Steph’s sizzle and LeBron’s lament: 20 things I learned from the NBA playoffs

If I had to choose one overarching theme of these playoffs, it would be this sentiment. Young stars like Luka Dončić, Ja Morant, Anthony Edwards and others showed that they aren’t even a little bit afraid of the moment, and absolutely have what it takes to lead their teams to future playoff success. And as for the aging superstars standing in their way? Take it from me and my retinol cream: father time comes for us all.

There was a time when NBA fans and experts alike were questioning if Boston’s two superstars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, would ever be able to get it done together. That time? Fall 2021. Flash forward a handful of months and the duo was lighting it up in the NBA finals. Yes, it took a few years and a few things breaking right for the Celtics’ core, painstakingly assembled through the good ol’ draft, to reach the promised land. But Boston’s 2022 playoff run seems like pretty solid evidence that teams might have become a little too trigger-happy with the trade machine.

Speaking of those Celtics, their head coach, Ime Udoka, had logged zero time as an NBA head coach (not even in the G League) before his appointment this year. It turns out several years of assistant coaching experience on good teams, which plenty of overlooked candidates possess, can be enough to lead a group to wins in the playoffs. Hopefully his success story will be enough to embolden teams on the cusp of greatness to try something new in lieu of playing musical chairs with the same group of head coaches. The Lakers certainly seem to have taken note.

My “boldest” prediction ahead of this NBA season was that the Memphis Grizzlies were going to be the year’s dark horse team due to Ja Morant taking a leap forward. In the regular season,