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On Tuesday night, a long-time NBA scoring record was broken.
No, I’m not just talking about LeBron James finally becoming the NBA’s all-time scoring champion during yet another Los Angeles Lakers home loss.
Across the USA in Brooklyn, New York, a little-known first round pick from LSU was establishing a new NBA rookie scoring record on Tuesday with his third straight 40-point game at the age of 21.
Cam Thomas of the Brooklyn Nets scored 43 points in a 116-112 home loss to the Phoenix Suns. He became the youngest player in NBA history with three straight 40-point games.
In the previous two games, the Nets rookie scored 44 and 47 points. Unfortunately, the Nets have gone 1-2 during Thomas’ prolific three game scoring streak.
Cam Thomas scored 43 points in 39 minutes last night. Unfortunately, his Nets teammate Ben Simmons (also played just one year at LSU and became the NBA’s overall #1 draft pick in 2016) chipped in just two points, four rebounds and four turnovers in 27 minutes for the Nets in the loss to Phoenix.
Shooting guard Cam Thomas also played just one season on the Bayou in Baton Rouge for the LSU Tigers last year. He led the team in scoring with 24 points per game. LSU finished the 2021-2022 season with a 19-10 record.
Prior to the SEC and NCAA tournaments, LSU Coach Will Wade was fired. A lengthy investigation confirmed that he had participated in arranging for payments to be made to certain basketball players. LSU lost in the 2nd round of the NCAA March Madness tournament last spring.
The 6’3” Cam Thomas earned the distinction of being the nation’s highest scoring freshman basketball player last year. He was also named as a starter on All-SEC men’s basketball team.
Instead of sticking around another year to help rebuild the LSU basketball program, Cam Thomas decided to leave the program after coach Will Wade’s dismissal. In fairness, every one of LSU’s scholarship basketball players left the men’s team after the end of last season.
Some players transferred while a few others (like Thomas) entered pro basketball.
Drafted late in the first round (27th overall) by the Brooklyn Nets, rookie shooting guard Cam Thomas seemed pleasantly surprised to have scored more than 40 points in three consecutive NBA games beginning last Saturday.
Thomas was relegated to the bench to serve as a back-up for most of this season. His job was to provide a breather for eight-time NBA All-Star guard Kyrie Irving. Cam Thomas was scoring a modest seven points per game this season prior to the last three games.
The Brooklyn Nets organization has been spending a lot of money over the past several years trying to build their first NBA championship team since entering the NBA back in 1976.
The team has tried to copy the “trio of stars” concept which initially started in Boston about 15 years ago with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. A few years later, the Miami Heat paired LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. Though both teams were briefly successful, these All Star trios didn’t stay together for more than a few years.
In 2019, the Brooklyn Nets got into the act. The team added:
- Kevin Durant – Forward – 2019. Current age 34. Career scoring average: 25 ppg
- Kyrie Irving – Guard – 2019. Current age 30. Career scoring average: 23 ppg
- James Harden – Guard – Jan. 2021. Current age 33. Career scoring avg: 25 ppg
After acquiring James Harden from the Houston Rockets in January, 2021, the Brooklyn Nets still lost in the second round of the NBA playoffs to the eventual league champion, Milwaukee.
Just one year after James Harden came to the Nets, “The Beard” was shipped to the Philadelphia 76ers right days before the 2022 trade deadline. In return, the Nets received 6’11” forward/guard Ben Simmons from Philly.
Simmons’ career scoring average of nearly 16 points per game is very deceiving. His points usually come on fast breaks and dunks. Over his career, he connects on just 59% of his free throw attempts. Opposing teams know that they can leave Ben Simmons wide open as he is reluctant to attempt almost any shot outside of ten feet from the basket.
As his shooting woes have worsened, the 26-year old Ben Simmons has become more mentally fragile by the year. His offensive shooting skills (already weak) have continued to regress.
Because of his reluctance to shoot the basketball, Ben Simmons fell into the doghouse with Philly’s notorious “Love you or hate you” sports fans. After the Sixers lost at home to Atlanta in the second round of the 2021 NBA playoffs, Simmons was accurately targeted as being an offensive liability for the team.
