Dante Exum

They say a bucket brings joy to one player, and an assist brings joy to two; in producing one of the season’s best examples of team-first unselfishness, Dante Exum quickly found out how many teammates appreciate tireless hustle. Locked into a physical rebound battle, Exum finds himself in a two-man chase for a loose ball along the sidelines, with a Cleveland Cavaliers big man just a fraction quicker, attempting to throw it off of him for an out-of-bounds turnover. Unwilling to be outworked, Exum sacrifices his body, stretching out into a dive to keep the ball inbounds and into the hands of a Dallas Mavericks teammate, drawing admiration from the arena for his efforts. Continuing his string of impressive play, Exum contributed 13 points, four rebounds, six assists, three steals, and one 3-pointer in the nail-biting loss on December 27, 2023.