25 Things the 2012-13 NBA Season Taught Us

This NBA season was dramatic and had so many questions at its start. Could LeBron James and the Miami Heat repeat? Was there any team that could get in their way? There was also the speculation on flopping in the NBA, the possible relocation of the Sacramento Kings to Seattle, and a bunch of other storylines. This was a memorable season and a lot of that had to do with social media, thanks to J.R. Smith, Kobe, and Phil Jackson. We learned a lot this season. We learned that LeBron is really good and that Stephen Curry should've been an All-Star. We've learned that stars need help and that Dwight Howard will never change. From the crazy coaching carousel to the various injuries during the 2012-13 NBA season, here are the 25 Things the 2012-13 NBA Season Taught Us.

We swear! In what has lasted forever as a conspiracy theory and has only sweltered since the Tim Donaghy scandal is the accusation that the NBA is fixed. If the NBA was fixed, would the Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, and Memphis Grizzlies all have made the Conference Finals? The Grizzlies-Spurs Western Conference Finals was generally a snoozefest of a series and doesn't go along with the traditional NBA fix theories. It's true that the refs have a quick whistle most of the time, but in basketball, the best teams usually win and the NBA Finals featured the game's best. Let's just move on and enjoy this current stretch of great basketball.

We all knew that eventually the Celtics were going to have to break up. Despite one of the more captivating NBA Finals in recent memory, the Doc Rivers-Celtics saga has dominated headlines. Rivers doesn't want to be a part of a rebuilding process and it seems like he's willing to continue his career with the Clippers. There's a very serious and real possibility of the Celtics losing Rivers, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce before the season starts. However, Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green are good building blocks for the future.

It's very easy to blame the success of teams in all sports, based on what market they play in. In basketball, there has long been speculation on whether the NBA has been designed to benefit large market teams, like the Lakers. This season proves more than most that the league has a relatively even playing field and small market teams can succeed. And you can thank the salary cap for that because teams have to get creative with their budget. Just ask the Spurs, Pacers, and Grizzlies who all finished as Conference Finalists. This is exactly what David Stern had hoped for after the NBA Lockout back in 2011. Now if only GMs can stop overpaying guys, that'll be great.

We commend players for their effort on the court, but sometimes it can just be downright stupid. Watching Brandon Knight randomly decide to contest DeAndre Jordan on an alley-oop or watching Jason Terry try and contest a LeBron dunk is confusing. Stay in your lanes, guys, or at least tackle somebody.

Sometimes it seems like everyone wants to talk about small-ball and how the league is changing into a quick and smaller league with a lack of big men. The NBA even went as far as changing All-Star voting by removing the center position and replacing it with just three frontcourt slots. Luckily, this season proved that there are still some big men keeping the post game alive. Tim Duncan in San Antonio helped lead his team to the Finals, and Roy Hibbert and Marc Gasol helped their teams get to the Conference Finals. While the low-post seems to be less of a focal point of an offense, there are still bigs getting the job done on both sides of the court.

In a recent interview, David Stern admitted that flopping penalties aren't really working considering they really only lead to small fines. Stern says that they need to expand on the flopping rule. Outside of the penalties, the league has to work on consistency. Many plays that were clear flops during the regular season and playoffs weren't called or penalized despite evidence. At least they're trying.

Most NBA teams are looking to get younger in the offseason, but the Knicks decided to go the opposite route last summer. By the time training camp had arrived, New York acquired Rasheed Wallace, Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas. All four were among the top six oldest players in the NBA and broke down towards the end of the season. Jason Kidd's 2013 playoff run was so bad, he retired and got a head coaching job with one of his old teams.

With a crazy coaching carousel that seems to feature 13 different job changes during the offseason, the value of an NBA coach seems to be decreasing. These thoughts have reached an all-time high when three coaches with at least 56 wins this season were let go for various reasons. Maybe teams should start taking their cues from San Antonio who has had their coach Gregg Popovich for 17 seasons and counting. Sometimes you have to let coaches grow with your team.

Every year, some lucky hopeful wins the NBA draft lottery. It's all great at the beginning. Teams have a chance to improve by drafting the best amateur players out there, but in the case of the Cleveland Cavaliers, it's turning into a bad thing. After winning the draft lottery for the second time in three years, you would've thought Cleveland just won a championship with how they celebrated. Parading around with local celebrities like Machine Gun Kelly, and enjoying the moment is great and all, but did we forget that no one wants to play in Cleveland and that this draft class is sort of weak? If they don't build a championship squad in two years, Kyrie Irving is gone.

When the Lakers formed their elite squad this past season, everyone had them winning at least 55 games and making the Western Conference Finals. No one could have imagined the constant injuries, bickering, questionable coaching, and constant drama that attacked this team. All those factors led to 45 wins and first round sweep at the hands of the Spurs. Los Angeles has so many questions going into this offseason. Dwight Howard is a free agent (and still can't make up his fucking mind), Kobe Bryant is due for an extension after next year while recovering from a torn Achilles' tendon, Steve Nash is old, Pau Gasol might not fit with the team if Dwight comes back, and their supporting cast is lackluster at best. Sounds like another crazy summer in La La land.

During the playoffs, we watched star after star struggle to lead their team to victory, not because of their ability, but because of the lack of help they got from their supporting cast. After Russell Westbrook went down, teams were double and triple-teaming Kevin Durant and it killed the Thunder's predictable offense. Carmelo Anthony as well. The Knicks' supporting cast drew a blank during the playoffs, leaving Melo to fend for himself. Even LeBron had a lack of help in some respects against the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Finals and during spurts of the Finals, where Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were practically no-shows. That San Antonio Spurs model of a great team is looking a lot better now.

