Before the 2022-23 season began, several players found homes with new teams in a cluster of offseason moves.
The Jazz were the first to shake up the league, dealing their two franchise cornerstones as three-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert was sent to Minnesota and four-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell was dealt to Cleveland. The San Antonio Spurs accelerated their rebuild by sending All-Star guard Dejounte Murray to the Hawks. Denver also made what would prove a significant under-the-radar trade when it acquired role players Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith.
In the offseason as well, a luminary and all-time great in the game was lost when Hall of Famer and Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell died on July 31, 2022. Before the start of the 2022-23 season, the NBA announced Russell’s No. 6 was being retired league-wide and that the NBA would pay tribute to him throughout the season.
All players wore a commemorative patch on the right shoulder of their jerseys and every NBA court displayed a clover-shaped logo with the No. 6 on the sideline near the scorer’s table, too. Players who wore No. 6 entering the season were grandfathered in, but no player could pick that jersey number going forward.
Opening night of 2022-23 featured the Golden State Warriors receiving their rings. Despite their successful run to a fourth title in eight seasons, the defending champions never returned to their postseason form. Defensive struggles and lack of cohesion led to an abysmal 11-30 road record and a 6-seed out West.
Scorers went to work throughout, with a record 19 players averaging 25 points or more (min. 40 games), six more than the previous season and three more than any season in NBA history. Cavs guard Mitchell notched a career-high and franchise-record 71 points in an overtime win against the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 2, 2023. Blazers PG Lillard later matched him – in regulation – with his own career- and franchise-high 71 in Portland’s win over Houston on February 26.
On Feb. 7, 2023, LeBron James passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the league’s all-time scoring leader, surpassing Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387 points, which had stood since his retirement in 1989. James drilled a mid-range turnaround jumper to snag the throne as the scoring champ.
Player movement did not stop in the offseason, as multiple blockbuster trades shook up the NBA landscape at the February deadline. The Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving era ended in Brooklyn after both players requested deals. Durant was dealt to Phoenix in exchange for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, four first-round picks and a future pick swap. Irving landed in Dallas, with Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and future picks heading to Brooklyn.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ experiment of uniting James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook fizzled out midway through its second season. After the trio missed the 2021-22 playoffs, their woes rolled over into a 25-27 record, which prompted a shakeup by GM Rob Pelinka, with Westbrook off to the Jazz in a three-team deal. After a buyout, the former Kia MVP ultimately landed with the LA Clippers.
The Sacramento Kings ended their league-worst 16-year playoff drought, going 48-34 and clinching the No. 3 seed in the West. Star guard De’Aaron Fox earned his first All-Star nod and received the inaugural Jerry West NBA Clutch Player of the Year award, too. Additionally, Kings coach Mike Brown was named Coach of the Year in his first season with the team.
Several stars missed time due to injuries, including: Kawhi Leonard (29 games), James (27 games), Damian Lillard (24 games), Karl Anthony-Towns (53 games), Devin Booker (29 games), Davis (26 games), Durant (35 games), Paul George (26 games), James Harden (24 games), Bradley Beal (30 games), LaMelo Ball (46 games), Zion Williamson (53 games) and Khris Middleton (49 games).
The 2023 playoffs were filled with surprises as the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated by the No. 8 seed Miami Heat in the opening round. The Heat, who nearly got knocked out of the AT&T Play-In Tournament – losing to the Hawks and then trailing in the fourth quarter against the Bulls – continued to prevail on their way to the franchise’s seventh Finals appearance. Miami upset the No. 5 seeded New York Knicks in the semifinals and then the Boston Celtics (No. 2) on the road in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. With superstar forward Jimmy Butler leading the way, Miami became the first No. 8 seed to reach the NBA Finals since 1999.
Sixers stars Harden and Embiid became the first pair of teammates to win the assist and scoring titles, respectively, since former San Antonio Spurs legends George Gervin and Johnny Moore did so in 1981-82. Despite Embiid winning his first Kia MVP, the Sixers came up short in the playoffs, blowing a 3-2 lead to the Celtics in the conference semis.
Check out these awesome highlights of the 2022-23 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid!
Injuries impacted the Western Conference postseason field, most notably for the LA Clippers, who lost forward Paul George for the opening-round series against the Suns due to a knee injury, and then Leonard to a meniscus tear. The Suns ousted the Clippers in five games.
