There are guys in the NBA that can literally take over a basketball game. Their energy is so high and their senses so tuned in that they seem unstoppable on the particular evening. It doesn’t happen every single game, but it happens often enough to instill a “fear factor” in upcoming opponents.
Several teams have guys like that and they are the super-stars of the NBA. These are the guys that sell the tickets, fill up the arenas and have the network commentators screaming for more. The heroes. Their reputations are such that the opposing team will likely hesitate just that extra fraction of a second to let them get off yet another shot to the center of the basket.
You can see the defense change the moment one of these “game changers” gets the ball. There is a shift of focus and attention, the defensive set up in play is blown all to hell and back and then. Oh may, there he goes in for another layup.
You would never know it to look at him, but, one of the most feared players in the NBA this year is Stephen Curry. Now that kid can take over a game like few players in recent memory. Curry has been called the best shooter in the NBA and if you happen to be playing against him in a game when he gets hot you will quickly find out why. Curry can be frightening.
When Carmelo Anthony goes on a roll, watch out. He is one of the great isolation players in the game today and seems to have the ability to ignore defenses and everything else to really “light up” the basketball court, much to the delight of Knicks fans everywhere.
In Oklahoma City it is Kevin Durant who provides the fear factor now that his good buddy and team mate Russell Westbrook is out for the season. Durant can steal the ball, dribble the ball and dazzle the defense before making yet another difficult shot to take the lead.
The most obvious “fear factor” candidate this year is LeBron James of the Miami Heat. James was the NBA’s MVP for 2013. He is the most dominating player in professional basketball and few can stay on him for very long. As one TV commentator put it, when James comes in for a layup the defender has two choices: foul him or just get out of the way.
