The ‘No-Star’ System

It has often been said that in order for any NBA team to be successful in the playoffs and inevitably win a championship, there has to be a star player or two or three on the roster.

In case there are any confusions as to what a star player is, one just has to look at the roster of most of the teams that are expected to succeed or win it all this year. With the exception of maybe two or three teams, every other teams has players that are either legitimate stars or are stars that somehow carried a larger share of the load for their teams in order to be in the playoffs. In other words, this star system does not mean the player has to be on the same level as a Lebron James or a Carmelo Anthony. Players like Paul George of the pacers, Stephen Curry of the Warriors, and James Harden of the Rockets, all belong in this star system.

These are players that, nine times of out of ten, will have the ball during the last few minutes or seconds of a close game. It is important to make note that being an All-Star does not qualify, in my opinion, as the benchmark of what a ‘star’ player is.

Stars of the “No-Star System”

The Denver Nuggets and the Memphis Grizzlies are the only two teams in the 2013 NBA playoffs and both are somewhat divulge of legitimate stars, by NBA standards — the Milwaukee Bucks have Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings whom without both they would be the Charlotte Bobcats.

By NBA standards, the Denver Nuggets do not have any stars or potential stars-in-the-making type of players on their roster. An argument can be made that Ty Lawson has potential star qualities but I would argue that Lawson has a scoring ability that makes him efficient on the offensive end but lacks the consistency of a player like Stephen Curry. Curry has shown – when healthy – that he can carry his team with his lethal scoring, shooting and passing abilities.

By all accounts, Andre Iguodala was supposed to be a top-tier NBA star.

Drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers back in 2004, Iguodala was supposed to be the do-it-all player that would catapult the 76ers back into playoff contention. At six foot seven, many experts touted him as an ultra-athletic player that could potentially give you 20+ points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, a couple steals and a block per game. In Iguodala’s eight years in the league, he has averaged 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and .5 blocks per game. These are very good numbers but they only position him as a well-rounded role player that adds value to his team but is not the focal point of his teams offense.

Why should Iguodala be the focal point of the Nuggets offense when what he brings to the team is part of the reasons why they are currently third in the standing for the Western Conference and are about to take on the sixth seed Golden State Warriors, in the playoffs. Iguodala brings a defensive intensity that makes me rank him as a top-ten perimeter defender in the NBA. This makes his career averages quite impressive when one compares his stats to another top ten perimeter defender in Tony Allen of the Grizzlies. Iguodala does more offensively while locking down the best scorers in the league.

Andre Igoudala is best described as a Swiss Army knife type of NBA player

In a league that goes above and beyond to promote its star players, Iguodala and the Denver Nuggets are doing something that not even the Bucks or the Grizzlies are trying to do – they are embracing their ‘no-star’ system. Their head coach, George Carl summed it up best:

"This is the way the game of basketball is supposed to be, it's supposed to be a team game. It's supposed to be five players playing as a unit that magnifies unto a special team. It's an 82-game season, and depth is important. We can overcome an injury ; there's a lot of teams that can't overcome an injury."

Is coach Carl on to something here – something that might re-revolutionize the NBA? Will the future of the league be more about parity? The answers to these questions can only be answered in the future. It requires a mind shift by the league itself and then by those who make player decisions for their respective teams. If more general managers and coaches embrace the George Carl philosophy, then maybe someday there will be ten teams in the playoffs with a roster much like the Nuggets.

Making the case for success in the NBA playoffs and inevitably winning the championship without a ‘star’ player is very difficult. Personally, I cannot think of  a team, in recent history,  winning the Larry O’Brien trophy without having a legitimate star on its roster. What George Carl and the Denver Nuggets are trying to accomplish is extremely difficult but not impossible.

If you asked me who will win this years championship, I would say the Heat have the best odds of doing just that – but then, I would go further by saying I hope they go seven games against the Nuggets, in the NBA Finals.