Isiah Thomas says "Worst individual defense in NBA" equally as responsible for historic scores as good offense

NBA analyst and Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas believes that 2022-23 has seen some of the worst individual defending of all time.

The current season has seen a range of stars exceed expectations when it comes to scoring records. Donovan Mitchell dropped a whopping 71 points against the Chicago Bulls, which is one of 14 games this season that has seen players score at least 50 points per game. Luka Doncic, the overwhelming favorite for the NBA MVP award this season, has already produced three games in which he has scored 50 or more points, including a 60-21-10 victory over the New York Knicks.

A number of other stars have also produced some big numbers this season, with as many as five players averaging at least 30 points per game. This includes Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, and Shaw Gilgeous-Alexander. While the season is bound to result in a range of scoring records being broken, Isiah Thomas believes that the NBA has seen some of the worst individual defenses this season:

Thomas said:

“If this is some of the best individual offense we have seen in the NBA then this is some of the worst individual defense we have seen in the NBA.”

Is the 2022-23 NBA season producing the best-ever offensive performances?

While much will depend on how the rest of the regular season goes, there is little doubt that the current season has already produced some memorable games and performances. The 38-year-old LeBron James is edging closer to breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s all-time NBA scoring record, while a number of other offensive players have shown vast improvement.

This includes the likes of Jayson Tatum and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, two players who were not frontrunners for the MVP award at the start of the season. Luka Doncic has continued his upward trend in recent years and is producing some extraordinary numbers.

With multiple other stars set to find their best form in the coming weeks, things are bound to improve. LeBron James and the LA Lakers need a winning run to emerge as playoff and play-in contenders, while Kevin Durant has not been at his flamboyant best this season. Isiah Thomas might have a point, but there is little doubt that the current regular season has already produced some of the best all-time performances ever seen in the league!