On Sunday, the basketball world lost a legend when Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash.
Tributes have rolled in across the sporting world and beyond dedicated to Bryant’s life and legacy.
In his honour, we divided this week’s list into eight tiers given the No. 8 Bryant first wore as a pro.
Tier 1
It’s a broken record by now, but the Milwaukee Bucks stand alone as the league’s best team with no indication that this will ever change.
There’s a small chance that next week’s trade deadline could mix things up a little, but that’s more wishful thinking than anything. The Bucks are just plain good and it seems the only way we’re going to learn anything new about them is for the post-season to arrive.
Tier 2
All five of these teams are hot right now, but none more so than the Toronto Raptors who have won seven straight and have a schedule this week that will see them face the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls.
That sounds a lot like 11 straight wins to us, and a good chance the Raptors will hold onto the No. 2 seed in the East going forward.
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Tier 3
Of this group of six, the most interesting team are the Philadelphia 76ers, mainly because we don’t know what they’ll look like when all-star centre Joel Embiid returns to the lineup from a finger injury.
In his absence, Ben Simmons has been incredible, averaging 21.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists while shooting 65.3 per cent from the field. It’s truly remarkable just how much better and more free Simmons plays without Embiid, and begs the question once again if these two immense talents can actually play with one another.
Evidence so far suggests they can’t, but perhaps spurred on by this momentum of strong play, Simmons will be able to keep it going even when Embiid returns.
Tier 4
Both of these teams have been in some trouble of late, with the Boston Celtics having gone 5-5 in their last 10 games and the Rockets 4-6.
It’s been an inconsistent month, in general, for both of these squads and things could start to get worse for them with injuries to the likes of Jayson Tatum and Enes Kanter for Boston and, alarmingly, maybe James Harden, Clint Capela and Russell Westbrook in Houston.
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Tier 5
Can Zion Williamson lead the New Orleans Pelicans to the playoffs? The answer to that question so far has been a resounding “maybe.”
The Pelicans are 1-2 with Williamson so far, but on Sunday got a major glimpse at what kind of game-changer Williamson can be, if head coach Alvin Gentry spaces out his minutes properly, that is.
The Pelicans beat the Celtics on Sunday, buoyed by Williamson’s 21 points and 11 rebounds, that included the No. 1-overall pick scoring New Orleans’ final eight points to seal the victory.
Williamson is on a minutes restriction, and on Sunday Gentry managed to find the perfect balance that allowed his star rookie to close the game. If the Pelicans keep this up, the 4.5 games and four teams they need to overcome to get into a post-season spot will shrink.
Tier 6
Don’t look now, but the Brooklyn Nets are in quite the freefall, having won only three times in the month of January.
Of course, this coincided with the injury to Kyrie Irving, but the Nets have had him back since mid-January and it hasn’t mattered much.
Despite this slide, however, Brooklyn still holds the No. 8 spot in the East, something they certainly have the talent to hold, but maybe not the mental fortitude given how poorly this month has gone.
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Tier 7
All-star reserves will be announced Thursday with many expecting the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns to be a lock for the team.
But why, though?
Sure, Towns is enjoying another remarkable season individually, but has only been able to carry them to second-last in the Western Conference standings.
Obviously team success shouldn’t be the only indicator for who gets to be an all-star, but in this case, Towns wasn’t named as a starter, so why reward him when there are players who have contributed more to actually winning this season?
Tier 8
There’s nothing great about this lone team in Tier 8.
The Golden State Warriors are the only team in the NBA without at least 11 wins, and with reports that Stephen Curry could be back by March 1, there’s a chance the Dubs still might not have reached win No. 11 by the time he returns.
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