Also plagued by injury were the No. 2 seed Grizzlies, who were without starting big man Steven Adams since January and backup Brandon Clarke since March. The youthful Memphis team showed its lack of postseason experience in a six-game first-round ouster at the hands of the Lakers. James and his teammates remained locked in, at least long enough to end the Warriors’ chances of repeating, outlasting them in six games to reach the Western Conference Finals. In that series against the Nuggets, two-time Kia MVP Nikola Jokic and his talented cohort proved too much for L.A., sweeping them out of the playoffs.
The 53-win Nuggets cruised to their first Finals appearance in franchise history, losing just three total games in the West bracket.
After stellar work in the West and East Finals, respectively, Jokic and Butler earned the Magic Johnson (West) and Larry Bird (East) trophies heading into Finals play.
The 2023 Finals had little to do with the altitude in Denver when the series began. Simply put, the Nuggets were just that much better.
Jamal Murray, who suffered an ACL injury in April 2021, played in his first postseason since the 2020 games held in Orlando during the COVID-19 pandemic. Murray averaged 21.4 points, 10 assists and 6.4 rebounds against Miami. Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Bruce Brown and rookie Christian Braun played key minutes in the series, too.
After a 47-year wait, the Nuggets are NBA champs after a Game 5 win vs. the Heat in which Nikola Jokic claimed Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP honors.
But the tale of the 2023 Finals was about Jokic. He made history as the first player to lead every major statistical category in a postseason, racking up 600 total points, 269 rebounds and 190 assists. For a guy who was drafted No. 41 overall during a Taco Bell commercial, who became a two-time MVP and finished his first Finals series averaging 30.2 points, 14 rebounds and 7.2 assists en route to a Bill Russell Finals MVP award, it’s safe to say “The Joker” had an unprecedented championship journey.
Eastern Conference Play-In
Atlanta Hawks defeated Miami Heat (for 7th seed)
Chicago Bulls defeated Toronto Raptors (in 9-10 seed game)
Miami Heat defeated Chicago Bulls (for 8th seed)
Western Conference Play-In
Los Angeles Lakers defeated Minnesota Timberwolves (for 7th seed)
Oklahoma City Thunder defeated New Orleans Pelicans (in 9-10 game)
Minnesota Timberwolves defeated Oklahoma City Thunder (for 8th seed)
Eastern Conference first round
Miami Heat defeated Milwaukee Bucks (4-1)
New York Knicks defeated Cleveland Cavaliers (4-1)
Philadelphia 76ers defeated Brooklyn Nets (4-0)
Boston Celtics defeated Atlanta Hawks (4-2)
Western Conference first round
Denver Nuggets defeated Minnesota Timberwolves (4-1)
Phoenix Suns defeated LA Clippers (4-1)
Golden State Warriors defeated Sacramento Kings (4-3)
Los Angeles Lakers defeated Memphis Grizzlies (4-2)
Eastern Conference semifinals
Miami Heat defeated New York Knicks (4-2)
Boston Celtics defeated Philadelphia 76ers (4-3)
Western Conference semifinals
Denver Nuggets defeated Phoenix Suns (4-2)
Los Angeles Lakers defeated Golden State Warriors (4-2)
Eastern Conference finals
Miami Heat defeated Boston Celtics (4-3)
Western Conference finals
Denver Nuggets defeated Los Angeles Lakers (4-0)
NBA Finals
Denver Nuggets defeated Miami Heat (4-1)
Points — Joel Embiid; 33.1 ppg
Assists — James Harden; 10.7 ast
Rebounds — Domantas Sabonis; 12.3 rebs
Steals — O.G. Anunoby; 1.9 stl
Blocks — Jaren Jackson Fr.; 3.0 blks
FG% — Nic Claxton; 70.5%
FT% — Tyler Herro; 93.4%
3PT% — Luke Kennard; 49.4%
Kia Most Valuable Player — Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Kia Rookie of the Year — Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic
Kia Defensive Player of the Year — Jaren Jackson Jr., Memphis Grizzlies
Kia Most Improved Player — Lauri Markkanen, Utah Jazz
Kia Sixth Man of the Year — Malcolm Brogdon, Boston Celtics
Coach of the Year — Mike Brown, Sacramento Kings
Kia Clutch Player of the Year — De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings
Kobe Bryant All Star Game MVP — Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP — Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat
Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals MVP — Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Bill Russell Finals MVP — Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
