By Jordan Hamel

At any standard Indian BYO there will inevitably be one guy who orders the most Western sounding thing on the menu, one hero who gets the spiciest curry like it’s some sort of pissing contest. And then the rest, who will order something in between, unconcerned about the taste knowing full well that the $7 bottle of Fat Bird or clean skin will kill all their taste buds within half an hour.

This column is the literary equivalent of that. Sports journalism and NBA journalism in particular is built on takes; finding angles and perspectives that others miss. Then there are hot takes; outrageous or improbable opinions written purely to provoke. With so much NBA content its hard to figure out what’s true, what’s a reach and what’s simply fake news, and that’s why I’m here, armed with a Lamb Saag and a box of Country Dry Red, to do it for you and separate spice from substance.

Kawhi Leonard’s Return Should Have the NBA Scared

This one isn’t going to stop the presses, the earth is round, the sky is blue and a full strength Spurs team will always be competitive come finals time. This take is more of a baseline, a point of comparison for what’s to come.

Kawhi ‘World’s Biggest Hands’ Leonard was kept out for the early part of the season with a ruptured tendon and the Spurs did what the Spurs do and kept on rolling. NBA’s favourite woke Grandpa, Greg Popovich, continues to pull European nobodies out of obscurity (Davis Bertans, Brandon Paul) turning them into NBA-calibre rotation players. Chuck them beside some trusty veterans like 40-year-old Manu Ginobli and boom; you’ve got yourself a competitor!

Also we shouldn’t forget LaMarcus Aldridge. Fresh off a disappointing post-season and growing trade rumours, he’s starting to look like the Portland Alpha LaMarcus of old averaging 22 points, eight rebounds and two assists per game. But unlike the LaMarcus of old, he’s not just posting empty stats on a bad team. Aldridge is top-10 in Offensive Win Shares and posting a career high 24.8 PER, showing he can actually thrive with competent players around him.

The Spurs have been doing just fine, sitting pretty with a 20-10 record, and now they get to welcome back a top-five player who’s a threat at both ends of the court. It’s fair to say that barring catastrophe, which has never been San Antonio’s style, Leonard’s return will only help the Spurs juggernaut on their inevitable road to the playoffs and give the rest of the Western Conference something to worry about.

Spice Level: Mild, like extra Kiwi mild, butter chicken and a bottle of chardonnay, mild.

MVP is already a two-horse race

At the start of the year the Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo was the sexy pick for MVP. A young player who had taken the next step and led his plucky young team to a strong start, but the thirst for MVP Giannis has failed. Not on account of his play, he’s still averaging an absurd 30 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while performing Space Jam-esque feats of athleticism. But the Bucks have fallen back to earth and don’t look like the contender they were a month ago. 

That leaves two obvious candidates; the one man to defeat father time and the guy who probably should’ve won the damn thing last year; LeBron James vs James Harden.  

LeBron and the Cavs made it through their annual early season slump and the chorus of people telling them they’re finished. Now they’re second in the East, having won 18 of their last 20 games, including a 13 game win streak. This is in no small part thanks to the King himself. With Isaiah Thomas still yet to play a game in a Cavs Jersey, and Derrick Rose’s literal disappearance, LeBron has had to shoulder most of the play-making duties alongside scoring and trying to hold together a defence which features J.R Smith and three turnstiles. 

On top of his usual 8 rebounds per game, he’s dishing out the most assists he ever has (9.3) and dropping 28 points, while maintaining a Top Ten True Shooting Percentage. This blend of scoring and efficiency is what we’ve come to expect from James after seeing it for 14 years but we shouldn’t take it for granted.

Harden is a different story, he’s never won MVP, there were calls for Harden to win last year due to the Rockets’ unexpected success, but he narrowly missed out to Russell Westbrook and his no-Durant-no-worries, Triple-Double madness. Arguing over who was more deserving last year is irrelevant now, but judging by the way Harden is currently playing, he certainly believes he was robbed. 

The Rockets are the archetypal modern NBA team. Currently on a 14 game win streak; they play at an alarming pace, lead the league in Offensive Rating and they’re on track to make more three pointers in a season than any team in NBA history.  Harden has been the face (or rather the beard) of this basketball revolution, not only is he all but certain to win the scoring trophy, averaging a league leading 31.3 points per game, but he’s got a real shot at MVP this year too. 

At the end of the day, James and Harden are both unreal players posting ridiculous stat lines, but MVP voting comes down to narrative and both have the redemption year story. James, after years of voter fatigue and a second finals loss to the Warriors, and Harden, after missing out to Westbrook then imploding in the playoffs, have something to prove and if things stay the course, one of these two will be your MVP come June.

Spice Level: Medium, just a happy medium

Donovan Mitchell is the new front-runner for Rookie of the Year

The Utah Jazz haven’t had a lot to smile about this year, despite overachieving in the playoffs they still lost star player Gordon Hayward to the Boston Celtics in Free Agency. Offensive development from key players such as Rodney Hood and Rudy Gobert was supposed to help fill the 20 point a night hole left by Hayward, but so far both have been battling injuries and inconsistencies.

Instead it’s been rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell who the Jazz have turned to for some franchise rejuvenation, and he’s repaid their faith; filling up the stat sheet and bringing some excitement back to this struggling franchise. I think it’s fair to say that Donovan Mitchell’s rookie year is the sexiest thing to happen to Utah since Mormonism.

Since slotting into the starting line-up Mitchell has averaged a team high 20.6 points per game. This reflects the Jazz’s current offensive game plan of ‘give Mitchell the ball and hope for the best’. To their credit it hasn’t worked out terribly and they’re still fighting for that Western Conference eighth seed.

Mitchell’s recent play and Utah’s awakening has brought about calls for Mitchell as ROTY over more heralded candidates Ben Simmons and Jayson Tatum. Simmons and Tatum play for more capable teams, combining with offensive superstars they can share the load with and as a result they’re arguably not as integral to their teams success. Therefore, while Mitchell may not be the best rookie, he’s the most valuable.

That’s the argument anyway; personally I’m not buying it.  It’s not that what Mitchell’s doing isn’t incredible, because it is and there are about 8-10 teams who are probably wishing they didn’t pass on him in the draft. But, Ben Simmons still sits atop my rookie mountain looking down on the rest.  Simmons is already one of the best passers in the NBA and has the best court vision of any big man not named LeBron James. He’s also a regular threat for a triple-double and forms a combination with Joel Embiid that will terrorise the league for years to come. Expect Mitchell to earn First Team All-Rookie honours come end of season, but this award belongs to Simmons.

Spice Level: Kiwi Hot, basically medium but the person ordering it feels like a big man.

The Rockets are the best team in the Western Conference

I’ve addressed the Rockets run and gun excellence earlier on in this piece so I won’t repeat myself here. Yes, the Rockets are currently ahead of the Warriors in the West. Yes the Warriors look a little lethargic and disinterested with the regular season, but I think you would be too if you were coming off two titles in three years. Until we see some post-season success from Harden and the boys, the Warriors are still unquestionably the best team in basketball.

Spice Level: Indian Hot, face sweating, ring burning, Indian hot.