NBA is Back

As of this past Tuesday, the NBA season was back. This year, not marred by the owners locking out the players, promises to one full of epic story lines and unforgettable memories. The first and most important reason that the NBA Season will be a success is that this year the season will actually start on time- compared to a difficult lockout last season which pushed back the opening games to Christmas and forced an abbreviated and rushed 62-game schedule from December to April and early May, culminating with the true crowning of LeBron James as "King James". The Championship not only got the proverbial "Monkey of his Back", but also silenced critics about his lack of success in the clutch moments, as LeBron not only closed games down the stretch, but shut down MVP Runner-Up Kevin Durant. LeBron was crowned MVP of the NBA season and Finals, later capping off a historic summer with a gold medal in the Olympic Games. However, that only set the stage for an even more hectic season this year. With the creation of a "Super Team" or "Big Three" in Miami, teams around the NBA have tried to emulate the Heat and create their own. The Brooklyn Nets courted the Magic to trade Dwight Howard, the best center in the NBA, but were unsuccessful- even though the New-Look Nets acquired Joe Johnson from the Atlanta Hawks, he is paired with a legitimate star in point guard Deron Williams and budding star Brook Lopez. The Houston Rockets also tried to acquire Howard but were unsuccessful, opting to steal world-phenom Jeremy Lin from the Knicks and then trade for reigning 6th-Man of the Year James Harden for Kevin Martin, rookie Jeremy Lamb, and an assortment of draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Durant's team who lost in the Finals to the Heat. Eventually, Howard would be traded, a multiple team trade sent the big man to Los Angeles where he joined forces with Kobe Bryant and recent signee and Two-Time MVP Steve Nash to create the Western Conference's Super Team. This trade sent the second best center Andrew Bynum from the Lakers to the Philadelphia 76ers, and their superstar Andre Iguodala to the Denver Nuggets. To say that the NBA is an ever-changing landscape is an understatement. Plus we haven't even begun the discussion about the NBA Draft and the copious amount of talent that came out of it including Anthony Davis, a monster not only in the paint but that can also step out and knock down a three time to time, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, an all-around great player who can do a little bit of everything, among other players who will try and help their teams reap immediate benefits for their selections. Once all the shuffling of players has been settled, it is time for the games to actually begin. LeBron and Company (Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Mario Chalmers, and Ray Allen among others) want to become the first team since Michael Jordan's Bulls in their second "three-peat" to repeat as NBA Champions, but they still have a long way to go to live up to LeBron's infamous "not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven" prediction. The primary challenger to the Heat in the East would probably be the Boston Celtics, who pushed the Heat to a seven-game Eastern Conference Finals this past summer; the Celts are lead by rising star and point guard Rajon Rondo, but still receive heavy leadership from aging veterans Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett- on top of that, role players like Courtney Lee and Jeff Green hope to push the Celtics over the top and achieve one last hurrah. Two teams that could sneak up on the favorite Heat and Celtics are the Pacers and Bulls. The Pacers boast themselves as one of the up and coming teams in the league, developed around a team-first mentality and dominant post presence Roy Hibbert, the Pacers could challenge the Heat or Celtics for the Eastern Crown. Finally there is the Bulls, lead by arguably one of the best players in the NBA Derrick Rose- however Rose tore his ACL in the Bulls first-round match up and will not return to games until January at the earliest. If the Bulls are able to use their strangling defense to stay alive up until then, they could be a very difficult match up for a top seed in the East come Playoffs. Now we transition to the Western Conference, where the moniker "Wild West" could be an understatement. Four teams, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Oklahoma City Thunder all have legitimate claims to be the top team in the West. The Clippers are lead by another dominate point guard, Chris Paul, who could win the MVP if the Clippers win or make a strong run at the Western Title, but also feature one of the games most exciting young players the human highlight reel known as Blake Griffin and get solid contributions from players like Jamal Crawford, Lamar Odom, and DeAndre Jordan. Then you have the soap opera known as the Los Angeles Lakers. Once again, superstar Kobe Bryant leads the charge for the Lakers, in their second year removed from the coaching of Phil Jackson, they are coached once again by Mike Brown. There are some new and old faces- the great Canadian Steve Nash will be running point as stated above, and will look to run some pick and rolls with Dwight Howard. Big man Pau Gasol will see his minutes shrink, but this is probably for the better as it will allow Pau to be more aggressive as he does not have to worry about playing the biggest man on the court. The San Antonio Spurs are quite similar to the Boston Celtics, an aging team, but like fine wine, they are better with age. They have the every omnipresent Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli, and are lead by French point guard and ex-husband of Eva Longoria, Tony Parker. Greg Popovich, quite possibly the best coach in the NBA, returns to the bench for the Spurs as they continue to look to get one more ring. Finally, the reigning NBA runner-ups, the Oklahoma City Thunder, look to return to the Finals this year, trying to make up for the loss this past summer to the Miami Heat. The MVP runner-up and scoring champion Kevin Durant will be the leader of the Thunder, while also receiving help from superstar point guard Russel Westbrook and dominant posts Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins. Scott Brooks will once again coach the Thunder and has repeatedly said that the Thunder will make up for the sins of the past season. While they do lose James Harden, the Thunder will continue to be one of the top teams, if not the top, in the West. Whew, that was a lot to get in in one blog post. With all of that said, I believe that we will see a Miami Heat-Los Angeles Lakers Finals with the Heat winning the series in seven games. All in all, it looks to be another fantastic season of NBA Basketball, and I know that I cannot wait to see how it all unfurls.