When the NBA season started off, fans and players got excited. This provides a fresh start for some teams, as others will hope to repeat what they did last season.
On opening night, the returning champions, Denver Nuggets, easily handled LeBron James and the LA Lakers with the Nuggets winning 119-107. This was largely in part to last year’s finals MVP, Nikola Jokic, having a 29 point triple double. Afterwards, the Phoenix Suns outlasted the Golden State Warriors 108-104 with Jusuf Nurkic scoring a game sealing layup on a pick and roll with Devin Booker.
Since then, there have been surprises and disappointments through the first week of the season. The Dallas Mavericks, one of the poorer performing teams last year, are 3-0 and second in the Western Conference. On the other hand, surprise finals team, Miami Heat, have started off 1-3 and are sitting at 13th in the Eastern Conference.
Last year’s MVP, Joel Embiid, has started off the season hot. He has averaged 31 points and 10 rebounds while leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 2-1 record and fourth in the East.
Even though it has only been about a week, there has already been a blockbuster trade. Veteran Superstar, James Harden, was traded from the 76ers to the Clippers on Tuesday, October 31st. The trade included multiple players and picks from the Clippers as compensation. Oakdale High School Sophomore, Isaac Muriithi mentions, “The James Harden trade was very exciting.”
First overall pick, Victor Wembanyama, has started off averaging 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 assist. While this is decent for a Rookie, he was being called the best prospect since James, and this stat line isn’t up at that level. Oakdale Sophomore Evan Platt says, “I feel like he has good potential, but I can’t determine how his career will go because it has only been like three games.”
Added was also an in-season tournament. These games will count as regular season games, except for the championship which will be separate. There will be group play and knockout rounds, similar to European Champions League Soccer. Each group was randomly drawn and consisted of five teams.
This tournament started November 3rd, 2023, and group play will end November 28th, 2023, while the knockout games will begin December 4th, 2023. Platt states, “I’m excited for the in-season tournament. I want to see if it’s going to be a good or bad thing for the future of the NBA.”
There have been many surprises, as well as new additions were added for this year’s NBA Season. This makes people even more excited about the new season, as they look forward to change.
