The Most Random 1 Year Primes In NBA History

[@DanielS-gv5nj]

I am still mad, that MCW didn't score a quadrupel double at his debut. That would have been one of the most hilarious footnotes in NBA history.

[@rudyardganuelas6254]

Imagine your whole career is a slow and steady downhill from your first game ever.

[@thahoopstrategist]

Whatever happened to him. I thought for sure he turn into an All star...that process culture could not have helped.

[@DrugzMunny]

Man, his potential was way off the charts. I hate being super wrong about a prospect.

[@fortynights1513]

Had a fair first year and got the playing time to put those per game stats up, but was inefficient, and MCW’s rookie year is often cited as an example of empty stats (I.e. a better team doesn’t give him the playing time to put up those per game stats).

[@SnuggieMaple]

@@thahoopstrategist injuries happened

[@damonsonnier34]

1995 Dana Barros. He averaged 20.6PPG and 7.5AST during that season. That was an improvement from 13.3PPG and 5.2AST in the previous season. He played for the 76ers, and he scored 50 points on an incredible 80.8FG% (21/26) against the Rockets. That game alone is regarded as a top 100 game in NBA’s game score rankings. If you remember this player, his best teammates were Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker, Jerry Stackhouse, and Ben Wallace.

[@David-iv6je]

Great pick! I clearly remember Barros on those SOnics teams. I lived in Seattle at the time. Great spirit around the Sonics, great hoops town.

[@farstrider4592]

Kenny Smith remembers 😂

[@tyresejones3535]

Never heard of him until your comment did some research on basketball reference and saw that he shot an insane 46.4 percent from 3 on 5.4 attempts per game from 3 which is a mind boggling amount of 3s for a player too take back in 95. He truly belonged in today’s game.

[@kingoftheverticaldiet1108]

One of the best, most underrated shooters ever, and of the most consistent players ever aswell

[@landonevans2852]

@@David-iv6je i like dana cause he was on the celics

[@deezosaintloyal]

This used to happen a lot in the 2000’s-2010’s. Players would ball out on their contract year, get paid, then take it easy.

[@WilliamAfton524]

Bro Davis Bertans committed robbery with that nasty ass contract 💀

[@mattmmixes]

2016-2021 the spot up shooters were getting bags

[@damienwest2519]

​@@mattmmixesall thanks to curry

[@jrcrashin4575]

@@damienwest2519lol exactly bro curry should get 10% of each contract that got signed

[@tacocasa9812]

GLAD WE FINALLY GOT RID OF HIS AZZŹ1🤠🤠💙💙

[@TheIcemanthomas]

Tyrekes issue wasn’t production. It was injuries, management not knowing how to utilize him, and his lack of shooting.

[@ConcaCon]

True. I actually thought his 17-18 season was a lot better than his rookie season because of improved defense and far better efficiency.

[@jh0720]

Yeah but even bigger than production or injuries… 😅

[@cbm3]

People forget how important Mike James was to the 04 Pistons, him and Lindsey Hunter off the bench was a huge problem for opposing guards. If the Pistons kept him around I think they wouldve won another title in 05.

[@JWex-jy7sk]

I'm just glad they brought up his one hit wonder season on those Raptors. Team went 27-55 so hardly anyone remembers this season existed in his career. He was probably the most random Top 20 PPG scorer in NBA history!

[@freddyb3380]

Mike James was a bad mfer

[@copernicusjordan8822]

If pistons didn’t leave horry in the corner that would have helped

[@Mozambicanchild2024]

The fact that many of them did it in a contract year, shows that PG and others weren’t lying about some players not being as passionate about the game as others

[@sosmooth13]

The Mike James one is crazy. I remembered Brooks’ rise and fall but he was still somewhat solid. The reason why Mike James fall was weird to me because he was SUPER solid. I mean, 44% from 3 is crazy.

[@SLOBODNIFRLANJA]

As a Lakers fan I hated Brooks in that '09 playoffs.. Dude was killing us!