Rather than pledge to work harder to improve his game, Ben Simmons went further into his own shell. Simmons (through his agent) said that he would never play in Philadelphia again.
He began a lengthy unpaid hold-out and refused to suit-up in Philadelphia as the 2021-2022 NBA season began.
In February, 2022, Ben Simmons got his wish and was traded to the Brooklyn Nets to join Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. In return, the high-scoring James Harden had an opportunity to start anew in Philadelphia.
Even with a new basketball team in Brooklyn where he wouldn’t be asked to score very much, Ben Simmons’ game has continued to deteriorate.
Last spring, this new-look trio and their Brooklyn Nets lost to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
This year’s Brooklyn Nets “Big Three” of Durant, Irving, and Simmons have been good at times but not great. On the date of this story, the Nets reside in fifth place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Kevin Durant is averaging 30 points per game but a recent injury has kept him on the sidelines.
Ben Simmons game has been even worse than before. He is averaging just seven points per game but plays over 27 minutes per game. He is routinely taken out of basketball games late in the fourth quarter due to his inability to take a shot or make a free throw.
Simmons earns an incredible $35 million per year. Most NBA teams expect their highly paid basketball players to be at the center of the action as the game comes down the final stretch. Ben Simmons is an offensive liability to his team and rides the bench in the final minutes of most games.
While teammate Kevin Durant leads the NBA in free throw percentage at 93%, Ben Simmons is converting less than 44% of his free throw attempts this year. You might think that Simmons should ask for some shooting tips from his own teammate, Kevin Durant!
Late last week, the third “star” in Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving, surprised the Nets’ management with a request to be traded prior to this Thursday’s 2PM (Central) NBA trade deadline.
Irving was not happy that the Nets balked at offering him a guaranteed 4-year contract extension worth a total of $198.5 million. Kyrie Irving wants a pay increase from “just” $39 million this year to $49 million per year under the new deal.
For the Nets, Irving has shown to be injury prone and lacking in leadership qualities. Though his on-court basketball skills are exceptional, Kyrie Irving has developed a reputation as a locker room problem in both Cleveland and Boston prior to coming to Brooklyn.
Within two days of Irving’s trade request, Brooklyn cut a deal with the Dallas Mavericks to send the oft-disgruntled player to the NBA Western Conference team. In return, the Nets received a couple of talented mid-level players plus a few future draft picks.
With Kyrie Irving gone and high scoring forward Kevin Durant sidelined with an injury, rookie Cam Thomas was handed the ball as the shooting guard for the Brooklyn Nets last Saturday night. He delivered!
Thomas netted 44 points in his first start in a win against Washington. Then, he put 47 points up in a close loss to the Los Angeles Clippers (where he was guarded by NBA All-Defensive specialist Kawhi Leonard).
As LeBron James captured the national media attention by overtaking Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s NBA career scoring record in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, Nets rookie Cam Thomas connected for another 43 points during a 4-point loss to the Phoenix Suns.
In just three games, Thomas raised his season scoring average from seven points per game (through the first 49 games) to over ten points per game today.
Shooting guard Cam Thomas is quickly making Brooklyn Nets fans forget all about Kyrie Irving.
After Tuesday night’s record-setting performance, the former LSU guard was asked by a local reporter if he understood what his role was for the team.
He said, “Getting buckets! I’m doing the same stuff as always. It’s still basketball, and I’m trying to help get a win for my team.”
The management of the Brooklyn Nets loves this, too. Cam Thomas is playing under his rookie NBA contract for about $2.7 million this season. His annual salary is $36 million less than the contract of the departed Kyrie Irving.
Once Kevin Durant returns to the line-up and the two new players acquired from the Dallas Mavericks work their way into the rotation, the Brooklyn Nets are a team to watch coming down the stretch of this season.
If only Cam Thomas could help to motivate another former LSU player, Ben Simmons, to up his offensive game.
As sportscaster Al Michaels famously said, “Do you believe in miracles?”