It could be argued that the Enemies were victims of their own success in 2022. After a phenomenal performance in a thrilling Week 2 win over Bivouac, Enemies guard Elijah Stewart accepted an invitation to join the New Orleans Pelicans’ Summer League squad. By the time he came back, the Enemies season was all but over. They finished with just a 2-4 record, and did not make the playoffs.
The Enemies came into the Summer of Fire with a reputation for being talented but inconsistent. They had some of the best scorers and shot-makers in the league, but were prone to losing focus and settling for bad shots instead of playing patiently and moving the ball. Over the course of the season, they were able to show that they could win a Championship without having to fundamentally change the way they went about their business.
Inconsistency seemed to still be a serious issue for the Enemies after their Week 1 performance. They had Trilogy, the defending Champions, on the ropes, but melted at the end of the game, committing a series of bad fouls, arguing the calls, and getting called for technicals after arguing. After sinking a barrage of free throws, Trilogy were able to escape with a 52-46 win.
In Week 2, the Enemies bounced back with a vengeance with a hard-fought win over the Ball Hogs, who had looked phenomenal in Week 1. They stuck right with the Ball Hogs’ high-powered offense all game, and snagged a 51-49 win when Jordan Crawford banked in a game-winning runner.
The big news in Week 3 was that Nick Young took over for Gilbert Arenas, beginning his service as a player-coach – by the time the season finished, Young had officially taken over as player-coach. The Enemies struggled in Young’s first game of the season as the head coach, losing 50-44 to Bivouac.
After that game, the team went on a roll. They bounced back from the loss to Bivouac by beating the struggling Aliens by a final score of 50-39. They followed that up with a convincing 50-41 win over Frank Nitty and the Killer 3’s. They kept it rolling with a 50-40 win over Power, who were the league runners-up in 2022 and had looked phenomenal up to that point in the year. They finally stumbled in Week 7, losing to Michael Beasley’s 3’s Company squad while only shooting 2-16 from three-point range. In Week 8, they punched their ticket to the playoffs with a convincing 51-38 win over Tri-State.
As mentioned earlier, one of the truly remarkable things about the Enemies becoming contenders was that they were able to do it without changing their style. They still settled for a lot of long jumpers off the dribble and didn’t pass much, which would have been a bad thing if they weren’t absolutely amazing at hitting long jumpers off the dribble. They were moving the ball a little more, Stewart had established himself as a true #2 scoring option after missing so much of the 2022 season, and Isaiah Austin had emerged as both a versatile offensive weapon and one of the best rim protectors in the league. However, the key to their success remained their insane shot-making.
The Enemies finished the season with 43 made threes – only the Ball Hogs, with 50, made more. Here’s where it gets interesting – the Ball Hogs, like most teams who make a lot of threes, used speed and ball movement to set their shooters up with open looks, and finished with a league-high 82 assists. The Enemies finished the season with just 39 assists, which tied them with Bivouac for the second-lowest total in the league. (3HM finished with the lowest number of assists.) It’s really hard to win without consistent ball movement – it’s one of the reasons why 3HM and Bivouac finished the season with a combined 3-10 record.
So, even after their fantastic regular season, there was a question hanging over the heads of the Enemies: would their style be good enough to get them wins in the playoffs, where they’d have to face the most successful teams in BIG3 history?
The answer turned out to be a resounding yes. In the semifinals, they dominated back-to-back Champs Trilogy with an unreal performance. They held rookie sensation Ryan “Hezi God” Carter to 4-15 shooting from the floor, and Jordan Crawford had one of the best games in league history, scoring 27 points on 10-12 shooting from the floor and a jaw-dropping 7-8 shooting from three-point range. The Enemies ended Trilogy’s time atop the league with a 50-37 win, and got themselves a date with Joe Johnson and the Triplets in the finals.
Triplets, who won the league Championship and were led by two-time (soon to be three-time) league MVP Joe Johnson, were no easy match for the Enemies, but they stuck to what they did best in the Championship game. They hit six threes, kept #2 option Jeremy Pargo well-contained, and got a fantastic performance from Crawford, who finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-14 shooting from the field. Even though Johnson would eventually be voted the 2023 league MVP, Crawford got the better of him on the league’s biggest stage, capping off a phenomenal season. Not only did Crawford lead the league in total points scored and 3-pointers made, he shot 53.1% from the field and a mind-bending 58.3% from three-point range while doing so.
The season ended in fitting fashion. With the Enemies leading 47-43, Jeremy Pargo missed what would have been a game-tying four-pointer. Crawford scooped up the long rebound, dribbled straight to the three-point line, collected it, and fired a three with no hesitation. It flew over the outstretched arm of Jamario Moon and went through the hoop, and the Enemies won the Championship Game by a final score of 50-43.
It was a phenomenal run for the Enemies, who not only won the Championship with a player-coach leading them but redefined how teams can be successful in the BIG3 along the way. Now they’ll begin the work to defend their title.