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Three weeks into the season, storylines begin to grow legs and sprint through to the end of June.
Many of these may prove to be nothing when all is said-and-done or they can provide fans with an inside look of what’s to come later down the line.
All left for you to judge after reading this week’s installment of the NBA Weekly Wrap.
Boston responding to Smart’s comments
Recent comments following a loss to the Chicago Bulls from Boston guard Marcus Smart caused a stir as he openly depicted opposing gameplans as wanting to force Celtic stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to pass the ball.
To which he followed up with, “they don’t want to pass the ball.” Despite acknowledging the growth in their careers, Smart explained that as the next step in their game, needed to make the team successful.
A players-only meeting followed where it got “emotional” according to various reports.
How has the team responded since? Two wins in three games with its lone loss coming in heartbreaking fashion.
Boston beat Orlando by 13 points and saw the team turn in 24 assists on 33 made field goals as Brown led the team in scoring with 28 points.
In the follow-up, the Celtics ousted the Miami Heat by 17 points despite shooting 39.7% from the field.
Brown led the team in scoring with 17 points.
Tatum exploded for 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting including going 6-of-8 from three-point range in the team’s three-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
He shot a combined 7-of-29 from the field including going 3-of-11 from beyond the arc in the first two games.
It took a last-second game-winner from guard Luka Doncic for the Celtics to be ousted.
Brown missed the Dallas game with a hamstring injury and is expected to be out between one and two weeks.
Currently, Boston is 11th in the Eastern Conference.
The Buck restarts here
The tradition of the NBA Champions making their annual trip to the White House is back.
This past week saw the Milwaukee Bucks visit 46th President, Joe Biden, at the White House as the collection commemorated their championship run last season.
Milwaukee became the first team to visit the White House since the Cleveland Cavaliers visisted the estate when 44th President, Barack Obama, was residing.
The team was in town following a 101-94 loss to the Washington Wizards the night before.
All champions opted to stay away from the tradition while 45th President, Donald Trump, was in office.
Biden provided cracks at the team, highlighting fellow Delaware native Donte DiVincezno along the way before turning the attention to two-time regular season MVP and Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
After the event, Antetokounmpo admitted to getting “teary eyed” as he heard Biden speak about his humble beginnings that included sharing shoes with his siblings.
In addition, Biden credited the Bucks for their participation of the protest of Game Five of their opening round playoff series with the Orlando Magic in 2020.
The protest came in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin by a police officer.
Forward Carmelo Anthony is in his 19th NBA season and is continuing to provide fans with highlight-reel moments that will help encapsulate his career once over.
Anthony is averaging 17.6 points per game on 50% shooting from the field and 52% from three-point range.
He has scored 10-plus points in nine of the 11 games played for the Los Angeles Lakers and over 20 points in five of the 11.
The Lakers hold a 4-1 record in those games.
Already this season, Anthony has passed Hall-of-Famer Moses Malone on the all-time scoring list in the third quarter of a 121-118 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Anthony is now No. 9 on the all-time scoring list, sitting just under Lakers-great Shaquille O’Neal.
He also hit back-to-back big three-pointers for Los Angeles in the team’s three-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that traded Anthony in 2018.
Anthony posted a season-high 29 points in a 126-123 win over the Charlotte Hornets most recently.
The Lakers are now 6-5 this season and have won four of their last six games.
Currently, Los Angeles is the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
More Violent Push results in suspension and fines
If the NBA has taught us anything, it’s that the retaliator is often the one who catches the referee’s ire.
Reigning MVP and Denver center Nikola Jokic found that out Monday, Nov. 8 when he was fouled hard by Miami forward Markieff Morris.
Jokic was rocked hard as Morris lowered his left shoulder into the rib cage of the Serbia big man as he attempted a halfcourt lob pass.
Upon rises back to his feet, Jokic returned the shoulder block but to the back of Morris, who was now walking away.
The whiplash-like motion forced Morris to the ground as a kerfuffle ensued resulting in video of the Heat forward Jimmy Butler being caught welcoming variuos members of the Nuggets to the back to continue the melee.
Both Jokic and Morris were ejected as Denver would go onto beat Miami, 113-96.
Markieef’s twin brother, took to Twitter to express his displeasure with the nature of the retaliation.
“Waited til bro turned his back [shaking my head]. NOTED,” Morris wrote on Twitter.
Which prompted the brothers of Jokic to not only chime in but create a Twitter to do so.
“You should leave this the way it is instead of publicly threatening our brother!” the tweet read from the account. “Your brother made a dirty play first. If you want to [take it] a step further, be sure we will be waiting for you!!”
To which Marcus replied, “You got the right ones, believe that.”
Lastly, the brothers’ account responded, “I don’t believe… I know that.”
Jokic expressed regret for the blow citing control of himself and the whiplash-like motion of Morris’ neck.
Even still, the league opted to suspend their reigning MVP for a game while fining Markieff $50,000 for a flagrant two foul.
Butler was fined $30,000 for escalating the scrum and opting not to cooperate with an NBA security investigation.