One of the odd things about the NBA is the discrepancy between how players’ defensive skills are evaluated. While it is certainly quite common that there are differences of opinions on the perceived values of players, somehow that is taken to the extreme on the defensive end of the court.
This disconnect was further seen for me this weekend in a casual conversation with another NBA fan. He was a Celtics fan and we were talking about the great off-season the Celtics had, the importance of Jae Crowder, the ambiguity of Jaylen Brown, and we berated the drunk Knicks fan for believing the core of Derrick Rose, Carmelo, and Joakim Noah could do well in, as well as make, the playoffs next year.