[@mattmmixes]

Taking the eventual champions to 7 with no T-Mac is insane the west was so loaded there was no “warm up” series

[@farstrider4592]

Quick scoring guards were the Lakers’ achilles during those championship runs. I know Derek Fisher is made out to be some hero for coming back to LA but he was such a poor defender during those years.

[@Moneymaker600]

@@farstrider4592facts

[@codejjm]

Aaron Brooks was criminally underrated

[@guillermor9207]

I remember Michael Carter-Williams’ debut game thinking he was going to be a generational talent. A rookie dropping a near quadruple double against Miami Heat LeBron just sounds crazy and unreal. As a LeBron fan, I thought MCW was going to overthrow him and take the East and the NBA over. It might sound like an over exaggeration, but there are a lot of factors to why the hype was so real after this game. It’s impressive enough for any NBA player to have that statline of a near quadruple double. Then throw in the fact that it’s against the back to back NBA champions with a peak athletic LeBron, and the Sixers beat them without any established/veteran superstars on their team. Then throw in the fact that he did it as a rookie in his first game ever… this was historic, arguably the greatest debut game for any rookie ever in terms of impact.

[@Ivylion1206]

Mike James had a huge leap in stats because he was able to play an extra 12 minutes a game and shoot around 5-6 more shots per game. If you look at his per 36 minutes a game average, he wasn’t too far off each year around that

[@fortynights1513]

In other words, an example of a player who didn’t play a ton better (at least scoring wise), but who got the playing time to put up the per game stats.

[@Grind2Excellence]

@@fortynights1513meaning he got a opportunity that he should have had

[@ckq]

I keep track of a metric that shows how players are so for Mike James, that 1 year increase can be attributed to his MPG going from 25 to 37 resulting in his stats being 1.5x better. Some of that scoring was kinda empty cause his +/- in 2005 was +158, but in 2006 it went to -137. Similar idea for Aaron Brooks, his MPG went from 25 to 36 and his +/- went from +171 to -26 For Bobby Simmons his MPG also went from 25 to 37, but his jump was somewhat more real cause his +/- went from negative to positive and he was almost as good the next season. The general trend here is that players can break out but it's hard to sustain since the average NBA career length is 5 years. Especially when they get paid their work ethic goes down knowing they've secured generational wealth. For MCW he did peak as a rookie, but he was a -450 his rookie year, so those stats were pretty empty. He played at a similar level for his first 3 years, then became a journeyman For Tyreke, he was a -334 his rookie year, so Curry deserved ROTY but voters were too obsessed with PPG. He didn't necessarily decline, he was solid his whole career just never became or was a star Davis's career is pretty normal, he started slow his first 2 years, then he peaked from 18-19 to 20-21, with him shooting lights out in 19-20 (notice he was +257 in 2019 then -12 in 2020 to +111 in 2021), and the last 2 years he declined. That's a pretty normal 7 year career for a role player that can shoot.

[@bkilla888]

Cool

[@HeatCheck]

Nice breakdown 👏👏

[@afaris88]

As I suspected, gotta have something to do with their MPGs.

[@JSage13]

+- most irrelevant metric ever

[@xiamfinal571]

I think YOU are a bit too obsessed with +/-

[@Irfanhill]

There's a saying going around in NBA circles that basically any NBA player (except maybe some defensive specialists) can average 15 per game if they have a green light on a mediocre-to-bad team. We have plenty of examples that show it is mainly true. Even the "worst" NBA player is still one of the top 1000 to 2000 basketball players in the world.

[@newthrash1221]

I've been saying this for a while. If you give any given player the go-ahead to keep shooting, they can put down some relatively impressive numbers.

[@kevinriddell4107]

All these guys would be signed to $250 million contracts right after these seasons nowadays

[@shorteststraw417]

Great idea for a video. The nba has had 1000s of individual players in its history. Sure the stars are easy to pick out and tell their stories, but the role players are interesting too. Would love to see more videos on them too.

