That's a good answer. Another more recent one is probably Derrick Rose. Can probably say Brandon Roy as well. Young all-star. Career ended way too soon.

Lets not forget another exciting dude. Not exactly an all star player but .... Jason " White Chocolate" Williams.

I used to acquire him via trade as my point guard every time I played NBA Live 2005 for the PlayStation 2. It came out in 2004. I bought it for Christmas.

My starting five in that game was....

Center - Yao Ming (Age 24)
Power Forward - Chris Bosh (Age 21)
Small Forward - Tracy McGrady (Age 24)
Shooting Guard - Dwyane Wade (Age 22)
Point Guard - Jason Williams (Age 27)

White Chocolate was my leader and point guard. The oldest guy on my roster.

My sixth man off the bench was Stromile Swift. That guy was so good in college.
Turned into an NBA bust but in the video game he was lengthy, quick and good.

My favorite was NBA LIVE 1995 on Super Nintendo.

You are right

NBA Jam on Sega Genesis. I spent too many hours playing it in middle school. Trying to unlock all the secret codes that game had. NBA 2K11 on the PC (played it with an XBOX controller) was also one of my favorites. You controlled a rookie Michael Jordan for his entire career. He was the only player I could play and when he went to the bench I watched the game from the bench. When he got injured the games would simulate without playing. Very deep game. I must've gotten to Year 6 or 7 with the Houston Rockets. Michael Jordan and Yao Ming were an unstoppable duo. A lot of times I'd feed Yao the ball inside the paint (easy buckets) and aim for 20 assists a game along with scoring 40 or 50 points with Jordan. A 99 dunk rating was unstoppable and I elevated my passing to a 99 rating.

I've seen one rumored trade scenario with the Houston Rockets acquiring Ja Morant.
Hmm. Ja Morant fits the Rockets' timeline full of younger stars but I just don't know.
Ja Morant seems more interested in waving guns around than he is winning an NBA Title.

I want to see what lottery pick the Rockets land on Monday night from the Phoenix Suns. 17.3% chance it's a top four pick and a 3.8% chance it's the #1 overall pick. Then we'll know if it's worth trading the 2025 pick, along with the unprotected 2027 and 2029 first-round picks from Phoenix. Should the Rockets end up with the first overall pick then I think they'll just draft Cooper Flagg and pair him with Alperen Sengun in what would quickly become the best young front court in the NBA.

An Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson and Ja Morant trio is also interesting... But Jalen Green has a chance to develop into a better player in the next few years if the Rockets remain patient. He just turned 23 years old and is far from a finished product. Besides Jalen, I could also see the Rockets trading Jabari Smith Jr., Cam Whitmore and Reed Sheppard. They've got enough assets to acquire any superstar they want.

But Giannis would likely require trading Sengun or Amen in the package deal. Giannis would be pretty ballsy and expensive to go after.

Rockets mutually decided to delay Fred VanVleet's $44 million team option from this Friday to late June. But it's obvious.
That expiring salary can be very useful whether they keep him all season or trade him. Likely to exercise the team option.

In the end I think the Rockets will end up trading for Kevin Durant. He'll give them the extra shooting and easy buckets they lack.
KD is old but still an elite scorer. There's more risk acquiring an older player but there's risk with every player. Ja Morant has risk.

Giannis Antetokounmpo... The Greek Freak! Even he has risk. Acquiring him means you're in it to win it. And if you don't you greatly failed.

This post was edited by MADmartigan on May 7 2025 10:36pm

"We got punked."

— David Adelman after the Nuggets' 43-pt loss to the Thunder in Game 2

Wow! The Golden State Warriors can definitely reach the 2025 NBA Finals...
They'll beat Minnesota and I think they can take down OKC or Denver in 7 games.

But I hope Stephen Curry can come back at some point. Even if he misses the rest of the second-round series vs. Minnesota.

I should hate Golden State because they always knock the Rockets out. But I respect Steve Kerr. Easily the best coach in the NBA right now.
Steve Kerr is also from the Gregg Popovich coaching tree just like Ime Udoka. Kerr learned a lot from Popovich when he played for the Spurs.

Also if the Warriors advance to the Western Conference Finals and potentially 2025 NBA Finals. I can say the Rockets took them to 7 games. LOL

I know

Let's go, Warriors. Go get that 2-0 series lead over Minnesota tonight. No Steph Curry. No problem.

I feel embarrassed that we couldn't be there beating the T-puppies. But the Dubs are a great team.
Steve Kerr is the best head coach in the NBA. Golden State is loaded with depth. Too many shooters.

Sometimes you have to learn a valuable lesson as a young team. The Warriors earned my respect.