Everybody knows the NBA regular season really doesn't start until Christmas Day. Hard to think of anything the NBA might be prouder of than appropriating a major holiday to tie their brand to a la Thanksgiving football. Little brother is catching up.
Even so, after Christmas, casuals at least, don't really check back in til after the All-Star break or closer to the playoffs. The NBA with its 82-game October-June schedule has always had a problem keeping fans engaged for the entire season. They might have found a solution for that this year.
The first annual In-Season NBA Tournament or the NBA Cup as it will likely be known moving forward has been a resounding success for the league. Players are excited, making for exciting games and an energized fan base. People are watching and the media is talking about it.
Even better, the NBA definitely knows it messed up with the gaudily designed courts so we should hopefully not see those optical abominations again. Maybe the most refreshing thing out of all of this is that fans see the players do care about competing and that truly strengthens the bond between city and team.
It was always said the regular season really didn't matter to the players or the fans. Load management made fans question why they should bother showing up or watching. But now, it kinda does matter and the players buying into it especially has drawn more fan interest to the early part of this season.
With other moves made in the off-season to cut down on load management, the NBA might really be onto something here, at least in gaining a little foothold in the football-dominated end of the year sports entertainment space.
The whole set-up is fairly uncomplicated. The 15 teams in each conference are divided up into groups of five based on last season's records. The three best records get the first seed in each group, then the next three best records are divvied up into the three groups and so on.
During the month of November, as part of their normal schedule, each team will play their group teams once. The teams with the best record in each group along with a fourth Wild Card qualifier will move on to the knockout-style tournament beginning the first week of December. Each conference will have four teams who'll face off until there can only be one.
It's already paying off. The Thursday night Lakers-Pelicans contest was the most-watched NBA game since opening week and a 66% increase over TNT's average December telecast last year. It even streamed on Max. Saturday night on ABC, the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers will square off for the inaugural NBA Cup trophy.
This year sees the NBA's next potential breakout superstar, a kid born in the year 2000 people, Tyrese Haliburton, be the latest to come at the king and try his best not to miss. As far as the king? It's safe to say we are not worthy.
Father Time might be feeling a little like Apollo Creed's trainer in Rocky. This might be a damn fight. LeBron James at 38 years old in his 21st NBA season became the first player in NBA history to have a 30-5-5 game in less than 23 minutes of playing time. How can that even be? Sometimes it's best not to think about it and just appreciate the moment.
While the Pacers upset the two best teams in the East in the Celtics and Bucks to get here, LeBron has stated from the very beginning that he wants to win the first NBA Cup. This is a “statement to the world” moment for him and I don't see the Pacers being able to take the favored Lakers down. Not to mention Vegas is usually a home crowd for L.A..
It will be pretty interesting to see how the NBA tweaks this tournament because it is surely here to stay. Maybe they could start it a little later and have the final played on Christmas or in an international city. Maybe they'll let higher seeds choose their first round opponent.
Regardless, the NBA finally got something right for once that fans and players both overwhelmingly like. For that, we can rejoice. Here's a few more thoughts on the NBA as we head towards Christmas along with my preseason picks.
Early-Season Surprises - Minnesota, Oklahoma City, and Orlando. Who'da thunk these teams would be three of the top four seeds in the entire NBA a week into December? Granted, the Magic are tied with the Bucks and the Thunder with the Nuggets but still very impressive for these two very young teams. As for Minnesota, is the Rudy Gobert trade debacle actually working out now? The Wolves have the best record in basketball.
To Cavs or Cavs Not - Looking for an update on the Cavs? It's not great, Bob. Can Cleveland ever get over this hump where they've seemed to have plateaued right above the plain of mediocrity, refusing to make the jump to elite contender status? A record of12-9 and eighth place in the East should not be acceptable for this team. Of course, it's very early in the year and there is plenty of time left but if things don't change at some point, a certain seat is gonna start getting really warm. Cavs fans better hope Doc Rivers doesn't have friends in the front office.
Rookie Roundup - Chet Holmgren has been a revelation. We always knew that dude could ball but after missing his would-be rookie year in 2022 with Lisfranc surgery, we didn't know he would dominate so quickly in the NBA. He's averaging a shade under 17 points and 8 rebounds per game, adding 2.4 blocks and shooting 37.6% from deep. He’ll be in an intense battle for Rookie of the Year with the top overall pick of this year's draft, Victor Wembanyama. The French Rejection is proving the sky is still the limit for him, averaging 18.9 points. 9.7 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game though the Spurs have only won three games this year.
2023 Season Predictions*
*Picks made on October 24th. I swear. (current seed in parentheses as of 12/8/23)
Eastern Conference
1. Bucks (3)
2. Celtics (1)
3. Cavaliers (8)
4. 76ers (4)
5. Heat (7)
6. Knicks (5)
7. Hawks (10)
8. Nets (9)
9. Raptors (11)
10. Pacers (6)
11. Magic (2)
12. Bulls (12)
13. Wizards (14)
14. Pistons (15)
15. Hornets (13)
Western Conference
1. Suns (7)
2. Nuggets (3)
3. Lakers (4)
4. Clippers (9)
5. Pelicans (8)
6. Kings (6)
7. Warriors (11)
8. Timberwolves (1)
9. Thunder (2)
10. Grizzlies (13)
11. Mavericks (5)
12. Spurs (15)
13. Rockets (10)
14. Trail Blazers (14)
15. Jazz (12)
Eastern Conference Playoffs
First Round:
Bucks over Nets
Celtics over Hawks
Cavaliers over Knicks
Heat over 76ers
Second Round:
Bucks over Heat
Celtics over Cavs
Eastern Conference Finals:
Bucks over Celtics
Western Conference Playoffs
First Round:
Suns over Timberwolves
Nuggets over Warriors
Lakers over Kings
Clippers over Pelicans
Second Round:
Lakers over Nuggets
Suns over Clippers
Western Conference Finals:
Lakers over Suns
NBA Finals:
Lakers over Bucks in 6
Yes, the Lakers will cruise to a second title in the LeBron James era. The second oldest player on the Lakers roster is Anthony Davis who's 30. The average age of a Laker is 25.6. A Lakers team that made the Western Conference Finals last year got younger, deeper, and longer this past summer.
It was a continuation of the savvy moves they made last season while recouping the losses from the disastrous Westbrook deal. I expect it will take some time for this new roster to completely gel but once that happens, these Lakers under LeBron's wizard-like guidance should be very hard to beat.
Going back to back is really hard in the NBA (it's only happened three times in 20 years) and I don't see Denver up to the task. The Suns don't scare me for some reason. In the East, I'm concerned with the Bucks defense and tenacity after losing Jrue Holiday, no disrespect to Dame. The Celtics do have a very real shot to put it all together if Kristaps Porzingis can stay healthy but the Bucks may just have too much firepower for them.
It will come down to defense in the Finals, however, where the Lakers should be elite and Anthony Davis will finally accept the passing of the torch from King James. It will actually happen this time. Yes, sure it will.