With a score of 109 to 93, the Washington Wizards defeated the Toronto Raptors on the road, securing their third consecutive win of the new season and becoming one of only two undefeated teams in the entire league so far.
The other team is in the Western Conference, but it's not last season's champions, the Los Angeles Lakers; it's the San Antonio Spurs. The Los Angeles Lakers have only achieved a 1-2 record since the start of the season. A major reason for this is the further escalation of conflicts within the OK combination.
Los Angeles media reported that Kobe and O'Neal not only frequently had verbal altercations in the locker room but even came to blows during team practices. Kobe is a tough player who treats team practice like the final game, being extremely demanding of himself and his teammates; O'Neal's weight remained high, and compared to last year, O'Neal was clearly fatter this new season. O'Neal's knees and ankles couldn't support him in training hard.
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The first week of the NBA regular season concluded.
The San Antonio Spurs, led by Tim Duncan, had a team record of 2 wins and 0 losses. His individual stats were 24 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 Blocks, and 1 Steal per game, surpassing all Western Conference players to become the Western Conference player of the week.
Link, with an average of 34 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 Steals, and 1 Block per game, edged out Allen Iverson, who averaged 28 points, and Tracy McGrady, who averaged 33 points, to win the Eastern Conference player of the week.
[Individual Career Honors]:
1. player of the week (9 times)
2. rookie of the month (3 times)
3. player of the month (2 times)
4. All-Star Starter (1 time)
5. NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge MVP
6. Second all-nba team (1 time)
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In the second week of the NBA regular season, the Washington Wizards continued their strong performance. Playing at home, they defeated Paul Pierce's Boston Celtics on November 13, 2002, and the Charlotte Hornets on November 15, securing an impressive five-game winning streak.
However, on November 16, in a back-to-back road game, they lost to the Seattle SuperSonics, led by Gary Payton and Rashard Lewis. Although Gary Payton was a year older, he limited Link to only 14 points, 5 assists, and 4 turnovers. It is worth mentioning that Yao Ming, in this game, scored his first career 20+10, meaning 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Half a month into the season, the Washington Wizards achieved a record of 5 wins and 1 loss, temporarily ranking first in the Eastern Conference and second in the league.
The San Antonio Spurs currently lead the Washington Wizards by 0.5 games, with a record of 5 wins and 0 losses.
Tim Duncan once again won the Western Conference player of the week.
However, the Eastern Conference player of the week was claimed by the surging Jermaine ONeal.
Little O'Neal already showed All-Star potential last season, and this season he has taken another step forward, becoming the media's pick for the Eastern Conference's top power forward.
ESPN also released its rankings for this season's team power, MVP predictions, and rookie of the year predictions during the game's off-day.
While team power rankings consider current team records, this early in the season, it doesn't significantly impact the overall ranking. Many teams that won't even make the playoffs can initially enter the 'elite zone' because they haven't received special treatment. However, as the season progresses, especially around the All-Star break, their true colors will be revealed.
Team power rankings are more often based on individual subjective judgment.
For example, the Los Angeles Lakers, with a 3-3 start, were ranked first in ESPN's team power rankings. However, in reality, the Los Angeles Lakers only achieved a fifth-place record in the Western Conference during this regular season. Of course, if that record were moved to the Eastern Conference, it would be first in the East. The Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons had the same record, both 50 wins and 32 losses.
The top six were:
Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, and Washington Wizards.
Uh...
That's right!
The Washington Wizards, who ranked first in the Eastern Conference and second in the entire league, were only ranked sixth in ESPN's team power rankings.
This undoubtedly caused dissatisfaction among countless Washington Wizards fans.
Many NBA commentators also voiced their grievances for the Washington Wizards.
Even the great god of basketball, Michael Jordan, directly came forward and openly declared: "Even if we now have the best Point Guard in the league, we cannot avoid being underestimated by the outside world."
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In addition to the team power rankings, ESPN also released its MVP prediction list.
Tim Duncan once again topped the list.
Following him were: Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Jermaine ONeal, Kobe Bryant, and Link.
Link ranking sixth on the MVP list is quite remarkable for a Second-Year Players rookie.
However, Link's fans were quite unhappy about this, feeling that Link was ranked too low.
Charles Barkley even publicly supported Link, stating that although Michael Jordan was on the Washington Wizards roster, the undisputed leader of this team was Link. He had the stats, and he had the record. Link completely deserved to be this year's regular season mvp.
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Then there's the rookie of the year selection.
Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns, just like in the previous life, continued to lead the rookie of the year rankings.
Although Yao Ming averaged 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 Blocks, and 2 assists in the past 6 games.
His individual stats were comparable to Amare Stoudemire's current 18 points, 6 rebounds, 1 Block, and 2 assists, but... Amare Stoudemire's playing style was explosive and eye-catching, and the Phoenix media had already hailed him as the next Shawn Kemp.
However, in terms of team record, Yao Ming still had an advantage.
Regarding the rookie of the year competition, aside from Washington Wizards fans, almost everyone else in the NBA uniformly supported Amare Stoudemire.
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In the third week of the NBA regular season, the Washington Wizards' first opponent was the Phoenix Suns.
The day before the game, November 12, 2002.
In the Washington Wizards' team training camp, Link and Yao Ming repeatedly used the pick-and-roll to break through the opposing lineup.
"Wow!"
"Wow!"
"Yao... his hook shot feels so soft!"
Although Yao Ming hadn't gained weight yet, his Speed wasn't fast, making it difficult for him to reach the basket immediately, but this didn't mean there was no threat from rolling to the basket. In the game against the SuperSonics, Link clearly noticed that when he and Yao Ming executed a high pick-and-roll, the opponent's two defenders focused primarily on him, because in their view, even if Yao Ming started first, the opposing Center could still catch up.