Season-In-Review: Kris Humphries

The 72-day marriage of these two was maybe the only reason anyone talked about the Nets last season in a situation not regarding Benedict Howard..no, Dwight Arnold? Ok, I give up, Dwight Howard.

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We continue with the ex-husband of Kim Kardashian, Kris Humphries. Marshon Brooks was covered last.

I can’t believe it! OMG! Kris was soooo mean to Kim!!…..Whoops, forgot that Kris Humphries is a basketball player too and not just some caption in People Magazine.

Humphries’ 2011-12 season was overshadowed–somewhat ridiculously–because of his failed marriage to a member of the least talented family in the US, the Kardashians! Hump was booed in the first half of the season at nearly every road arena the Nets played in last season and even sometimes at the Prudential Center too for his involvement and eventual divorce with the with reality TV star. No, seriously, that’s something that actually happened. This isn’t one of those absurd hypothetical situations that Bill Simmons dreamed up.

Pop culture aside, Kris (Humphries, not Jenner) had his best season during his NBA career in the 2011-12 year, putting up career-highs in points (13.8 per game), rebounds (11 per), assists (1.5 per), and blocks (1.2 per). Hump’s career season is just yet another peak in his career with the Nets, which started in 2010 after being traded to New Jersey from Dallas with Shawne “Extra-E” Williams for Eduardo Najera. Prior to joining the team, Kris bounced around the Jazz, Raptors, and Mavs organizations, serving a limited role and not providing much value on the court and in the box score to those teams.

However, after his trade to the Nets, Hump started to realize his true potential in the NBA, building on career-high statistics established in 2010 and increasing those highs until this past season.

Maybe the best thing about Kris and his contributions to the Nets is that he’s very consistent; you know what you’re gonna get from him. Just around 10 points and 10 boards per game, that’s what can always be expected from Hump night in and night out. This is especially important on a team like the Nets that doesn’t have a ton of front-court depth and/or players that play with the kind of intensity that Kris does every game. It is without a doubt that Humphries is a major aspect and key cog to this team’s success, as his stability at the power forward position will be incredibly crucial in a starting lineup that hasn’t even played a game with each other yet.

Kris showed in the 20418 games he played out of 66 last season that he is much more than just the role player and fill-in big-man that he was earlier in his career and early in his stint in New Jersey with the Nets. Hump played nearly 35 minutes a game, shot 48 percent from the field, and shot 75 percent from the free-throw line, along with all the other career-best stats he put up in the 2011-12 campaign. That, in addition to his stellar 17.9 PER, puts Humphries in the company of other, more well-established and hyped frontcourt players such as Andrea Bargnani, Zach Randolph, and even David West.

Now, if the Nets, in 2012-13, get similar production at the power forward slot as players like West and Randolph, possibly their worst slot in their starting line-up, they will be a major force to be reckoning with the East. That, more than anything, shows just how important Kris is to the Nets’ lineup and hopeful success going forward. Pretty good for someone that was traded for Eduardo Najera, huh?