Now that it is the new year, let's look back at some of the NBA's top moments of 2023:
Lebron James Broke The All-Time Scoring Record
On February 7th, 2023, In his 20th season, LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the #1 spot on the NBA's all-time scoring list (38,387 points). Lebron James is arguably the greatest player of all time and at age 39 he is still showing no signs of slowing down. This season he is still averaging a very impressive 25 Points, 7 Rebounds, and 7 Assists while making over 50% of his shots.
The Denver Nuggets Won Their First NBA Championship
After defeating the Miami Heat in the finals, the Denver Nuggets, led by Nikola Jokic, were able to win their first championship in franchise history. In the finals, Jokic was very impressive, averaging 30.2 Points, 14 Rebounds, and 7.2 Assists while making 58.3% of his shots. He also deservingly won finals MVP.
Joel Embiid Won MVP
After being runner-up for the award the previous 2 seasons, Joel Embiid finally won MVP in 2023. In this season, Embiid averaged a very strong 33.1 points, 10.2 Rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game, while making 54% of his shots.
The other finalists for the award were Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic, who also both had very strong seasons, and an argument could definitely be made that one of them should have won the award.
The Los Angeles Lakers Won The Inaugural In-Season Tournament
The NBA tried to bring more competitive basketball earlier in the season this year with an in-season tournament and the experiment paid off very well, being a hit with both the players and fans. Lebron James added more items to his long list of accomplishments in the NBA by winning the first NBA Cup and also being the in-season tournament MVP. Anthony Davis also played very well in the tournament, especially in the final game. The runner-up team, the Indiana Pacers, played extremely well during the tournament, beating the Milwaukee Bucks in the quarter-final and the Boston Celtics in the semi-final.
Damian Lillard Got Traded to the Milwaukee Bucks
After many calls from fans and the media to request a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers, 7x all-star Damian Lillard finally pulled the trigger. Lillard spent 11 seasons with the Trail Blazers and, unlike other superstars in the league today, he remained extremely loyal to his franchise until the very end. Once he demanded a trade, Lillard was adamant about only wanting to be traded to the Miami Heat. This specific type of demand was unusual and received scrutiny by the league. But ultimately, and after months of no progress, Lillard was traded to the Bucks and this was likely something he got on board with easily as it paired him with two-time MVP Giannis Antetekuompo. Lillard has been a great fit on the Bucks this season, as his offensive ability has helped the Bucks stand at number 2 in the Eastern Conference currently.
Other major trades in 2023 include: Kristaps Porzingis to the Celtics, Chris Paul to the Warriors, and Bradley Beal the the Suns
Kings Made The Playoffs
The Sacramento Kings made the Playoffs for the first time in 16 Seasons.
The Kings ended 3rd in the western conference, with a record of 48-34. This secured them a spot in the playoffs for the first time since the 2005-06 NBA season. This was the longest active playoff drought in the NBA, NHL, NFL, and MLB.
The team faced and almost defeated the Golden State Warriors in the first round, losing the series 4-3 after winning the first 2 games.
Ja Morant Was Suspended
The NBA suspended Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant for 25 games (without pay) to start this season after being seen holding up a gun on social media for the second time in just 2 months.
After the first incident, in March, where Morant recorded himself holding up a gun at a club on Instagram Live, he was suspended 8 games and made a statement apologizing for his actions.
The second incident, in May, occurred when Morant was on Instagram Live while listening to music in the car with his friend, and he again showed a gun. Morant's friend quickly stopped the livestream, knowing the Morant would get in trouble again, but it was too late as everybody watching already noticed.
This suspension ended up having a big impact on the Grizzlies, as the team was off to a pretty bad 7-19 start before his return.