The 2024 NBA Year In Review

Assembled community-style, with reader submissions dominating proceedings, because that is how we do these here

It doesn't happen every year that the Tuesday Newsletter Extravaganza coincides with New Year's Eve.

Give 2024 high marks for that special bit of symmetry.

And it turns out that many readers of The Stein Line have good things to say about The NBA Year That Was beyond how nicely its conclusion fit into my publishing schedule.

Continuing a tradition launched this time a year ago, I asked our readers to share their standout memories from the past 12 months directly connected to the NBA.

On cue, for the second straight December, we received a detailed (and thoughtful) array of tales to assemble a pretty thorough Year In Review compilation. This is one of those situations where I firmly believe that a community approach is the best approach and I think the cross-section of responses we generated will back me up on that.

But before we get to your input ...

Please allow me to say a fond farewell to a momentous 2024 for yours truly. There were some incredible highs … like winning an APSE first-place plaque for the first time and making our first-ever free agent signing here (which will indeed be expanded upon in the highlights below). And some difficult lows as well … from the cancellation of my Saturday solo radio show on 97.1 FM in Dallas ... to the indefinite hiatus that has ensnared the popular #thisleague UNCUT podcast that I co-host with the inimitable Chris Haynes ... to the crushing deaths of Bill Walton, Jerry West and Dikembe Mutombo.

Nikola Jokić got the year off to a wild start with that crazy banker at the buzzer to beat Golden State. The Boston Celtics eventually made it six different NBA champions in a span of six years for the first time since the late 1970s ... when I was coming of age as NBA fan. LeBron James, who you surely heard celebrated a birthday Monday, became the first NBA player to score 40,000 points and also turned (gasp) 40.

On a personal note again: I made a career-high four trips to my beloved England in 2024 ... plus my first trip to Luka Dončić and Goran Dragić's beloved Slovenia. I did radio color on three Dallas Mavericks playoff games for the first time in my life. I had a pretty nice year breaking some news, like this and this and this, and failed yet again in my annual challenge to myself to lose 20 pounds.

Yet you know how it is. I covered the first six-team trade in league history and Cleveland's wholly unexpected 15-0 start and wrote often about the new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles that I can't wait to finally visit in 2025. So often, though, it's the deeply personal circumstances and quirks in certain situations that make moments stick in the memory even more than major milestones.

That comes through in your answers again. Which is exactly what I was hoping for.

On to your selections!

(Editor's note: Reader submissions have been lightly edited and/or condensed for clarity.)

Reader Eric Nielsen on the best buzzer-beater he saw in 2024:

Max Strus' 60-foot shot to beat Dallas. Even though it was just a regular season game in February, I've been going to Cavs games for about 25 years and that was one of the most electric (non-playoff) moments that I’ve experienced in person.

Editor's Note 2.0: I totally get Eric's sentiments, but for selfish reasons I have to go with Kyrie Irving's lefty fling at the buzzer in March to beat visiting Denver. For two reasons: 1) Kyrie is a righty and any southpaw on Earth would have been proud of that one; 2) My son/photo editor Aaron Stein was shooting the game for me. Which makes that shot unforgettable on this scorecard.

Reader Dan Hinrichs on his favorite blocked shot of 2024:

It's gotta be Anthony Edwards at the end of the Timberwolves/Pacers game on March 7. With seven seconds and the Wolves leading by two, Edwards missed a free throw and Indiana decided to rush upcourt without calling a timeout. Just when it looked like the Pacers were going to get a layup to beat the buzzer and force overtime, Edwards chased Aaron Nesmith all the way down the floor and erased the shot to preserve the win. Oh, yeah: He also hit his head on the rim in the process! Ant's crash-landing had everyone holding their breath, but when he got up off the floor to celebrate, we knew that all was OK and that the most athletic rejection that Wolves fans had ever seen wasn't going to have a giant but attached to the end of it.

Reader John P on his favorite second-half surge:

It feels like a long time ago now at this point, but Luka Dončić scoring 73 points against the Hawks has to be on the Best of 2024 List. Heading into that game, Dallas was adrift and hovering around .500. Then Luka exploded for 73 just a few days after Joel Embiid scored 70 for Philadelphia and Mavericks GM Nico Harrison kept the party going by pulling off the two deadline-day trades for Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington. The Mavericks then proceeded to make one of the most improbable playoff runs in recent years ... all the way to the NBA Finals. Luka Magic!

