The Kemba Crusade #8- The Brookyln-Bronx Connection

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The free agency hot stove has reached an all-time high at this point with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony finally making their decisions to play for the Cavaliers and Knicks respectively. On TKC #7 I spoke on Josh McRoberts signing with the Heat which was a small appetizer to the hoopla of free agency. With that said the attention now shifts back to who will be Kemba Walker’s backcourt partner next season. I have said many times that Kemba’s shooting guard has always been a scrub (Gerald Henderson) so who the Hornets get is not only huge for the team but Kemba as an individual. After initially having no interest in him it was reported this morning that the Hornets are in pursuit of Lance Stephenson. When free agency started this was the guy I wanted for Kemba and the Hornets and it just might happen.

Most people around the country only know Lance for his antics with LeBron James during this years eastern conference finals, I just know him as the guy who led the NBA in triple-doubles this past year with 5. Stephenson’s a native of Brooklyn, New York, While Kemba is a native of Bronx, New York. Both of them grew up playing on the blacktops of New York City and play with that gritty toughness you would expect from a New York City guard.

The combination of these two in the Hornets backcourt makes for a pretty lethal one when you consider that at 6-5/210 pounds that Stephenson is bigger than most guards and his skill set would not only make the Hornets more versatile but allow Kemba some room to roam in the offense and let Lance be the ballhandler at times. Last year Lance put up career highs in point (13.8), assists (4.6) and rebounds (7.2) and led the league in triple-doubles all whie doing so. Keep in mind that he was below the league average in usage percentage at 19.4% as the Pacers 3rd option behind Paul George along with David West and put up those numbers. To put in perspective how low his usage percentage is keep in mind that Gerald Henderson who didn’t have nearly as good a year as Lance had a usage percent of 22.1 % per game. So even with being used 3% more than Lance you can see that Gerald at the starting shooting guard spot isn’t nearly as productive. Imagine if Lance had a chance to have a larger role, he could be the 2nd option on the Hornets and be the secondary facilitator on the floor behind Kemba.

It makes a lot of sense for these guys to play with each other, one guy is lightning quick,can penetrate the lane while the other has the size and versatility to play 3 positions and open up the game in a variety of ways. The Hornets have about $17 million to spend after the signings of Brian Roberts and Marvin Williams which should still be enough for Lance Stephenson. It may sound crazy to you but it’s not crazy to think that both of these guys can’t be all-stars playing alongside each other and with a low post player like Al Jefferson.



I mentioned the New York connection earlier, well with them being great players from the area they have played streetball games together. In fact just last summer Lance and Kemba played at Gersh Park in Brooklyn. It’s not NBA competition and the atmosphere is different but at the 38 second and 1:35 marks we see two great plays from Kemba and Lance. The first was a no-look pass to Lance that got the crowd amped. The 2nd was a drive and kick as Lance passed the ball to Kemba for an open 3-pointer, surely its just a streetball game but they played well off each other. I know there’s no defense in streetball game but the chemistry between the two was there.

If you add up Kemba’s numbers and Lance’s numbers from last season it looks something like this.

31.5 points,11.4 rebounds, 10.7 assists,1.9 steals, .5 blocks, 44.2% from the field, 34.2% from 3-point line and 77.4% from the free throw line

Obviously when you look at those numbers they are pretty solid, double digits in points, rebounds and assists. Unlike most backcourts these guys would probably be one of the few that could evenly distribute the number of assists. Both of these guys played with below average backcourt partners (George Hill and Gerald Henderson) so the prospect of these guys suiting up in teal and purple excites me.

Both coming out of New York were hyped up as “The next great New York guard”, what better way to find out than putting them together? I mean for crying out loud Kyrie Irving just got LeBron James and Andrew Wiggins we need to even this out somehow.