Winning the hearts of New Yorkers is a hard thing to do, but Jeremy Lin got it done. Lin was expected to keep the Linsanity train rolling this season but just couldn't muster up enough steam for a full ride. While Lin wasn't a flat-out disappointment on the court, one could argue that he did not play up to the three-year, $25 million contract he signed in Houston. Lin had some bright spots during the season including a 38-point explosion against San Antonio, but to be frank, Lin was just average. He failed to live up to the hype and intrigue that he generated in Madison Square Garden.

After Kevin Garnett and Carmelo Anthony's mid-season feud in a game between Boston and New York, Honey Nut Cheerios don't have the same meaning. After a volatile confrontation that ended with Melo waiting at the Celtics team bus for Garnett, everyone wondered what KG could have possibly said to get Anthony so rattled. Once the rumor of Garnett saying Melo's wife La La Vazquez tasted like Honey Nut Cheerios, Twitter exploded. After awhile, Melo and KG worked out their differences, but this has to be one of the funniest stories in NBA history.

Steph Curry had a great season that was generally under the radar—mainly because he was an All-Star snub—until he lit up the New York Knicks for 54 points. His playoff performance this season was equally amazing, highlighted by some scintillating shooting during Golden State's surprising first round series win against Denver. The Warriors even gave the Spurs a run for their money, snatching two games from the veteran squad in the second round.

We've seen all of our favorite athletes eventually get on Twitter and maintain some kind of relationship with their fans, except for Kobe. It all started when he took over Nike's Twitter account for a day. It drew instant attention and soon after, Kobe had his own account and everyone wanted to hear what he had to say. He live-tweeted games and posted pics with a weird watermark, and we loved him for it. #mambaout

J.R. Smith had one of the most dramatic NBA seasons in NBA history we have ever seen. He alternated the role of Knick villain and hero more times than anyone we've ever seen. Smith went from clear-cut Sixth Man of the Year, to struggling social media expert, to actual Sixth Man of the Year, to goat of the 2013 NBA playoffs. The worst thing is that he's a free agent and the Knicks have to decide what value he brings to the team and if he can actually shoot above 33% from the field during the playoffs. If the Knicks bring him back, there should be a "no-Rihanna" clause in the the contract.

When Dwight Howard was dealt in a four-team trade last summer, we thought that the Magic received the shaft in the deal. After a full season, all three main players involved (Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, and Andre Iguodala) are free agents and have a very legitimate chance of leaving their teams in free agency. For such a big deal that was about bringing a resolution to the Dwightmare, this trade has more questions this summer than last summer. One thing is for certain, though, the Denver Nuggets got the better end of the deal and they ain't even know it.

What else can you say about Bron Bron? He's coming off a season where he joined Bill Russell and Michael Jordan as the only players to win back-to-back NBA MVP and Finals MVP trophies. LeBron puts up ridiculous numbers, dominates the game in nearly every aspect, and he's finally achieved the main goal of winning multiple championships. Now he has a chance at basketball immortality. Are you not entertained?

Offense usually grabs the major headlines during the NBA season, but defense remains undefeated when we speak about title contenders. All four teams that made the conference finals this year finished in the top ten in the NBA in defensive rating and six of the 11 All-Defensive team members were on one of those four teams. If you want to win these days you better step your defensive game up, no D'Antoni.

Another year, another list of JaVale McGee highlights and lowlights. While he can provide some value on the court for his team with freakish athleticism, he can provide an abundance of head-scratching plays. Those antics caused Denver coach George Karl to start Kosta Koufos over McGee, despite recently signing him to a four-year, $44 million deal. We learned that no matter what, JaVale will be making Shaq's weekly countdown for the silliest mistakes on the regular for the rest of his career. And for that, we are grateful. Ticket prices are high these days and JaVale is worth the price of admission.

George Karl won the 2013 Coach of the Year, won 57 games without a star, was the No. 3 seed in the competitive West, and still was let go after a first round exit. What's funny is that Karl said the Nuggets were stupid to fire him. Maybe teams should take their cues from San Antonio who have had their coach, Gregg Popovich, for 17 seasons and counting.

The NBA Finals are a reminder of how talented some teams are and also a reminder of how lucky some teams are. This season the NBA was hit by a slew of injuries to stars that either shattered or at least slightly altered the goals and dreams of their respective franchises. Could you imagine what the playoff picture would've looked like if we would've seen Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, Kobe Bryant, David Lee, Danny Granger, and Danilo Gallinari playing? Don't forget Dwyane Wade looking like a shell of himself for the majority of these playoffs due to a bone bruise. Some NBA owners probably just started crying right now.

Seeing every coach and their momma end up getting a job over Brian Shaw has been one of the weirdest developing plots in the NBA over the past few years. Shaw was a respected and valued veteran on three straight Lakers championships, a lead assistant coach on two back-to-back Lakers championships, and his work as an assistant in Indiana has paid dividends in the development of young players like Paul George. He must've done something wrong to keep interviewing for position after position, yet come up short every single time. Is this the curse of being a disciple of Phil Jackson?

Despite retiring two seasons ago, Phil Jackson generated more headlines than any retired head coach in NBA history. First, was his interest in the job after the Lakers fired Mike Brown. Second, was his interest in becoming a team president or front office executive in the mold of Pat Riley, and third was his book highlighting how Michael Jordan was better than Kobe Bryant, among other things. And let's not forget his tweet that sent everyone into a frenzy. His trolling ways are also probably why no one wants to hear him praise Brian Shaw. We just want to see Phil run a team as the main architect, rather than hear, see, or read up on how he feels. To borrow a quote from the Lakers faithful "We Want Phil."