The Best of the Day: February 12th, 2021

The NBA’s future has never looked better

LeBron James has been the face of the NBA for almost two decades now since entering the league in 2003. His reign atop the throne has to end at some point though, even though the King is still playing at a high level and currently the MVP favorite for the defending champs that are currently on a seven-game winning streak. 

However, once the “Chosen One” is no longer carrying his teams to championship contention, there will be an abundance of young players ready to take the torch. The most likely trifecta to claim that premier position appears to be Giannis Antetokounmpo, who already has 2 MVPs and a DPOY award, Luka Doncic, a guy that stuffs stat sheets unlike any player at this age after coming over as a European MVP, and Zion Williamson who’s unprecedented athletic capabilities has him off to the most efficient start of a player’s career in NBA history. 

Nikola Jokic, Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young, Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown, Bam Adebayo, Jamal Murray, and De’Aaron Fox have all shown flashes of MVP-caliber play before turning 26 years old and seem to be fixtures in the NBA throughout the 2020’s. 

The future was flashed right in front of fans’ eyes on Friday Night when Luka went off for a career-high 46 PTS to overcome Zion’s career-high 36 points on 14-15 FG. Even Kristaps Porzingis and Brandon Ingram each dropped 30+ PTS as it marked the first time in NBA history where four players age-25 or younger all recorded 30 points or more in the same game.

This is just the beginning. The amount of high-quality talent that is coming into the league isn’t stopping anytime soon with a stacked class set to enter in 2021 plus one of the most hyped prospects ever in Emoni Bates on the cusp of reaching his dreams to play in the NBA in the near future as well. 

King James has been an incredible leader for the league, and when his time is up, no matter who takes over as the ‘face’ of the game, there will be exciting competition every night loaded with some of the most athletic, talented, and skilled players the game has ever seen. The future of the NBA is as bright as it’s ever been.

COLORS KEY | FULL PELICANS FUTURE OUTLOOK

Zion Williamson went 14-14 in the paint tonight.

The only player with more makes without a miss in the paint in a game over the last 25 seasons is Hakeem Olajuwon (15) in 1998. pic.twitter.com/PNXI8t6Np8

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 13, 2021

Luka Doncic had a career-high 46 points for the @dallasmavs tonight, while Kristaps Porzingis added 36. It's the first time in NBA history a pair of foreign-born teammates each had 35+ points in a game.

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) February 13, 2021

Related: NBA Takeaways of the Day