BOSTON, MA - MAY 30: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets looks on during the game against the Boston Celtics during Round 1, Game 4 of the 2021 NBA Playoffs on May 30, 2021 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Leave it to my friend Myles Brown—respected writer, astute NBA observer, and Succession stan—to succinctly sum up what it felt like Monday as many teams around the Association held their media day.
Training camps across the NBA are now open and it absolutely feels like the actual playing of basketball is secondary or even tertiary to all the drama best reserved for a Bravo reality show. But that’s the league these days, and fans and the media eat it all up for obvious reasons. Clicks, ratings, etc. since everything’s a business, or everyone’s dying for some attention in the waste space that is today’s social and digital media landscape. So if you’re really only a fan of the games themselves then please check back in next week when the preseason tips. Or wait another three weeks for truly relevant basketball.
But if you’re here for the bullshit and yet somehow have been sleeping on all things NBA, there’s a lot to digest before the season begins Tuesday, Oct. 19 with the defending champs hosting (that would be the Bucks) hosting the Nets followed by the Warriors meeting the Lakers in LA.
Know that Ben Simmons is the star of the NBA’s most fascinating circus. Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, and Andrew Wiggins sound like anti-vaxxers. The Eastern Conference is better than ever. LeBron’s no longer the league’s top player. And the honor of being the second-best team in the Western Conference appears to be wide open.
There are storylines galore so now that professional basketball is basically back, here’s a mini-crash course on what the hell is going on around the league.
Ben Simmons Is the New Big Drama Show
All apologies to the immortal Gennadiy Golovkin, but Ben Simmons is the new Big Drama Show and it’s not a compliment. The Sixers are a certified shitshow right now as Simmons’s status with the club remains unresolved, uncertain, or whatever descriptor you prefer to use on the AWOL PG. He wants to be traded, he doesn’t want to suit up for Philly ever again, yet the Sixers seem intent on trying to convince him he should just man up and play until they can find appropriate trade value for the offensively deficient three-time All-Star and All-NBA third-teamer last season. It’s a circus and it looks like we could be in store for weeks of weirdness. Would Simmons really sit out until he’s traded and lose out on big portions on the remaining four years and $147 million of his max contract? It’s complicated, it’s messy, and it doesn’t appear like a viable solution is on the horizon so expect one of the weirdest showdowns in modern NBA history between a player and a team—and even his teammates who reportedly tried to meet up with him in Los Angeles recently—to offer up a steady stream of drama.
No Jab, No Jersey (At Least in Some Cities)
Every coach, player, referee, and NBA employee is vaccinated. Players, however, do not need to be thanks to the efforts of the NBPA which strongly opposed any mandate. However you feel about that incongruence, it’s notable and newsworthy since Kyrie Irving isn’t the only player in the league who has yet to protect himself and others from Covid-19. The league reportedly features a 90 percent vaccination rate amongst players which is great. But the small percent who, for whatever reason, are not vaccinated—like Washington’s Bradley Beal—could end up being a distraction or actually hurt their squads by missing games in select markets if they don’t comply with local mandates. If you want to enter Canada to play the Raptors, who are happily returning to their home market after spending last season in Tampa Bay, you need to be vaccinated. Andrew Wiggins could miss home games for the Warriors since his religious exemption from the vaccine was denied by the NBA and San Francisco says everyone must be inoculated against Covid-19 if they want to attend a game in Chase Center. Same for Irving since New York City says all Knicks and Nets players must be vaccinated to attend games at Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center. The city can bar visiting players from the arenas who aren’t inoculated. The Knicks are fully vaccinated while Brooklyn GM Sean Marks said before training camp kicked off they expected to be in compliance before the season tipped. So about that…
Is Kyrie Irving Really Going to Miss Games?
I used to think Kevin Durant was the most fascinating NBA player to analyze psychologically. But Kyrie Irving has lapped his buddy and Nets teammate after it emerged in a Rolling Stone story that the mercurial guard isn’t too keen on being vaccinated—and could possibly have some, shall we say, interesting reasons why not. Irving dodged direct questions about his vaccination status on a Zoom call Monday with reporters since he wasn’t able to attend Nets media day in person.
“I’m a human being first and obviously living in this public sphere, there’s just a lot of questions about what’s going on in the world of Kyrie and I just would love to just keep that private and handle it the right way with my team and go forward together with a plan,” Irving said. “Obviously, I’m not able to be there today, but that doesn’t mean I’m putting any limits on the future of me being able to join the team.”
