The evolution of the NBA has been a beautiful thing to watch throughout the decades. Still, the game has never changed more drastically throughout the history of the illustrious game of basketball than in the last decade in large part due to Golden State Warriors megastar Stephen Curry breaking the boundaries of the sport many never thought were possible.
Since he broke onto the scene to a national audience a decade ago now it’s shifted the paradigm and course of where the game/league was headed forever. He forced bigs to have to become more skilled on the perimeter from ball handling, passing, and shooting, while also having to be able to guard out on the perimeter and be switchable.
We also have to give credit to legends such as Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Chris Webber, and Kevin Durant. Nowitzki forever changed the game as the first 7-footer with a two-guard skillset who came from Germany and took a lot of heat for the ones that came after him by being a perimeter-oriented big man who revolutionized the game and made tall guys reimagine what they could do offensively… Durant took what Dirk did and raised it up a notch with more athletic ability than his predecessor.
Webber was one of the best passing bigs of all time with an elite handle who showed bigs they can initiate and have an offense run through them as he did for the Sacramento Kings in the late 90s and early 2000s. Garnett helped take versatility to a new level by guarding all five positions defensively, handling the ball like a guard, and being a tenacious competitor.
So who’s next after those guys after we’ve had Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and just recently Victor Wembanayma help reimagine and redefine what bigs can do?
Meet the 6-foot-10 Lithuanian forward set to play for the NBA G-League Ignite next season, Matas Buzelis.