NBA Week 5: Winners and Losers
The past week in the NBA has given out headline after headline as multiple players have gone off with incredible individual performances. There have also been plenty of issues with the likes of the Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards both facing turmoil.
The excitement around the league over the past seven days was highlighted by an incredible 60 point performance by Kemba Walker which was then followed up by a 43 point game with a clutch three to seal a victory over the Boston Celtics.
Today we take a look at the biggest winners and losers of the past week in the NBA.
Lonzo Ball - Winner
It's never nice to see an NBA player go down with an injury, especially not a teammate, but the second year point guard Lonzo Ball may be counting his blessings as veteran point guard teammate, Rajon Rondo, broke his hand and will miss up to five weeks with the injury.
Although Lonzo's shooting has improved drastically over the offseason, he has struggled for consistent playing time averaging only 26 minutes per game, nearly 10 down from his rookie season average.
While the arrival of LeBron James has lessoned Lonzo's role and kept the ball out of his hands, with no Rondo over the next five weeks, Lonzo has the opportunity to make it clear who the starting point guard of the Los Angeles Lakers should be. A big chance and a big win for Lonzo this week, if he can grasp this opportunity.
Golden State Warriors - Loser
It has most likely been years since the Golden State Warriors have found themselves on a losers list, but with Stephen Curry out with an injury, a feud between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green escalated and resulted in the Warriors suspending Green for one game.
With Kevin Durant's impending free agency at the end of this season looming over the team, Draymond allegedly saying to Durant, "We don't need you. We won without you. Leave." will not help sway Durant into staying with the Warriors and allowing them to continue strolling through to a few more titles in the coming years.
While the Warriors will most likely be just fine this season, especially once Curry returns, and are still clear favourites to win their fourth title in five years, after this season is over the likelihood of Durant leaving to another rival contender that could very well push them above the Warriors has increased due to the events of this week. Definitely a loss for Golden State.