused on defense, he simply won't be valuable. Like, not at all.
His defensive box plus/minus, which shows how many more (or less) points per 100 possessions the Lakers allow when he's on the court rather than a league-average defender, stands at minus-2.7, which literally cancels out his 2.7 offensive box plus/minus. Additionally, the Lake Show has been outscored by 13 points per 100 possessions when he's on the court, as compared to topping the opposition by five points over the same span when he's on the bench.
It's time for Bryant to change how he's playing.
Kenneth Faried
3 of 6
Team: Denver Nuggets
Position: PF
Age: 25
2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 11.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.5 blocks, 16.9 PER
What in the world happened here?
This was supposed to be the season that Kenneth Faried took over. Fresh off his dominant performance for Team USA at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, he inked a massive contract extension and was set to make the proverbial leap. His offense looked vastly improved, and he remained the same standout rebounder he'd been ever since making a name for himself at Morehead State.
The opposite has happened.
Faried has regressed, becoming rather uninvolved in the Denver Nuggets offense. He's taken a step back on the glass, his defense is still miserable—especially against more stretchy power forwards—and he's played without any semblance of confidence. He and Brian Shaw have publicly butted heads, leading to some extra time on the bench during stretch runs, and the media hasn't exactly been kind to him.
Shaw recently spoke with Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post and said the following about the struggling big man:
"It’s really hard to say. Obviously, he’s disappointed in the way he’s played up to this point. There hasn’t been a level of consistency. One of the things that I try to remind him all the time is what made him, got him to this level, got him paid recently, is the fact that he’s always brought energy and always rebounded the ball. When you look at his stats up to this point, is the energy always there? I wouldn’t say that it consistently has been. But even before that, is he rebounding the ball the way he is known for rebounding the ball? He’s not doing that either. So no matter what happens, you get back to the basics of what got you here. And I think that’s what he has to do.
"
Faried himself also provided Dempsey with some interesting—albeit brief—insight.
How has he played thus far?
"Awful," the big man said without even waiting for the end of the question.
What needs to be better?
"Everything."
If he's going to justify the extension and carry Denver back into the playoff race, he's not wrong.
Rajon Rondo
4 of 6
Team: Boston Celtics
Position: PG
Age: 28
2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 8.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.2 blocks, 14.7 PER
There may not be a player in the NBA more confusing than Rajon Rondo.
One of the league's very best distributors and a defensive stalwart at point guard, the Boston Celtic certainly brings a lot to the table. He's a triple-double monster capable of rebounding like he's a center, and there's no telling when his two-way ability is going to help carry Beantown to a victorious outing.
However, his scoring ability—or lack thereof—is severely inhibiting the Boston offense.
Rondo is averaging only 8.5 points per game, as well as a career-worst 9.6 per 36 minutes. He's shooting just 39.6 percent from the field, and his free-throw shooting is absolutely atrocious. Thus far, the floor general has made only 32.4 percent of his tries at the supposedly charitable stripe. It's a percentage Dwight Howard and Andre Drummond would look at in horror.
Though he's never been a potent free-throw shooter, this is taking his struggle to a new level. It's almost as if he's developed the basketball version of the yips.
And because he's not even remotely a threat to score, defenses can alter their approach and shut down the Celtics offense. That's why, despite his gaudy assist average, the C's are scoring 0.8 fewer points per 100 possessions when Rondo is on the court.
"Remember two months ago, when the New England Patriots were a lackluster 2-2 and every other sports radio caller was ready to officially declare Tom Brady washed up?" Zack Cox asked for NESN.com after the Celtics fell to 7-13. "That's akin to what Rajon Rondo is going through now."
Only time will tell if Rondo can prove as resilient as Brady.
Lance Stephenson
5 of 6
Team: Charlotte Hornets
Position: SG
Age: 24
2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 10.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.1 blocks, 10.7 PER
When the Charlotte Hornets signed Lance Stephenson to a big free-agent deal, it wasn't so that he could come to town and brick one jumper after another. He was going to be an offensive spark, a player who would help make the potent defense even better while steering the scoring unit in a positive direction.
So much for that.
During the 2014-15 season, the former Bobcats have scored 100.8 points per 100 possessions, a mark that leaves them ahead of only the Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers. But in 2013-14, they were putting up 103.6 points over the same span, which left them with the league's No. 24 offensive rating.
They're going in the wrong direction, and Stephenson's terrible fit in the Steve Clifford offense is part of the issue. He interrupts whatever semblance of flow the sets have, often forcing the offense to devolve into an isolation play. And it's not as though he's shooting well, seeing as he's hitting just 38.7 percent of his shots from the field while going 7-of-44 (15.9 percent) from beyond the arc.
It's already been enough that the Hornets may be convinced they made a mistake, as Grantland's Zach Lowe explained while reporting the team was looking into shaking things up with a deal:
"The Hornets have been aggressive making trade calls, according to sources across the league.
The Hornets are searching for upgrades on the wing and at power forward, per those sources, and they are willing to talk turkey on basically anyone other than Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson. Free agents signed this past offseason can’t be traded until December 15, and few would be surprised if the Hornets make and take calls on Lance Stephenson ahead of that trigger date.
"
Yikes. That's about as big a sign as any that a star player (star, in this case, as determined by salary and expectations, not actual production) isn't living up to the expectations and delivering what his team needs.
Going from free-agent savior to potential trade fodder in only a quarter of a season can't be construed as anything other than a negative.
Deron Williams
6 of 6
Team: Brooklyn Nets
Position: PG
Age: 30
2014-15 Per-Game Stats: 17.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.4 blocks, 17.6 PER
"If [Deron] Williams is back to being D-Will—and there are many indications that he is—then the Nets, who open the season Wednesday night in Boston against the Celtics, have every reason to be cautiously optimistic about the 2014-15 season," Lenn Robbins explained for NBA.com prior to the start of the 2014-15 campaign.
"We feel like we have a chance to win," Deron Williams told reporters after the preseason slate had been played out. "As long as we believe that, that's all that matters. Whatever the predictions are, whatever you guys are saying in the papers, all that doesn't matter as long as we believe we can compete with anybody."
All those sentiments were great, providing hope that a rejuvenated and healthy Williams could lead the Brooklyn Nets to much more success than they enjoyed in 2013-14. However, they were just false and misleading sentiments, as he's resembled last year's worn-down point guard rather than the All-Star floor general who thrived a few years ago and wrestled with Chris Paul for the positional crown.
Williams has by no means been a negative contributor for Brooklyn. He's merely been good, not great. But the Nets desperately needed him to be the latter if they were going to make even the smallest modicum of noise in the weak Eastern Conference.
As a result, Brooklyn has struggled, and the stars have been placed on the trade block, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein and Ohm Youngmisuk.
It seems as though any dreams of championships have evaporated in this borough once and for all.
Note: All stats, unless otherwise indicated, come from Basketball-Reference.com and are current heading into Dec. 12's games.
