The Basketball Section

It's May 5th, 2006. The Sacramento Kings have just been eliminated from the playoffs in the first round, falling to the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in six games. It's the second year in a row where the Kings have been bounced in the first round, and the heartbreak of their controversial loss in the Western Conference Finals four years prior still lingers. Only Mike Bibby and coach Rick Adelman, but the additions in the last four years have proven successful enough to continue to make the playoffs, albeit with less success. The strongest addition is Ron Artest, a controversial yet talented player who won Defensive Player of the Year, was selected as an all-star, and made the All-NBA 3rd Team two seasons ago, but had missed just about the entire previous season after his involvement in the infamous Malice at the Palace. The additions, along with Artest, included other players like Brad Miller, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Bonzi Wells, and a young Kevin Martin. There's a solid base t...

With the 2019-20 NBA season just about two months away, there is no shortage of players who are looking to make their mark in the league. From the incoming class of rookies to the star players now on championship-contending teams, they're all looking to prove something to everyone. Then there are these 11 players. From former all-stars looking to rebound after a rough season to sophomores looking to wash away the stink of a mediocre rookie season, these are the players that have more to prove than anyone else in the league. Now, I did want to give two honorable mentions to Bol Bol and Cam Reddish for this list. Bol was projected to be a lottery that slid all the way to the middle of the second round. He'll be looking to prove to everyone that he is still the lottery-level talent he was projected to be, but based on his draft position, I'm not sure if he'll be on the roster or in the G-League for most of the season. Reddish, on the other hand, had an underwhelming seaso...