Kent Bazemore Is Making People Happy

Mike Budenholzer is smiling. Which does not seem unusual, even for NBA coaches, but is not the sort of thing often seen in a pre-game media scrum. This is not a fun time for coaches, or anyone else. Some openly disdain it, others accept it as necessary and comply. No one actually enjoys it.

This is not an extraordinary scrum, either. It was March 11 in Denver, Colorado, and began with Budenholzer being asked about what's different about the Nuggets—a team that his Atlanta Hawks play twice annually—now that Brian Shaw is gone. Head down, voice monotone, Budenholzer delivers coach speak in energy-saver mode: they are, it turns out, "playing hard" and "shooting better." He almost grins while answering the next question, about the Hawks clinching the Eastern Conference's top seed before March was halfway home, but the answer is just as rote.

But when he's asked about Kent Bazemore, Budenholzer's face does something odd. His eyes brighten several shades and the grin stretches several inches wider. It can't be, but… yes, holy shit, it absolutely is. That is a big, honest smile

"Kent's been great," Budenholzer grinned. "He's got such great energy, we're really lucky to have him."

The quote is anodyne and familiar. The smile is not. This is perhaps Bazemore's greatest attribute. Beyond the perimeter defense, beyond the improved shooting and slashing, there is a joy that is hard to quantify and easy to recognize. It's as plain as the smile on Mike Budenholzer's face.

At first, a smile was really all Bazemore could give the Hawks. He had surgery on his right foot in April, and was still rehabbing from the surgery when the Hawks started training camp. "September's become such an important month in the NBA for individual development and grasping team concepts," Budenholzer said. "(But) when it started (getting going) for him, he's been a huge addition."

Bazemore admits it was a struggle, because the injury didn't fully allow him to learn his new teammates, system or role. It was impossible to notice. There was Bazemore, furiously helicopter-waving his towel above his head after Kyle Korver threes. There he was, dashing off the bench to be the first one to high-five a teammate or collide with him mid-air after a dunk. Because the Hawks had transformed into an unstoppable juggernaut, Bazemore's smile and the bottomless positivity roiling beneath it was really all they needed.

Then, on January 30, Thabo Sefolosha suffered a calf injury against the Portland Trail Blazers and left the game. Budenholzer had no choice but to play Bazemore for almost 40 minutes. He scored 12 points that night against the Blazers, dishing out three assists, grabbing five rebounds and hounding the Blazers' perimeter players into a combined 10-for-33 performance. The Hawks announced the next day that Sefolosha would miss six-to-eight weeks, which meant Bazemore had been thrust into a much more significant role.

"Staying ready is something I pride myself in," Bazemore says. "Showing up every day, regardless of situation or minutes. With Thabo out, it really allowed me to spread my wings, play through ups and downs, (and) get a groove offensively and defensively."

There's a certain comfort that comes with the knowledge of assured playing time. With both Sefolosha and DeMarre Carroll out, Bazemore wouldn't have to look over his shoulder every time he missed a shot or blew an assignment. The smile was wider. "Any player that plays relaxed in this league is going to be special," Bazemore says. "With the leash coach has given me, I can go out there, be aggressive."

The numbers show Bazemore to have little impact on defense—opponents score just slightly more when Bazemore is on the court—and a largely negative one on offense, which craters from 112 points per 100 possessions to 103 when Bazemore plays. While those numbers certainly can't be discarded, they're also hard to credit, given the energy surge whenever Bazemore enters the game. Whether he's playing with the starters or the second unit, any lineup with Bazemore always seemed to play just a little more loose, defend with a bit more frenzy, and flow a bit more smoothly. Bazemore is a valuable player, but also perhaps the best argument for the idea that there are skills that even advanced statistics can't quantify.

"We always had some funny guys, but his energy and his passion for the game rubs off on you on the floor and the locker room," Jeff Teague said to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "He's probably one of the best teammates I ever had." There is no proof of this, either, but who would argue?

Any NBA coach will tell you that it's essentially impossible to completely shut down the league's best players; the idea is to make those players work as hard as possible. A few games before the Hawks faced the Nuggets, they played the resurgent Cleveland Cavaliers in a marquee matchup between two of the East's best teams. Bazemore played only 20 minutes that game, but his defense ensured that they were the most unpleasant 20 minutes of the game for LeBron James.

"We were hopeful that he could be someone that was an elite wing defender," Budenholzer says. "I think from his very beginning, even when he would just get put in at the end of the quarter, he could guard the best players in the league and make it hard on them."

Sefolosha's back now, and the Hawks are nearly completely healthy with the playoffs in the near future. Rotations always shorten during the playoffs, but Bazemore's minutes likely won't see a drastic cut when the postseason starts. Bazemore has earned nothing less—he's enjoying a career year, finally healthy, and part of a historic Hawks team that could contend for a NBA Championship. All this, simply by being himself and doing what he does.

"I'm just doing something I love," Bazemore says. "I've got nothing to frown about."