Reader Nick on his favorite regular-season moment:

The Dallas/Houston game that went to OT in March. The chaos at the end of regulation, combined with Mavericks play-by-play announcer Mark Followill going crazy with his "Dante's Inferno" call and Mavs analyst Derek Harper calling Dante Exum's shot to force overtime good before it went through ... it's a rewatch that never gets old.

Reader Rodney Nesbitt on his favorite crunch-time sequence of 2024:

Cade Cunningham in November against the Hawks. First he beat Atlanta's top two defenders to convert a running lefty hook off the glass. Then he made the game-saving block at the other end. Pistons fans desperately needed this!

Reader Alejandro Proskauer on his favorite NBA picture of 2024:

Jayson Tatum holding up his son Deuce with confetti raining down on the new champions.

An image for the ages from longtime NBA ace photographer Nathaniel S. Butler.

Reader Yato on his favorite moment of 2024 involving NBA players:

Can it be anything other than the Curry Flurry in the gold medal game that ended with the Golden Dagger to beat France? Epic finish to seal the gold medal for the United States and, combined with the semifinals against Serbia, put a nice bow on Curry's list of career accomplishments.

Reader Ted on his favorite dunk of 2024:

Future Sixer Guerschon Yabusele jamming on LeBron in Paris.

Back to Mr. Proskauer for another Olympic moment of note:

This should come as no surprise but I would nominate Puerto Rico beating a Domantas Sabonis-lead Lithuania on its home court to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 20 years. Don't know if I will ever experience an atmosphere like that at a basketball game again. (PS — If I had to choose a moment from the actual Olympics, I would also go with Curry's flurry of 3s in the gold medal game. I loved listening to the French announcers who said "the devil named Curry is killing us.")

And back to Yato for a couple of Best Pass of 2024 nominees:

I'd like to highlight two as combined winners. Within a week of each other, Golden State's Brandin Podziemski (Nov. 15) and Houston's Reed Sheppard (Nov. 22) both made falling out of bounds/behind-the-back/three-quarter-court passes that led to breakaway dunks. Both of these guys are young players and ... two is better than one. Is it not?

Reader William Smedlund on his favorite trade of 2024:

Dejounte Murray for Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and two first-round picks. Daniels has been a godsend to the Hawks' defense and might make the All-Defense first team. Nance Jr. was playing better than ever before his recent hand injury having added 3-point juice to his game. And who doesn't like first-round picks?

Reader Chris O'Leary on his favorite broader storylines:

I really enjoyed seeing a passing of the torch in the playoffs. The Old Guard (not just Stephen Curry) gave way to the future of the game, with Ant, Luka, Tatum and Jalen Brunson all making runs and establishing themselves. I think LeBron and Bronny playing together also belongs in this story. Even though it was a manufactured moment to some and many feel Bronny had no business being drafted, it was an incredible father/son moment we're not likely to see again.

Reader Rus Bray on his favorite storyline:

The rise of Wemby! Also: LeBron, Steph, KD, James Harden and Dame Lillard all playing at such high levels despite being well into their 30s (and 40s in LeBron's case).

Reader Pablo A. on his favorite NBA-inspired film of 2024:

Giannis: The Marvelous Journey.

Reader Fai905 on his favorite playoff series in 2024:

Wolves over Nuggets. The defending champions, with the best player in the world, lost a Game 7 at home to an upstart team with an ascendant star.

And reader Fai905 on his favorite moment in basketball podcasting in 2024:

I have two actually. Marc reacting to Chris Haynes' story about walking a L-O-N-G way home from Popeye's ... and then Marc reacting in real-time as Haynes tried to avoid closing time on a college campus to keep recording an episode of #thisleague UNCUT.

As curated by trusty producer Ryan Musick, here is the first podcast referenced:

And here is the second:

Reader Koby Boyd on the same series that Fai905 nominated:

That series had so many twists and turns. It went from Minnesota shockingly taking a 2-0 lead on the road and looking like it would defeat the champs in four or five games to Denver summoning the will of a champion to escape in seven games to the Timberwolves snatching back control of the series and Anthony Edwards announcing to the world that he was ready to be known as the Next American Superstar. Then the Wolves ended up crashing and burning in the next round and here we are asking ourselves if they will ever reach those heights again after trading away Karl-Anthony Towns just a few months later. Still ... I'll never forget the moment that I realized Minnesota was going to win. I was stunned for hours.

And Boyd once more on his favorite new term in NBA publishing in 2024:

"Superstack!" This was a word that I never knew I needed, but it now enhances everything that I love about this community! Can't wait to read every new post that I get in my Inbox from you and Jake Fischer. Look forward to 2025 and beyond.

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