Minnesota Timberwolves

Should we be cutting KAT more slack?

Off the top of my head: Bam, Sabonis, Jaylen Brown, Klay, Harden, Randle, Jrue, AD, Jarrett Allen, JJJ, Mitchell, even Embiid and Tatum to a lesser degree, all underperformed in the playoffs this season. Some of these guys were detrimental to their teams in the playoffs, others were just inconsistent or underwhelming compared to their regular season play.

These are all-stars, all-defensive, all-NBA, even MVP-caliber players—some of the most important players on their respective teams and league-wide—and they were unable to deliver compared to the standards they set in the regular season.

Playoff basketball is an entirely different beast, in terms of intensity, playstyle, competition, game-planning/coaching, etc. Maybe it’s just an impossible standard.

Does that mean KAT deserves a pass? No, absolutely not. I am not here to be a KAT apologist; he's been underwhelming if not completely detrimental more often than he's been a positive force in the playoffs. He’s a supermax player and a multi-time all-NBA vet in his prime. We don’t need him to be THE guy anymore. We just need him to be a great #2, 1B option; hit your shots, avoid errant fouls and bad turnovers, stay focused on defense. That’s not a ton to ask.

But I think the fact remains that playoff basketball is just insanely difficult even for most of the elite players in the league. We look at guys like Lebron, Curry, Jokic, Butler, Giannis, etc., as the standard setters and fans say we need our best guys looking like that. But most guys are either not built for it or they struggle to bring that level of intensity and focus every single game.