[@benmack4525]

I don’t see how James harden didn’t make this list we didn’t know he was that good till he got to his 1st game as a rocket

[@Simon_Sez]

Just seeing Aaron Brooks reminds me of a crazy alley oop dunk he had lol I think it was off an inbounds play too

[@TriuneWorshipper]

He showed the clip in the video 😂

[@Simon_Sez]

@@TriuneWorshipper I saw a layup, not a dunk

[@LeroyzkiSmithsonian]

So many players make the mistake of switching teams the moment they pop off. It’s more their role of the team changed rather than them suddenly improving drastically.

[@mattmmixes]

True but sometimes they don’t have a choice the end up being the odd man out in a positional battle

[@nilonen]

I doubt it's about switching up. Most likely they know that they can't replicate the season they just had and just take as much money as possible in the next contract since they will never get that kinda money again.

[@zackrodriguez7519]

Just trying to secure the bag. If I’m a random role player that went crazy out of nowhere in my contract year, I’m taking the most lucrative deal on the table no matter what. You have a chance to set up your entire bloodline atp 😂

[@gumdeo]

@@zackrodriguez7519 Right, take the money 💰

[@MrAmillz88]

Aaron Brooks helping Yao up off the ground is crazy....

[@mushtikla1]

Tyreke was probably the most misused player in recent memory. He was almost unstoppable as a PG despite his mediocre (at best) shooting. He was too big and strong for pretty much any PG but almost all teams played him at SG and the Pelicans even played him at SF, which just simply took away all his advantages and highlighted his weaknesses :O I believe that in his "comeback" season you mentioned, the Grizzlies mostly let him run the show as the PG. I think he could have at least maintained similar numbers if he stayed at PG throughout his career and would probably still be in the league in some capacity. (I think he got banned/suspended for PEDs a few years back?)

[@chuckmeister6897]

LOL 3:35 Micheal Carter Williams, dunking on Giannis and Middleton

[@ville6515]

Lmao that’s crazy

[@Notforjordy]

This is what the legends mean when they say empty stats, scoring nothing points on a trash team

[@KillianGrenier13]

Crazy. Talent in the NBA is so deep that your average 6th and 7th man can probably drop 20 PPG if given the opportunity

[@higherheights3105]

Brooks was a sniper, he was just hesitant to shoot the ball. 🤘🏾🚀

[@MartinLaplace]

I have the theory that if a player makes a huge leap on a contract year, almost NEVER translates after that contract. NEVER. Miami has a history of proving this: Dion Waiters, Hassan Whiteside, James Johnson, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Johnson...

[@fortynights1513]

Is it because they wanted to earn the money, then got paid?

[@MartinLaplace]

@@fortynights1513 and then they didn't care anymore.

[@jaquanndewberry3456]

every single player in the league, if they are given the ball, 30+ minutes a night, and 15-20 shots a game, their numbers are going to be good

[@jwill55kings]

Mike James was unbelievable for that one year

[@irfanhaider1930]

Great video bro. You should have mentioned some career highs for these guys. Maybe you can do another vid about random career highs/stat lines :)

[@bball3048mm]

Boris Diaw's 2005-2006 season was a nice 1 year prime.

[@prolifik5]

He was good for a decent chunk of his career though, albeit inconsistent. Usually if you put him on a good team where he gave a shit, he was a solid contributor.

[@cognomarcelo]

@@prolifik5 that's right. There is a big difference between having stats and contributing to a team. IMO the best version of Diaw was in San Antonio, where he displayed amazing IQ and was crucial to winning the title. And on those years his stats were mid.

[@techzone884]

Tyreke Evans wasn't a random jump. Dude could ball

[@jphuture]

It's funny how the first 2 dudes were Rafer Alston's immediate replacement!!look it up. Mike James was traded in beginning of 05-06 season for Rafer while Aaron brooks was his back up in Houston till he was traded to orlando

[@TheDan14]

the lesson is if you're a pretty good player you can cook on a not great team with few other scoring options because someone needs to take those shots; the cool thing about your Mike James and Aaron Brooks of the world is that they were solid contributors before and after that they just stepped up the scoring when they were the team's best option

[@fortynights1513]

These players may have value in lesser roles, but aren’t efficient scorers over a longer sample.

