re: Face of the NBA next 10 years.... Curry, AD or other

KD if Lebron retires relatively soon, but after that, it's tough.

It depends if Steph keeps his core squad together. He benefits infinitely from Klay being there on the off chance that he's playing like shite. Steph does some insane things, but when he IS off, he's a ghost. I think he stays at a high level, but he won't be the face of the league because of what his game is. At the end of the day, he's an out of this world shooter and makes insane plays, but I don't think he's that much more outstanding than someone like Chris Paul as a guard. Elite 1s are always going to be making circus layups, ridiculous passes, and knocking down shots. As impressive as his consistency is, the face of the league isn't just on skill or consistency. Other guys can do what he does, albeit not nearly as well or consistent. The only way I see him as THE face of the league and big ticket of the NBA is if the team sticks together and keeps winning titles.

A major part of it is that big, physical dominant play style with big dunks, blocks, and whatnot. With Lebron, it's just impossible to imagine how a guy that massive could be that athletic and amazing at basketball. With Jordan, people blown away by the insane dunks, the scoring clinics, and his refusal to lose. The face of the NBA isn't necessarily the MVP. It's more about being a great player that delivers those larger than life, freakish spectacles.

Honestly, barring a lot of injuries or sharp decline in his game, AD is much more suited to the "face of the league" title. He's big, athletic, dominant, and just makes those insane plays around the rim that make casual fans go "Wow!" I'm not saying he's a better player than Steph or more impressive player than him, but I think that if his game continues to improve at the current pace, a really special once-in-a-generation player would need to come along to really be a better fit than AD.

Nothing makes casual fans want to watch the NBA more than big dunks, blocks, and freakish athleticism, and AD is the prototypical player of that mold. For example, /r/nba on Reddit worships the ground AD walks on and a lot of them support the Pelicans as a second team as a result of it. It's not uncommon to see gifs after every Pelicans game of some retarded play by AD with a ton of comments about how incredible he is. He's just one of those guys whose game seems unnatural. He could end up falling off and doing nothing, but as it stands, he's a special player.

I guess I'm biased, though, because to me Shaq early in his career was one of the most brain melting players that I've ever seen. Seeing a guy knock down shots, throwing shots into the bleachers constantly, and then running the floor to throw it down who is that massive is just mindblowing to me. Dude was so good, he made Kobe taste his arse and asked him for a review of it. That's what kind of player is a face of the league type guy to me. Big, dominant, and concern for how his arse tastes for teammates.

TL;DR: I'm an AD fanboy and want him to take over the NBA and possibly become head coach and GM of the Pelicans while still a player to lead us to 20 years of uncontested titles.