Oscar Robertson was a freak of nature before the phrase was even coined. He was a 6'5", 205-pound monster who terrorized the NBA with a combination of size, skill, and will that was truly only rivaled by the giants of the game at the time, centers Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, among others.
Alas, the Big O was a point guard. He was not a lumbering pile of limbs like the centers of those times, whose games revolved around being as close to the basket as possible upon receiving the ball, then using their towering height to gain an advantage in tossing the ball over the man guarding him and into the hoop. No, sir, Oscar's game did not resemble that one bit, though he did hold an advantage of his own. Oscar Robertson was the very first "jumbo point guard" (as I like to call it) in an era where the smallest person on the roster was a team's point guard, and the unfortunate receiver of Robertson as his matchup. Imagine the luxury Robertson had of going up against the likes of Bob Cousy (6'1", 175 lbs), Lenny Wilkens (6'1", 180 lbs), and Jerry West (6'2", 175 lbs) on a nightly basis, and those were the best PG's in the league, too. Against all the others, Robertson's dominance would only be that much easier to impose on his opponent.
This is not meant to take anything away from Oscar Robertson. Robertson is an all-timer no matter what the size of his peers were. Also, I am not suggesting that Robertson was the only big point guard in the league during the entire duration of his career. 6 years after Robertson's rookie year, the 6'4" Walt "Clyde" Frazier made his debut and proceeded to take the league by storm as the leader of the famous early-70's New York Knicks.
Simply put, Oscar Robertson was the first player to bring the ball up the court every possession and be his team's best option to score, shoot, and distribute, all while being bigger and taller than anyone else at his position. He was an anomaly, a once-in-a-generation force that took basketball as we knew it in the 1960's and changed it forever. Above all else, including his unfathomable triple-double season, a season which also featured Wilt's 100 point game, Oscar Robertson re-defined the point guard position and paved the way for the unconventional yet remarkable players we have playing the position today.
As any basketball fan knows, Magic Johnson came along in 1980 and took Oscar's game to an entirely different level. Standing 6'9" and possessing all the flair and dynamic ability of Maravich, Cousy, and other smaller guards, Magic was the ultimate showman. Different than the Big O in terms of playing style, but cut from the same cloth as point guards not defined by their size.
Magic, for the purpose of this exercise, was but a piece of the puzzle. He made a contribution toward the larger goal of the complete, modern-day point guard. Penny Hardaway, though only for a very limited amount of time, added on to that model in the 90's with his exceptional athleticism and ability to play multiple styles and blend well with the talent around him.
It wasn't until 2003, however, that the manifestation of all these traits were put together in one player. I think you can guess where I'm going here: LeBron James entered the NBA to fulfill his destiny as the ultimate ball-handler who can score just as easily as he can distribute. In other words, the most complete point guard in NBA history.
No, this isn't another LeBron dick-ride blog post that you can probably find anywhere on the Internet. That being said, he doesn't receive all the attention that he does for no reason. LeBron, standing 6'8" and 250+ lbs, while also possessing elite court vision, an innate feel for finding the open man, an improved jumper, and the best ability to finish around the rim that I have ever seen, is the embodiment of the perfect modern NBA point guard. He is not a small forward as 2K might tell you. Watch a Cavaliers game and it should be apparent by the end of the first quarter that the role LeBron plays in the Cavs' offense would check off every duty of your typical 6'2" point guard. Conversely, Kyrie Irving, who, when healthy and with more experience, is possibly the better Robin to LeBron's Batman than Dwyane Wade ever could be, may be listed as a point guard by any website or video game, but you watch his game and he plays awfully similar to some insane cross between Jamal Crawford, Monta Ellis, and a touch of Ray Allen. The commonality between the three players I just listed: they are all universally agreed upon as shooting guards. Kyrie Irving is a shooting guard. Just because he isn't 6'6" that doesn't make him anything else but a SHOOTING guard.
I suppose this dedication to labeling these players as a certain position may seem slightly pointless to some, especially Jalen Rose, who claims "positions were created so a novice can follow the game." This may be true, but since we do have positions, why not get them right?
Another example of a misidentified player is MVP runner-up James Harden, who is incorrectly referred to as a shooting guard. The Beard brings the ball up virtually every time for the Rockets (except for the always-entertaining Josh Smith trials at PG that we've seen lately) and is their leading assist man. Harden initiates all the Rockets' sets, and is the foul-drawing engine to the Rockets' 3-point driven offense. The Rockets may start the shorter Jason Terry (or Patrick Beverly when he's healthy) alongside Harden in the backcourt, but that does not change the fact that Harden is the primary, secondary, and tertiary ball handler and playmaker of the Houston Rockets.
Since I've already touched on the point guards of two of the four remaining teams in these playoffs, it's only right that next up in this discussion is none other than the man who beat out Harden for this season's MVP, the current phenomenon known as Steph Curry. A man of many nicknames, Chef Curry with the Pot is unlike LeBron and Harden in that mostly everyone considers him a point guard. So why even bring up this Brother of Splashes then? I'm glad you asked. I am prone to overstatements, so keep that in mind when I say that I believe Steph Curry is the greatest shooter in the history of the sport of basketball. Move aside Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, and Drazen Petrovic, Curry has chucked his way past all of them. Whether it's off-the-dribble, catch-and-shoot in the corner, or curling off a screen, Curry makes every single shot he takes look like he's taking wide-open jumpers in the gym. Even when he's forced to contort his perfectly sculpted shooting stroke because there's actual defense being played that he must account for, he still manages to find a way to put the ball through the hoop. No point guard in the history of the NBA has been as prolific a shooter as Curry in every facet of the art of the jump shot. Not Steve Nash, not Pete Maravich, not Chris Paul. Those legendary point guards do share a skill with Curry, though: the ability to drop a jaw-dropping dime whenever they feel like it. Curry only recently added this to his arsenal in-game, which likely contributed to his takeover as the sport's most popular player among the youngest generation of fans. Curry, like Maravich and Magic before him, is a showman who is always aware of what the fans want, and how to deliver (by the way, I highly recommend watching that video I linked to of Maravich if you're not familiar with his game. I find his highlight reels more entertaining than anyone else).