[@vtricko2391]

i’ve seen someone say take out a player’s best season and their worst season and that’s who they are as a player

[@rome8180]

You should never trust contract-year production. It's amazing how locked in players can be when there's money on the line.

[@prolifik5]

My fantasy team was very thankful for Mike James that year.

[@Bullsdabest777]

This goes way back but Bill Cartwright too. All star his rookie year then declined every year after not even due to injury.

[@underdog_clips]

I think Malik Beasley also had a 1 year prime. A season after a trade from Denver to Minnesota he averaged 19.6 PPG, and 2.4 APG over 37 games. The season before that "prime" he averaged 11.2 PPG and the season after the "prime" he went down to 12.1 PPG.

[@HNH24-7]

He averaged 20.7 after getting traded in 19-20. The following year he averaged 19. His stats went down in Minnesota because ant eventually rose to being the second best player on the team at the time and now he’s the best. Beasley then had to become the 6 man because we already had dlo running the 1

[@ThunderWoe]

Don May the year Buffalo Braves (now known as the LA Clippers) were first founded. Flynn Robinson as well during Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s rookie season.

[@AlexH-yd4vj]

Contract year showouts are definitely a thing. Play hard when you can cash in and then ease off afterwards

[@punaforager]

Great research ! I remember some of those players.

[@Clapstain]

Tyreke Evans could have been a beast if they kept him at the 1. They forced him to play the 3 and he dropped off.

[@Ai3TV]

I loved Aaron Brooks! I was lucky enough to catch his high school championship game, unfortunately my best friend passed in 2009, so I kinda fell off from watching sports, any Aaron Brooks content i want to see. I did actually watch that one good season by Bertans when I lived in Virginia, they televised Wizards games Nice video!

[@Goxilla]

That just shows that almost every NBA player is capable of scoring 20 pts per night. Btw you should add Isiah Thomas to that list.

[@thebasketballhistorian3291]

It's sad many of these happened in a contract year. It's like they had the ability to play as a star, but as soon as they got the money, lost motivation to work as hard. That's why I admire Jalen Brunson. Some analysts thought the Knicks paid too much for him. But after he got the contract, he actually played BETTER than what the contract was worth.

[@TheIcemanthomas]

Joakim that one year he was in the mvp convo

[@AhmetDursun1903]

I was in Seattle,WA for a year in 96/97 for my family's work and I went to 6th grade with Aaron Brooks at Eckstein middle school. Wonder what he does now.

[@jh0720]

I think he works with the Knicks and their g league program now

[@SamuelJ888]

Remember when Jerry Stackhouse avg 30 on year

[@vigilantcustoms]

Dudes get paid and get comfy.

[@standardyeepz]

mike james is one of my all time favorite pistons role players

[@peda15]

This man use to terrorize Derek fisher and the lakers 😅😅

[@OnlyOneLoso]

You can legit say Tyreke got sold BAD…Dude was a PG, got moved from the 1 to the 3 that was one of the most crazy things I’ve seen watching basketball, idk what SAC was thinking

[@KrosstownLandLord]

In my opinion damn any NBA start can average 20 in the right situation

[@dinogee]

Such a weird coincidence that many of these peak seasons happened on their contract years

[@Jj-jb4qy]

You deserve more than a subscription just to know that you’re doing these videos in English as a 2nd language. Much respect for that ✅

[@DrugzMunny]

If you only perform in your contract year, you shouldn't expect teams to believe that you'll perform during off-contract seasons.

[@johnnybraxton5539]

As a laker fan i hated Aaron Brooks

[@wisedyer2133]

Still remember that mike James season dude was balling

[@OKM8BB]

Emeka Okafor, stole ROTY from Dwight. More recently - Jahlil Okafor. Probably runs in the family😮

[@YeeterOfEverything]

Why did you change studios Mr Heat Check?

