The Basketball Movement is all about basketball in reality, but fantasy basketball is too big to ignore.

Within the doors of The Basketball Movement, players of all kinds have trained to improve. From grade school girls to the men of the NBA, The Movement has been dedicated to enriching basketball experiences, taking skill development to the next level, and promoting players and the sport of basketball in as many ways as possible.

While real, physical development is what TBM is all about, there is an intangible aspect of basketball that is growing all the time. Let’s talk about fantasy hoops.

Stats have been a big part of sports for a long time. Points per game as well as rebounds and assists have long been obvious indicators of success on the floor. It is not surprising that as time has gone on, more statistical categories have been scrutinized and compared, especially at the pro level.

With the ever-growing emphasis on statistics, fantasy basketball was always an inevitability. The premise was quickly rounded into the game-within-a-game that we now see today. Family, friends, and even complete strangers can use fantasy drafts to assemble a team of ballers that they believe is better than everyone else’s. Arguing about which players are better, worse, or primed for a breakout has never had a better platform.

Fantasy hoops is a great way for fans to show off what they believe to be superior sports knowledge. It also just makes for some good conversation. For those that play, it makes sure that you always have something to talk about with fellow sports enthusiasts. (Personal plug: I have written more about fantasy being the “Rosetta Stone” of sports here on my personal site).

2018-19 NBA fantasy players

With the 2018-19 NBA season underway, the fantasy season has also begun. It is still not too late to join drafts on sites such as Yahoo or ESPN. Player rankings often depend on the type of scoring in the league. The below list from ESPN.com for example suggests Russell Westbrook going very high in drafts. That means it is projecting for a league that discounts the negative effects of field goal percentage and turnovers.

(Second personal plug: Speaking of Westbrook and fantasy, I will be writing a weekly fantasy column on the OKC Thunder players and their opponents. Check out the week 1 article at Thunderous Intentions)

No list like the one below is guaranteed to bring success. That is the fun part: making your own picks and bragging about it later (or feeling great shame).

Alright, alright, enough about fantasy. Keep scrolling through The Basketball Movement’s blog for not only more NBA content, but more stuff on all things basketball.