On April 28, 1982 the world changed forever: Christopher Zane Kaman was born. At 7 feet, 265 pounds, he was the most dominant baby since Shaquille O’Neal to ever to post up an obstetrician. Twenty-one years later, this promising phenom was given his shot when he was drafted sixth overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2003. The rest is history.
Kaman was never a bust; let’s get that straight. But in the Western Conference of the NBA, where centers make their living, he had yet to reach that upper echelon of the big men elite. Until this season.
Kaman is playing this year like a man possessed. He’s averaging 18 points and 14 rebounds per game, both career highs. He’s also averaging over 2 assists per game for the first time ever. With the exception of last year’s dip in productivity, Kaman has been steadily building his averages across the board since year one. And last year’s regression should not be a troublesome omen of future lapses, as the entire team took two steps back following their play-off run in the ’05-06 season. Even the great Elton Brand struggled last year and the team’s frustration fueled sub-par play from most starters. (The exception to this was the emergence of Shaun Livingston who had given Clippers’ fans reason to believe that he was a franchise point guard until he blew out his knee coming down after a fast break lay-up.)
The learning curve is not linear. And for every setback in Kaman’s game from last year, he has exponentially improved this year. Take low post defense, for example, where he is averaging almost 3 blocks per game. And on the other end of the court, he’s finishing strong when he goes to the hoop, so that drawing fouls becomes an and-one situation. He’s only a 75% free throw shooter this year; while that’s a decent percentage for a center, he needs to convert as many of those field goals as possible to compensate for his marginally reliable performance at the line. And that’s exactly what he’s doing.
It’s been a frustrating start to the ’07-08 campaign. They hung in there with the Celtics as the penultimate team to lose a game this year, but have since fallen from grace. Two years removed from a post-season berth, after the Clippers had finally formed an identity on the national stage, they are beginning to flounder without Brand in the lineup. And with sporadic, nagging injuries to Corey Maggette, Cuttino Mobley, and Sam Cassell, the Clippers have gone through more different starting line-ups than a fantasy football team.
But through the turmoil and current mediocrity, Kaman’s tour-de-force season has not gone unnoticed. Averaging a double double for the first time in his career, if this isn’t punching a ticket to New Orleans as an all-star, I don’t know what is. His “Caveman” nickname may have implications of a Neanderthal, but he has Neand-enthralled me with his energetic play.