[@SP.007]

1:14 - there was a no trade clause included

[@omniamericana2172]

Brooks in today’s NBA would be different

[@j777mg]

Once they learn your game, it's a done deal unless you add or develop a new part during that off-season.

[@SeanJohn127]

Aaron brooks was beast when he had his confidence going

[@papiisgoldtv3933]

When you see points go up like that it means they were giving a bigger role that year

[@djbeazy]

Uh oh. He is wearing Wades. Hide your kids and cheeks. 😆😆😆

[@bballanalytics1552]

unique video topic i like it

[@AlihanOlcar]

Great content

[@WackyJay9]

Aaron Brooks one hit different

[@gabrielstanojevic]

Great video, BTW are you from Macedonia?

[@HeatCheck]

Yes 😁

[@gabrielstanojevic]

@@HeatCheck Pozdrav od Skopje, samo napred!😃

[@Giorgos-ee5kn]

Skopje*

[@David-iv6je]

Cool! I went through Macedonia once. backpacking around Europe in 86, the summer of Chernobyl.

[@АлНиколов]

i was just wondering if he was bulgarian. well now i know

[@tylercruse2402]

Awesome video

[@SeunAdekoya]

Davis Bertans should be arrested for robbery and fraud from the wizards after that one year 😂.

[@MrCuba]

Should have added mpg to the stats showed

[@NiceguyBananne]

MCW made a whole career out of that season

[@bjorn1420]

This guy named Michael jordan had a crazy year one time

[@hummoses]

Way of wade shoes are great just like your content great work

[@annickyu]

Fr

[@tacocruiser4238]

This phenomenon is not unique to basketball. It happens in all the major sports. Professional athletes usually put more effort during contract years. Its just common sense.

[@Monty-hy5hz]

Aaron brooks and mike James wasn’t a production problem it was a minutes problem and bad coaching

[@Waaben21]

Basketball is about shot selection, its not like all players are just trying to score as much as possible

[@Irfanhill]

The names you discover on sporcle quizzes! :-D

[@TheMonjok24]

Its the NBA. Everyone can hoop for real if they get the green light.

[@fieryjalapenos4442]

A couple of these don’t sound that random. Toronto was in a rebuild of sorts and he was allowed to shoot whenever cause who cares. Brooks was playing on a team with no other real offensive firepower since the 2 stars were hurt. Sounds more like players who capitalized on unique opportunities and when they found themselves in regular roles, put up regular numbers.

[@mikeycoolx]

Role players put in a bigger position can get buckets too

[@maartenvz]

Dorell wright is another nice example.

[@Youralwayswhining4367]

When that happens it's normally due to the system they are in, or being on a crappy team.

[@jessecrum4361]

Should've put Gary Harris

[@NbaNflWwe]

mannn tyreke could’ve been a problem

[@kid2519]

It would be helpful to add context why these players have such a drop in points. Injuries? Offensive schemes? Etc.

[@alexgon4883]

Where are u from, bro?

[@agonali9726]

In my country we play outside we sure do usually at schools lmao

[@arvidreview5439]

This is what we call in football(soccer) a one season wonder

[@andrewcook1246]

Some pro's don't really put their heart into it. Its just a high paying job.

[@adnanmihadilapuppung3526]

Still remember that time Rockets made it to the playoffs without Yao and Tmac 😅

[@MrAlvarez23]

Contracts year let me ball out. That's what really happened to those players. Some players they dont want to put the work

[@part6133]

James flames, Brooks cooks, Simmons rimmons, Carter smarter, heat check Hornacek

[@mangobananana]

are you like 6 year old?

[@darryboi]

Forgot to mention devin harris

[@cprophetu]

Anybody see Dion Waiters Mike James similarities?🤔

[@jUAN.T]

Michale Beasley 19.2 ppg to 11.5 ppg 😢

[@socialistbatman1211]

Everyone in the NBA, except Rudy Gobert, can hoop. Most guys will just never get opportunities to score

[@benmack4525]

I no harden was good but the jump from okc to the rockets was big big

[@williamgolston5399]

Tyreke had injuries...there is no context for any of this