My favorite player to watch during the NBA playoffs may be surprising, but it is Malik Beasley of the Denver Nuggets.
I’m sure most people would answer with KD, Harden, Kawhi, Dame, Curry, Giannis, or maybe even Jokic, Kyrie, or Embiid, but not me. Obviously Beasley isn’t lighting up the box score like those other guys. Some nights Beasley isn’t even getting 15 minutes. He is averaging 9.2 PPG, 4 RPG, and 1.3 APG in the playoffs. So why has a roll player been my favorite player to watch in these playoffs? Well the answer actually dates back to 2015 when he suited up for my favorite sports team at Florida State for the first time.
To my knowledge, Malik Beasley is the first one-and-done player Florida State basketball has seen. During the 2015-2016 season Malik Beasley played for my beloved Florida State Seminoles. He was part of the best recruiting class in FSU history. Coming in he was expected to play second fiddle to Dwayne Bacon. Most FSU fans expected Bacon to be the one to go to the NBA after just one season and we thought we’d have Beasley for 2-3 years. Flip the scripts. Beasley averaged 15.6 PPG while shooting nearly 39% from 3 and 52% from 2. Although Bacon and Beasley had nearly identical numbers all year long, Beasley still seemed like he was more reliable and consistent throughout the year. All this being said I still remember being surprised when he decided to go pro and Bacon was the one who chose to come back.
Going into the draft I knew Beasley wasn’t going to go near the top of the draft, which isn’t always a bad thing. I thought that he would be a mid to late first round pick, which can put him on a good team that is in line to win now. I wanted the best for him. I didn’t want him to land on a team with no direction where he would just rot away for his whole rookie contract. There were two teams that I really wanted him to go to: the Bulls at 14 or the Spurs at 29. I wanted the Bulls just because I’m a Bulls fan so naturally I wanted a guy from my favorite college basketball team to end up on my favorite NBA team. But I felt the Spurs would have been the best landing spot for him because, well, it’s the Spurs. It is no secret the Spurs scout better than just about anyone, they develop players better than just about anyone, and Pop has built arguably the best winning culture in all of sports, so yeah, I thought Malik Beasley would have thrived in San Antonio because they would’ve gotten the most out of him.
Beasley was off the board well before the Spurs went on the clock. With the 19th pick in the 2016 NBA draft the Denver Nuggets selected Malik Beasley from Florida State University. I was really excited to see him drafted in the first round but didn’t really have an opinion on the very average Denver Nuggets. Like maybe this would be a great fit for him, but I honestly didn’t know. I didn’t know anything about the Nuggets team following the 2015-16 season Fast forward to his third season with the team and the Nuggets had an amazing season and finished as the #2 seed in the West. Right now they are tied 2-2 with the Blazers in a series that looks like it’ll go 7.
But why has Beasley been my favorite player to watch? Because everytime I see him on the court, hear someone say his name, watch him get a bucket I feel like I’m still cheering for him at Florida State. In my lifetime I don’t know if I’ve seen a former FSU player that I remember seeing in college play in the playoffs. Yeah Jonathan Isaac had a cup of coffee in the first round but it’s different with Beasley. He is playing solid minutes for a team that has an outside chance of making the NBA finals. It’s just kind of surreal to me. I love FSU basketball so much, way more than FSU football or any other sport at FSU, so to finally see one of our guys play minutes that matter in the NBA, in the playoffs, it’s wild.I’m sure if you’re a Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, or North Carolina fan you just laugh at this. But this is another moment of me feeling like FSU basketball has made it. Beasley isn’t just suiting up for the Nuggets, his family, for himself, but all of FSU basketball.Yeah I’ve seen guys like Al Thornton, Tony Douglas, Chris Singleton play for FSU and get drafted in the first round but their NBA careers fizzled out quick. It never felt like they were playing minutes that mattered, rather playing for teams who were the 9th or 10th best team in their conference at best.
Seeing Malik Beasley play in the playoffs gets me excited for his former teammates at FSU and guys who came in after him. What if Dwayne Bacon grows to be second fiddle to Kemba in Charlotte? That would be awesome. What if Jonathan Issac becomes one of the best players on the Magic? Terance Mann and Mfiondu Kabengele are entering the draft this year. Kabengele could be a late first round pick and Mann could find himself in the second round. I fully believe both will provide great depth, skill and versatility to whatever team they end up on. What if in a couple years we see Trent Forrest playing crucial defense late in a playoff game on the opposing team’s primary ball handler? Could PJ Savoy go play in Europe, get more consistent from 3 and get a chance in the NBA to be a 3-and-D guy off the bench? Beasley is proving that guys from a school known more for their football or baseball pedigree can make it in the NBA.
When I watch the Nuggets late at night and cheer for Malik Beasley, I’m also cheering for the garnet and gold and every player than came before and after him that is trying to make it in the NBA. To Malik Beasley, thank you.