NBA Rising Stars
Four of the NBA’s best rising stars
Jayson Tatum, NBA star of the Boston Celtics, is from the St. Louis area. He attended Chaminade for high school.
September 10, 2020
The NBA is full of stars and some of the most marketable athletes of all time, however, a lot of stars like LeBron, Durant, Harden, Curry, and Westbrook are all on the wrong side of 30. With their careers coming to an end sooner rather than later, the NBA will be looking to market some younger players. Today we will be looking at some of the players I believe will dominate the NBA for years to come.
Luka Doncic: During the regular season, he put up 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per game. In the playoffs, he stepped up and put up 31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 8.7 assists including a buzzer-beater in game 4 while his star teammate Kristaps Porzingis was out. What makes this playoff performance even more special is that Luka did it against the Clippers, one of the best defensive teams in the league. The team that has an answer for everyone didn’t have one for Luka.
Jayson Tatum: This is Tatum’s third year in the league and it isn’t the first time he’s improved greatly in the playoffs. Tatum led the young Celtics in a first-round sweep against the 76ers. So far in the playoffs, he’s averaging 25.8 pts, 9.6 trb, and 1.8 blk on 49% shooting from the field and 44% from 3. He’s also been above average on the defensive end. It’s safe to say Tatum, who is from St. Louis (Chaminade), will be good in this league for a very long time.
Jamal Murray: Unlike the previous two on this list, Jamal Murray isn’t the star of this team, the offense is run through Nikola Jokic which makes it even more impressive that Murray is doing what he’s doing. Jamal’s averaging 31 pts, 6.2 trb, and 6.7 ast. On top of that, he’s the first player since Michael Jordan to score 40 points in 3 playoff games in a row- two of those games he scored 50.
Donovan Mitchell: People have questioned if the Jazz could build their team around Donovan Mitchell, this year I believe Donovan has silenced those doubters. Some people would argue that Donovan has been the best player in this year’s playoffs. Donovan scored 57 points in a playoff game, which is the 3rd most of all time and the most points scored in a single playoff game since Michael Jordan scored 63 against the Celtics in 1986. In the regular season, he averaged 24 pts, 4.4 trb, and 4.3 ast. In the playoffs, he improved on those numbers by putting up 36.3 pts, 5 trb, and 4.9 ast. Even though he lost there is no question who the future of the Jazz is.
