Final Thoughts about the NBA Playoffs and Father’s Day

Before we drift aimlessly into the bleak and barren landscape of many months without the nightly sustenance of NBA hoops, I have some final thoughts on the 2022 NBA Playoffs and Finals, starting with a Father’s Day thought:

• Many people have ranked the best players whose father also played in the NBA. The 2022 Finals confirmed what we all knew: Steph Curry (whose father Dell was a very good player) is the best of that group of sons. The 2022 Finals had a bunch of father-son combos, as illustrated by this ABC graphic from Game Six.

• The graphic, and in particular the pictures of Gary Payton I and II, got me thinking about a related question, perhaps because I am writing this on Father’s Day: Who was the best player among the fathers whose sons later played in the NBA?