Finally, Jeff Teague deserves a mention as the point guard of the soon-to-be-runner-up Eastern Conference champion Atlanta Hawks, right? Well, kinda. You see, Teague represents the new age of point guards that have come up over the past couple of years and will continue to thrive in today's NBA. Teague's ultra-agressive attacking mentality combined with a decent shooting stroke (34% 3-pt) is what most teams are looking for in their floor generals, as opposed to the traditional, less athletic, pass-first point guards that formerly were found throughout the league. Guys like Damian Lillard, Ty Lawson, Mike Conley, and Kyle Lowry probably make up the bottom of any Top 10 Point Guard list you might have with your friends, as their skill sets are highly coveted by NBA GMs who are aware that finding the next Curry, Harden, or even Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook (who deserves his own category) is a fool's errand.
So the Teague-type point guard is just one that is taking over the league. The other? The freakishly-athletic, super-sized point guard that is also taking the NBA by storm. The value of these guys are absolutely skyrocketing league-wide. Why else do you think the Bucks were so comfortable with trading away Brandon Knight? Because they adore the length, athleticism, and raw ability that Michael Carter-Williams brings to the table, despite his clear inability to shoot with any proficiency and a troubling propensity to turn the ball over. Other examples of these kinds of point guards are John Wall, Elfrid Payton, Marcus Smart (kinda), and Emmanuel Mudiay, who will be a top 10 pick in the upcoming draft. Their games breed excitement above all else, with efficiency and selflessness occasionally taking a back seat. The best example of one of these players "putting it all together" is of course Wall, who was also a mega-prospect coming out of high school and college. He was always expected to be a star, though that doesn't make his progression over the past 2-3 years any less impressive.
The state of the point guard position is undoubtedly the brightest of any other position in the league. Klay Thompson and Jimmy Butler are holding down the shooting guard fort as Kobe enters what could very well be his final season, while other SG's fail to take the next step like Klay and Butler have, for various reasons. Players such as Demar Derozan (poor shot selection and lack of a reliable 3-point shot), Wesley Matthews (a truly unfortunate injury), and Lance Stephenson (who the hell knows) will hopefully turn their fortunes around sooner than later.
Small forward is murky as well, especially with the league preferring complimentary, "3-and-D"-type SF's to ball-dominating ones. Guys like Demarre Carroll, Khris Middleton, and Trevor Ariza will never be known as stars, yet they are the exact kind of players that are attracting the most attention at the position from teams around the league. Obviously, Kevin Durant will never go away, Kawhi Leonard is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Carmelo Anthony is an elite scorer when healthy, and Paul George will likely regain his All-NBA form, but don't expect the small forward position to surpass the point in terms of star power any time soon.
Power forwards are an interesting bunch. Anthony Davis is the crown jewel PF right now, while Lamarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin are right there as well. Davis is basically everything I said about LeBron as a ball-handler, but applied to every skill you want out of a big man. Aldridge is the ultimate stretch-4, while Griffin is the league's premier athlete at the position, along with other interesting, and improving, abilities. All the non-stars at the power forward position are expected to consistenly knock down a 15-17 foot jumper, rebound effectively, and provide steady defense. The best example of this is Serge Ibaka, who is the consummate third banana and complement to two scorers such as Westbrook and Durant. Ibaka is the model for all role-playing power forwards entering the league, though very few will possess the natural athleticism that Ibaka has been blessed with.
Finally we get to centers. The slower, bulkier, back-to-the-basket low post scoring center is as obsolete as ever, as only Brook Lopez and Al Jefferson really succeed in that role. Maybe it's not a surprise that their teams don't, though, as the league has clearly gone away from building a team around that kind of center. The big man model created by Tyson Chandler and perfected by Deandre Jordan is now ruling the NBA, as guys like Rudy Gobert, Andre Drummond, and others are much more agile and fit better in the pace-and-space offenses. Marc Gasol and Demarcus Cousins are likely the best centers in the game today, and that is mostly a result of their versatile, efficient styles of play. Unfortunately for all the old-school NBA fans, centers have lost more importance and influence in the game than any other position by a significant margin.
This brings us back to the point guard position, as most NBA discussions do. They lead their offenses, collect the best stats, and generally draw the most headlines. There are more stars playing point guard than at any other position, and this is not an accident either. Offenses in today's NBA revolve around the ball-handler's ability to be a threat to shoot from anywhere, drive to the hoop and score, or find the open man. These are essentially the three most important skills a basketball player can possess, so it's only natural that a team's featured player is going to be its point guard.
You won't see any complaints out of me about this, as guard-driven basketball is extremely entertaining, as evidenced by the NBA's ever-increasing popularity and league wide revenue. The NBA's new TV deal for 2016 is a clear indication that people love watching basketball in 2015, and the way the game is currently played is unsurprisingly a large reason why. It seems like the league will continue to grow as the point guard position grows, both in terms of talent and importance. If the past couple years are any indication, it's a safe bet that the NBA will continue to be a booming business for years to come.
