I realize that this is the point, half way through the list, where things get a little more contentious. Is Jameer Nelson "better" than Lamar Odom at the game of basketball? Is he more irreplaceable? More talented, skilled, effortful? Does he come bearing a greater amount of in-freaking-effables to the season? We'll get to all these questions in a bit, but I don't want to lose sight of the player for discussions of the ranking. So, the question we should really be focusing on first. Who is Jameer Nelson?
Okay, so I'm not going to write you a whole book on the guy, but I will say he was a highly celebrated collegiate athlete who went the distance to play out his senior year at St. Joseph's U. His senior year was a bid for higher draft positioning, though he fell to the 20th pick in the 2004 draft. Denver traded him to Orlando, where he would team with fellow 2004 draftee Dwight Howard. Nelson's ascension to all-star status hasn't been as rapid as D-Ho's, but he certainly came into his own in the first half of the 2008-2009 season. He made the East's all-star team, though he was unable to play in the actual game. He had been averaging 16.7 points, 5.4 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game before he was sidelined with a shoulder injury. More importantly, he'd been shooting the lights out all season, raising his field goal percentage to over .500 and hitting for .453 from behind the arc. Furthermore, he hit for these stats in less than 32 minutes a game, meaning he was playing exceptionally effeciently.
Jameer.Nelson, originally uploaded by schwartingkeith.
So, now that we've brought the Lakers into the conversation, let's get back to Lamar. Why put Nelson ahead of Mr. Khloe Kardashian? There are several reasons. Firstly, Nelson doesn't tend to disappear like Odom does. Odom can sometimes dominate on the boards, but Nelson began to show flashes of brilliance last season, suggesting he'll soon be able to dominate games with his ability to put the ball in the basket. I hear that's kind of important, and it's something I'm prone to trust more than Odom's hungry-hungry-hippos act. Secondly, neither of these guys looks to be the numero uno player on their respective teams. However, Nelson appears poised to step into the spotlight. Rashard Lewis was the third player to make it to the all-star game from the Magic, and at the time he seemed more of a sure thing than did Nelson. However, Lewis has shown his own disappearing act tendencies at times, which gives him the shake (as opposed to the nod). Last season, down the stretch, one might've called Hedo Turkoglu the Magic's number two option, especially with the heat generated by a few late game heroics. He's gone now. Vince Carter is in town, and SVG doesn't want Vince-Sanity to "fit in," but I have a hunch it'll be Nelson sticking out this season, turning heads, taking numbers.
If you want to continue down the line of questions justifying Nelson's spot here, you get to the question of talent, skill, and effort. Make sure you understand this point, Nelson's very close to maximizing his potential at this point. He's been in the league five years, as long as buddy Howard, but remember he had put in four years of college before he got drafted. That extra maturity shows in his steady, heady play, but it also makes his high-water mark a little less uncertain in comparison to someone like Dwight, who's still not quite 24 and seems to have a lot more in store for all of us (or, at least, we hope so). This caveat isn't meant to say Nelson doesn't have a bit of growing to do and that he won't get any better. I fully expect him to. What it means is that the step he took toward greatness last season should be fully realized in the next few seasons. Nelson's 26, and we're about to witness his prime. I'm pumped!
