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The NBA is back.
I don’t think it’s on par with the Magic and Bird era, nor the Jordan one either. That being said, I’ve never seen a season like the one at hand.
The trade Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban made to acquire future hall of fame point guard Jason Kidd makes me believe this season is surreal, like a gigantic fantasy basketball league.
This season’s Western Conference playoffs will be the most competitive eight-team tournament in league history.
For example, the current league standings indicate if the playoffs started today, the Golden State Warriors and their 32-21 record would be sitting at home watching. A team 11 games over 500 would miss the playoffs in the NBA.
Wow, everybody makes the playoffs in the NBA.
That should indicate the level of competition throughout the Western Conference. Something fans should enjoy come playoff time.
Let’s face it, the Eastern Conference will be led by Detroit or Boston, and I think that’s good for the league from a fan’s perspective.
Hopefully, we’ll get to watch a fantastic basketball game each night during the playoffs, which lasts from May to late June. It would be nice to see the Western Conference champion face either Detroit or Boston in the finals.
Usually people get tired of the NBA playoffs by
mid-June.
That shouldn’t be the case this season. We can actually thank the owners for that. Thanking owners? This is like a fantasy league season.
It started with Utah making a trade for Kyle Korver in late December. At the time most thought it was a solid deal for the Jazz.
However nobody thought it would have the impact it has. Not only is Utah 19-3 since acquiring Korver, the deal sparked a melee of trading between panicking owners. A melee never seen before.
The Lakers decided to forgo its future and trade for perennial all-star Pau Gasol to give the Lakers and Kobe Bryant another all-star for the first time since Shaq’s departure.
After the trade, the Lakers now look like a team ready to make a deep run in the playoffs. It also sparked the Phoenix Suns to trade for Shaquille O’Neal.
After Phoenix flexed its muscles and called L.A.’s bluff in acquiring “The Deisel,” Cuban panicked and pulled off the deal for Kidd.
Four already-contending Western Conference teams each bolstered its overall chances to win the title this season. This is seriously like four fantasy owners each panicking after their buddy ripped off the league idiot in a trade.
All in all, I’m just excited for the NBA again.
Let’s face it, the NBA has had some tough times lately, such as the referee gambling scandal, a small market team (San Antonio) having a dynasty, which killed television ratings, and the difficult time succeeding in the post Michael Jordan era.
The crazy thing about the recent trades is that Korver, Gasol, O’Neal and Kidd each played for teams with no chance at qualifying for the playoffs. Now, those four stars are all on teams ready for a title push.
For the first time in a while, the NBA is back to its former exciting ways.
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