This is part one of a two part series.

In June of 2013, Kanye West released his sixth studio album, titled “Yeezus.” This album was a lot of different parts put together in maybe the weirdest way possible. Kanye West, known for his magnificent, cutting-edge production, put out what can only be described as a clunker. The production was simplistic and lyrics eerie. It seemed that what Kanye put out was exactly opposite of the Kanye West we were introduced to, that is, lyrical, intricate, and important. But here’s the thing. Yeezus is also, in a way, something special. It is Kanye West deconstructed down to his roots. It’s dark, it’s incredibly self-absorbed, it’s even a bit evil. Make no mistake, Yeezus was bad, but it was also good because we saw that Kanye was kind of bad, but in a kind of a good way. Because what emerged from this simplistic, smart, and narcissistic ten track album was Kanye unfiltered. When everything was broken down, we were introduced “Villain Kanye.”

The point I’m trying to make here is that the “Yeezus Theory” is incredibly and absolutely adaptable to NBA superstars. If you examine those at the top of any profession, you will find a group of individuals with a certain edge, a certain spectacle of their mentality that, if you don’t look close enough, will fly under the radar. This concept is true without fail.

There was that time Buzz Aldrin punched a guy in the face who claimed the moon landing was fake (which proved Buzz was a stone-cold killer). There was that time Teddy Roosevelt got shot during his speech, but insisted that he finish the rest of his 90 minute speech (which proved that he was absolutely unfaze-able). There are even smaller, better moments, like when Dustin Henderson, also known as the best character in Stranger Things, said to Eleven “We never would’ve upset you if we knew you had superpowers.” (but really meant “I am not someone who let things slide, but I’m also not stupid, because there is zero chance I am trying to make someone who could kill me mad.”) In these little moments, these simple dialogues, is where the light can shine brightest on a seemingly “larger-than-life” personality.

So now it’s time for us to apply the concept to NBA superstars. That way, we can finally get a good an nuanced and correct look at these guys. We’ll choose, say, the 8 best players in the NBA (there are only 8 true superstars in the NBA). We’ll start with the first four right now and do the next four later, because that seems like the correct amount to do at a time. For each, we’ll include a line from Yeezus, because that also seems like the right thing to do.