NBA time capsule | 2010s

It was The Decision, it was The Process, it was the age of Moreyball, it was the age of Linsanity, it was the epoch of 3-pointers, it was the epoch of triple-doubles, it was the season of Golden State, it was the season of Donald Sterling, it was the spring of Luka Doncic, it was the winter of Dirk Nowitzki, we had super teams before us, we had the Knicks before us, we were all going direct to South Beach, we were all We The North — in short, the 2010s …

The 2010s. 20-10. It doesn’t look like a decade. It looks like a game by DeMarcus Cousins. Or Anthony Davis. Or Kevin Love.

This is the 2010s — the 2009-10 season to 2018-19 — in a time capsule:



TEAMS

Best record | San Antonio Spurs, 559-245

2. Oklahoma City Thunder, 515-289
3. Golden State Warriors, 505-299

Best record, season | 2016 Golden State Warriors, 73-9

2015 Golden State Warriors, 67-15
2016 San Antonio Spurs, 67-15
2017 Golden State Warriors, 67-15

Worst record | Sacramento Kings, 287-517

2. Minnesota Timberwolves, 288-516
3. Brooklyn Nets, 300-504

Worst record, season | 2012 Charlotte Bobcats, 7-59

2016 Philadelphia 76ers, 10-72
2010 New Jersey Nets, 12-70

Had their best decade | Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Memphis Grizzlies

Had their worst decade | Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz

Expansion teams | The league hasn’t added a franchise since the 2004-05 season, the longest such stretch in league history.

Franchise shifts | The Nets moved 13 miles from Newark, New Jersey to Brooklyn, New York in 2012.

Name changes | The New Orleans Hornets became the Pelicans, and Charlotte Bobcats became the Hornets.



Best offense | 2016-19 Golden State Warriors

2017-19 Houston Rockets
2010 Phoenix Suns

Best defense | 2012 Boston Celtics

2012 Chicago Bulls
2016 San Antonio Spurs

Fastest pace | 2019 Atlanta Hawks

2019 Milwaukee Bucks
2019 New Orleans Pelicans

The nine fastest teams were all from last season.

