The National Basketball Association (NBA) is where the best basketball players from around the world have a chance to showcase their skills and play against the best of the best. With it, comes the never-ending debate of who is the best player in the NBA. Past players like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Lebron James have been considered the best basketball players in their respective era. In an article titled, “Stephen Curry has Replaced Lebron James as the Best Basketball Player in the World”, Cork Gaines, a sports editor from Business Insider, discusses how Stephen Curry has replaced Lebron James as the current best basketball player in the NBA. The article is written for readers who are basketball fans because the editor uses many basketball terms like off-ball defense, dish, and layup. In order for the readers to understand what characteristics the best basketball player has, Gaines provides his own definition of one in his article. Gaines states that Stephen Curry, “became the perfect basketball weapon, a force who can’t be guarded and can be stopped only if he stops himself” (Gaines, 2015). Although this statement sounds exaggerated in a sense that nobody is “perfect” or “a force who can’t be guarded”, Gaines convinced his readers that Stephen Curry is the best basketball player in the NBA by using a combination of logical reasoning, emotional appeal, and an appeal to a credible source of a basketball player’s opinion to evoke a sense of awe and amazement towards Curry. In the beginning of his article, Gaines hooks the reader’s interest by provoking the reader’s emotions towards Stephen Curry. Cork Gaines tactically used pathos—the emotional appeal—to evoke a sense of amazement towards Curry. Gaines described Curry’s skillset and provided short video clips of those skills in his article. Gaines stated what separated Curry from other players was his “amazing ability to create his own space (for a shot), and he doesn’t even need that much” (Gaines, 2015). Gaines supported his statement with a short video clip of Curry using an array of dribble moves on his defender and quickly shooting the shot over him. Gaines follows with another description that even if the defenders gave him space, Curry “can shoot from anywhere on the court, so the defense can’t ease up or sit back, even from deep” (Gaines, 2015). He supported this description with another short visual clip of Curry shooting a deep 3-point shot against the defender. The editor disproved any counterpoints that even if the defenders played close, “Curry will use his quickness and blow right by” his defender and supplied yet another video of Curry quickly running to the hoop and scoring a close layup shot against his tightly guarded defender (Gaines, 2015). The detailed description that Gaines provided effectively provoked the reader with a sense of amazement and admiration that Curry has “amazing ability”, “can shoot
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If the reader had any doubts to Gaines’ description of why Curry is the “perfect basketball weapon,” Gaines provided an insight of an NBA player who has played against Stephen Curry in person. Gaines cited Isaiah Thomas, an NBA guard from the Boston Cetics, as a credible source and took an excerpt from The Player’s Tribune in which Isaiah Thomas explained why it was so difficult to guard Stephen Curry. In the column that Gaines quoted, Isaiah stated, “you’re always guessing… He (Stephen Curry) reads the court so well that he doesn’t need a plan” (Gaines, 2015). Isaiah Thomas was outlining Curry’s great basketball instincts and decides how to score based on his defender. Thomas also explained that a defender has to respect Curry’s 3-point shot because he is the best at it, and “If you play too far up on the three, he’ll take you off the dribble, if he beats you on the first step, say goodbye. He’s already gone” (Gaines, 2015). Gaines chose to quote Isaiah Thomas because his excerpt correlates to Gaines’ argument that Curry’s combination of shooting and quickness make him the best player in the NBA. If an NBA player like Isaiah Thomas had similar descriptions as Gaines made about Curry, it gives Gaines’ argument more credibility and validated his point that he was not exaggerating as much when he said Curry was “a force who can’t be
If the reader had any doubts to Gaines’ description of why Curry is the “perfect basketball weapon,” Gaines provided an insight of an NBA player who has played against Stephen Curry in person. Gaines cited Isaiah Thomas, an NBA guard from the Boston Cetics, as a credible source and took an excerpt from The Player’s Tribune in which Isaiah Thomas explained why it was so difficult to guard Stephen Curry. In the column that Gaines quoted, Isaiah stated, “you’re always guessing… He (Stephen Curry) reads the court so well that he doesn’t need a plan” (Gaines, 2015). Isaiah Thomas was outlining Curry’s great basketball instincts and decides how to score based on his defender. Thomas also explained that a defender has to respect Curry’s 3-point shot because he is the best at it, and “If you play too far up on the three, he’ll take you off the dribble, if he beats you on the first step, say goodbye. He’s already gone” (Gaines, 2015). Gaines chose to quote Isaiah Thomas because his excerpt correlates to Gaines’ argument that Curry’s combination of shooting and quickness make him the best player in the NBA. If an NBA player like Isaiah Thomas had similar descriptions as Gaines made about Curry, it gives Gaines’ argument more credibility and validated his point that he was not exaggerating as much when he said Curry was “a force who can’t be