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B/R Halloween Roundtable: NBA Stars but Make ‘em Candy

Bleacher Report NBA Staff

Happy Halloween, hoops fans. We've officially reached the point where Spooky season and the NBA season have collided.

On this All Hallows' Eve, there are no tricks here—just treats.

We asked Bleacher Report's Dan Favale and Emily McCarthy to name some NBA stars as Halloween candy, and in the spirit of the seasons, they came through in the clutch.

Keep reading to find an MVPeanut Butter M&M, a sour-sweet star duo, a legend as polarizing as Halloween's most debated candy...then hit the comments to share your own ideas.

Devin Booker

Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images

Candy: Twix

Twix is an understatedly comprehensive candy that never receives enough recognition for its completeness. Could there be a better parallel for Devin Booker's game?

Silky smooth chocolate is Book's mid-range J. Delectably hard caramel is his change-of-speed attacks and tougher-nosed one-on-one defense. The vanilla shortbread cookie is the complex simplicity with which he moves away from the ball. Its flawless crunch is his live-dribble passing.

That Twix tends to come in twos underscores Booker's evolved decision-making out of double-teams. Twix is Devin Booker, and Devin Booker is Twix.

—Dan Favale

Damian Lillard

Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images

Candy: Ferrero Rocher

Damian Lillard is far from ordinary—built different, you might say. So are Ferrero Rochers.

The layering experience of whole crunchy hazelnut cloaking a delicate wafer shell ensconcing creamy hazelnut, all concealed in distinct gold wrapping, is matchless. It is a culture-setting candy, offering an exuberant sight and taste to behold while also acting as the adult in the room.

That is Dame in an, ahem, hazelnutshell.

—Favale

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown

David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

Candy: Sour Patch Kids

First they're sour, then they're sweet.

This is especially fitting for the 2021-22 edition of Tatum and Brown, who, along with the rest of the Celtics, struggled to a very sour 18-21 start before turning things around for a (mostly) sweet finish.

The Jays are fan favorites who pack a punch without doing too much. They're different flavors that coexist perfectly in the same bag. They're great on their own and even better together.

—Emily McCarthy

Kawhi Leonard

Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Candy: Cadbury Creme Eggs

This candy is everything—purposely filling on its own and versatile in flavor (creme, chocolate cream, caramel, etc.). It can be your sweet treat lifeline at any time.

Much like Kawhi Leonard, though, Cadbury Creme Eggs are best enjoyed in the spring.

—Favale

Nikola Jokić

Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

Candy: Peanut Butter M&M's

Peanut butter is the flavor of M&M's best suited to satiate you on its own, but it's also so much more—not unlike a certain Serbian superstructure.

The experience is equal parts physical (hard chocolate shell) and smooth (peanut butter!) and comes at you in droves (you never get just a singular M&M).

Its versatility also knows few bounds. Need it to be your all-everything? No sweat. But it plays well with others, too. Bake it in cookies. Mix it into ice cream. Combine in a large bowl with other M&M's to uplift or complement the rest.

In any given season, pitted against any delectably worthy opponent, peanut butter M&M's can be the MVC (most valuable candy).

—Favale

Jimmy Butler

Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

Candy: Skittles

Skittles come in a rainbow of flavors. So does Jimmy Butler.

Primary playmaker. Go-to defender. Scoring lifeline. Free-throw-parade thrower. Overpriced coffee shop owner. Part-time, early-morning personal trainer. The list goes on. And it is an experience that runs the gamut of outcomes.

Are Skittles satisfying and fully equipped to be the best candy in your arsenal of Halloween goodies? Absolutely.

Can their commingling of a hard sugar shell and hydrogenated oil-doused interior be shrapnel for the roof of your mouth and teeth when consumed in large quantities and without the proper candy pairings to offset the self-grating? Also yes.

Building around Jimmy Butler is not for the faint of heart. It is a commitment to the gladiatorial and to tailoring the culture and roster around not just his play style but mindset. In a way, then, the Miami Heat are the bag of Skittles, and Jimmy is the most prevalent flavor within it.

—Favale

LeBron James

Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

Candy: Candy Corn

Candy corn is the undisputed GOAT of Halloween candies–depending on who you ask.

With staunch defenders and vocal haters, no candy is more polarizing than candy corn.

But even those who refuse to eat candy corn can appreciate it as a Halloween icon. It's timeless, consistent and nostalgic. It's the kind of candy that could average 30 points per game even when new candies rise to the top shelf.

It might not be a universal favorite, but year after year, it's still among the best.

—McCarthy

   

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