Slowest pace | 2010-11 Portland Trail Blazers

2011-13 New Orleans Hornets
2013 Memphis Grizzlies

Best NBA Finals | 2016, Cavaliers def. Warriors, 4-3

2013, Heat def. Spurs, 4-3

Best rivalry | LeBron James vs. Cleveland

Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers



BEST PLAYERS

2009-10 | LeBron James

2010-11 | LeBron James

2011-12 | LeBron James

2012-13 | LeBron James

2013-14 | Kevin Durant, LeBron James

2014-15 | James Harden, Stephen Curry

2015-16 | Stephen Curry

2016-17 | Russell Westbrook

2017-18 | James Harden

2018-19 | James Harden



ALL-NBA

First team

Forward | LeBron James

Forward | Kevin Durant

Center | Anthony Davis

Guard | James Harden

Guard | Stephen Curry

Second team

Forward | Kawhi Leonard

Forward | Blake Griffin

Center | Dwight Howard

Guard | Chris Paul

Guard | Russell Westbrook

Third team

Forward | Paul George

Forward | Pau Gasol

Center | Marc Gasol / Tim Duncan

Guard | Kyle Lowry

Guard | Damian Lillard



LEADERS

Scoring | Kevin Durant, 28.0

2. LeBron James, 26.9
3. Kobe Bryant, 24.7

Scoring, season | James Harden [2018-19] 36.1

2. Kevin Durant [2013-14] 32.0
3. Russell Westbrook [2016-17] 31.6

Rebounding | Andre Drummond, 13.7

2. Dwight Howard, 12.7
3. Karl-Anthony Towns, 11.9

Rebounding, season | Andre Drummond [2017-18] 16.0

2. Andre Drummond [2018-19] 15.6
3. Kevin Love [2010-11] 15.23
4. DeAndre Jordan [2017-18] 15.21

Assists | Steve Nash, 10.0

2. Chris Paul, 9.6
3. Rajon Rondo, 9.5

Assists, season | Rajon Rondo [2011-12] 11.70

2. Rajon Rondo [2015-16] 11.65
3. Steve Nash [2010-11] 11.4



2-point shooting | DeAndre Jordan, 67.2

2. Tyson Chandler, 63.8
3. Rudy Gobert, 62.9

2-point shooting, season | DeAndre Jordan [2016-17] 71.7

2. DeAndre Jordan [2014-15] 71.3
3. DeAndre Jordan [2015-16] 70.4

3-point shooting | Kyle Korver, 44.5

2. Stephen Curry, 43.6
3. Klay Thompson, 41.9

3-point shooting, season | Kyle Korver [2014-15] 49.2

2. J.J. Redick [2015-16] 47.5
3. Joe Harris [2018-19] 47.4

Free throw shooting | Stephen Curry, 90.5

2. Dirk Nowitzki, 89.3
3. J.J. Redick, 89.3

Free throw shooting, season | Steve Nash [2009-10] 93.8

2. Stephen Curry [2010-11] 93.4
3. Malcolm Brogdon [2018-19] 92.8



ALL-DEFENSE

First team

Forward | LeBron James

Forward | Draymond Green

Center | Dwight Howard

Guard | Tony Allen

Guard | Chris Paul

Second team

Forward | Kawhi Leonard

Forward | Paul Millsap

Center | Joakim Noah / Tim Duncan

Guard | Rajon Rondo

Guard | Jrue Holiday



LEADERS

Steals | Chris Paul, 2.15

2. Ricky Rubio, 1.93

Steals, season | Chris Paul [2011-12] 2.53

2. Chris Paul [2013-14] 2.48

Blocks | Anthony Davis, 2.41

2. Hassan Whiteside, 2.32
3. Rudy Gobert, 2.20
4. Serge Ibaka, 2.16

Blocks, season | Hassan Whiteside [2015-16] 3.68

2. Serge Ibaka [2011-12] 3.65
3. Serge Ibaka [2012-13] 3.03



Most successful coach | Gregg Popovich, Spurs

2. Steve Kerr, Warriors
3. Erik Spoelstra, Heat

Best shooter | Stephen Curry

Klay Thompson
Kevin Durant

Best dunker | Blake Griffin

All-Star bench | Manu Ginobili

Lou Williams
Ed Davis
Andre Iguodala
Chris Andersen
Patty Mills
Nick Collison

Teammate | Shane Battier

Best backcourt | 2014-17 Warriors, Stephen Curry & Klay Thompson

2018 Rockets, James Harden & Chris Paul
2015-18 Raptors, Kyle Lowry & DeMar DeRozan

Best frontcourt | 2010-11 Lakers, Pau Gasol-Lamar Odom-Andrew Bynum



One-team players | Russell Westbrook, Thunder

Mike Conley, Grizzlies
Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Warriors

10-team player | Ish Smith, Rockets, Grizzlies, Warriors, Magic, Bucks, Suns, Thunder, 76ers, Pelicans and Pistons

Iron man | DeAndre Jordan

P.J. Tucker
Klay Thompson

Tallest players | Kristaps Porzingis, 7-3

Boban Marjanovic, 7-3
Hasheem Thabeet, 7-3

Shortest players | Isaiah Thomas, 5-9

Nate Robinson, 5-9

Best No. 1 pick | Anthony Davis, Hornets / Pelicans

Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers

Worst No. 1 pick | Anthony Bennett, Cavaliers

Markelle Fultz, 76ers

Lottery winner | David Griffin, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2019

Rookie sensation | Blake Griffin

Sensation | Jeremy Lin

Best young player | Anthony Davis

Best old player | Tim Duncan

Age [19] All-Star team

STARTERS | Moses Malone, the first high school player to turn pro, plus two No. 1 draft picks by the Cavaliers

Forward | LeBron James, Cavaliers [2003-04]

Forward | Anthony Davis, Hornets [2012-13]

Center | Moses Malone, Utah Stars (ABA) [1974-75]

Guard | Luka Doncic, Mavericks [2018-19]

Guard | Kyrie Irving, Cavaliers [2011-12]



BENCH | Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and the prep-to-pro generation chronicled in Jonathan Abrams’ Boys Among Men

Forward | Jayson Tatum, Celtics [2017-18]

Forward | Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets [2003-04]

Forward | Tracy McGrady, Raptors [1998-99]

Center | Dwight Howard, Magic [2004-05]

Guard | Kobe Bryant, Lakers [1997-98]



Rookie of the Year award | LeBron James (2004), Kevin Durant (2008), Kyrie Irving (2012), Andrew Wiggins (2015), Luka Doncic (2019)
— Kevin Brewer

Classic episode: The Draft Dodger

The greatest Christmas episode in television history is the story of a bigoted man from Queens who was once a presidential candidate, a Gold Star father and a country and family divided through education and generations. It aired in 1976.

During its first three seasons, All in the Family was the highest-rated and most celebrated series on television: 25 Emmy nominations and 12 wins, including three for Outstanding Comedy Series and one for Carroll O’Connor, who played working-class conservative Archie Bunker. The show was so popular and Archie so iconic that by the third season, during the 1972 presidential election, some commentators were discussing the “Archie Bunker vote” — white working class men. There was an “Archie Bunker for President” parody campaign with T-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers.

In the fifth season, the Jeffersons — the Bunkers’ next-door neighbors — moved on and up to their own series. Mike and Gloria moved next door the following season. Archie, living only with wife Edith, was losing his comic (and liberal) adversaries.

But the 1976-77 season represented a creative resurgence — a three-part episode about Archie kissing a waitress, a two-parter about him losing his job and another two-parter about his gallbladder operation. Then, on Christmas night, CBS aired the Emmy-nominated “The Draft Dodger,” an episode about Christmas dinner, secrets and changing the subject.

Robert Forster, 1941-2019

As Max Cherry, the stand-up bail bondsman in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, Robert Forster watches Jackie, played by Pam Grier, walk out of jail in a real movie star moment. He watches the triple-cross money exchange from every angle. In the film’s final scene, he watches Jackie walk out of his office and out of his life forever — one of those faraway, unrequited looks.

Forster didn’t just watch. He watched like Gary Grant listened, like James Dean leaned, like Jack Nicholson raised an eyebrow. He was Jack Webb, except with a pulse and a soul.

Robert Forster, who played strong, sturdy, silent types in more than 150 movies and television series, died Saturday of brain cancer. He was 78.

“Today the world is left with one less gentleman,” Tarantino said Sunday. “One less square shooter. One less good man. One less wonderful father. One less marvelous actor. I remember all the breakfasts we had. … All the stories. All the kind words. All the support. Casting Robert Forster in Jackie Brown was one of the best choices I’ve ever made in my life.”