Whatever his reasons are for not getting a shot, whether legit or maddeningly ridiculous, Irving’s availability is now a serious subplot. Because he hasn’t complied with NYC regulations, Irving could miss home games—starting with the home opener against the Hornets Oct. 24 as well as games against the Knicks, Raptors, and Warriors—and become a never-ending distraction for arguably the best team in the NBA. Can the Nets win without him during the regular-season? Absolutely. Would they prefer Irving do his duty, like millions of other Americans, and get vaccinated? Of course. Do the Nets need him healthy and inoculated if they’re going to live up to expectations and reach the NBA Finals? Duh.
The New-Look Lakers
No team transformed itself like the Lakers in free agency and with LeBron James’ window to win a fifth title rapidly closing as he enters his 19th season in the league, all eyes will be on the purple and gold to see if their massive makeover was the right move. James and Anthony Davis are the only significant pieces that’s left from the squad that was crowned 2020 champs last October. Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard (yes, he’s back for a third time),, and a cast of almost exclusively players over the age of 30 now comprise the Lakers core. By forming a new big three, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Lakers are the favorites to win the Western Conference. Injuries to LeBron and AD were basically the biggest reasons why the Lakers were bounced early in the playoffs this past spring so as long as LA stays healthy they should be one of the top teams during the regular-season. But can all those old legs really hold up for a grueling run in the playoffs? Westbrook is a great addition for the first 82 games, but how efficiently will the Lakers operate when we switch over to playoff basketball, historically not Westbrook’s strongest season? Anthony just hopes all the naysayers keep that same energy into the season.
“We know what we have to do. We know how we going to do it,” Anthony told us earlier this month. “Those are the things we have to deal with. So it’s easy for the outsiders or naysayers to give their overall perspective and it’s very opinionated. And ya’ll should do that. [Laughs] You should do that because it bring more viewers and bring more eyeballs and bring more conversation and more anticipation. If and when it does happen, winning a championship, that’s the fun part.”
LA’s going to be one helluva experiment and Frank Vogel’s going to have his hands full figuring out the right rotations and managing minutes. The average age of their top nine players (which we could argue about) is an eye-opening 33.8. The roster features four players over 35, including its best. Six players signed in free agency are 32 years old and up. No team in NBA history with championship or bust aspirations has ever been this ancient entering the season and no team in NBA history will go through as much ice as Los Angeles.
East No Longer the Least?
It’s been a long time since the Eastern Conference could stack up talent-wise against the West, but the migration in recent years of premier players from west to east means the East is no longer the least. As you’ll soon see, nine of our top 20 NBA players entering the 2020-21 season play in the East. (That’s called a tease in the business.) The conference is no longer whatever team LeBron’s on and 14 afterthoughts. With the defending NBA champions residing in Milwaukee, a stacked Nets squad, a dangerous 76ers team, and the retooled Heat, the top of the conference hasn’t been this competitive, and frankly good, in what feels like forever. Plus you have squads like the Hawks, Knicks, and Bulls who have made huge strides in recent seasons as well as the Celtics that just happen to feature two of the best players under 25 in the league. So is the Eastern Conference actually better than the West? We asked the Heat’s Jimmy Butler to weigh in.
“I don’t like the word better because anybody can be beat on any given night,” he says. “I think you’ve got some people over here that can play. You have the same that goes over in the West. I think there’s going to be a lot of good basketball, a lot of entertaining games every single night. This will be a season for the ages.”
Where do we sign up?
The Second-Best Team in the West?
Could be Utah. But can you trust them come the postseason? Phoenix seems like the obvious choice. But was last year’s run to the NBA Finals predicated on a lot of luck and will all those miles catch up to Chris Paul? The Clippers won’t have Kawhi Leonard. The Nuggets will be missing Jamal Murray. The Warriors are set to feature the Splash Brothers for the first time in two years, but what can we realistically expect out of Klay Thompson? Luka Doncic is going to be one of the MVP favorites every year for the next decade, but doesn’t he need way more help? Portland didn’t really improve. While I like what the Grizzlies are doing, you can’t consider them serious contenders. So I say all of that to say I don’t really know who is the West’s second-best squad. On paper, the Western Conference is the Lakers to lose. Check back in when April arrives for an updated answer.
Giannis or KD for NBA’s Best Player?
It’s basically been LeBron’s league for the last 10 years, give or take, but he’s no longer the game’s undisputed best player. With old age (this is year 19 for him) and injuries two of the past three seasons that have caused him to miss a lot of games, the mythical honor of being the NBA’s undisputed lead dog belongs to either Giannis Antetokounmpo—now an immortal player after his epic performance in the NBA Finals—or Kevin Durant—a living legend who is easily one of the most lethal scorers in league history. It’s a fun debate to have with your friends or NBA fans and there’s honestly no wrong answer. Both bring something different to the table and both will finish their careers, albeit on different timelines, easily considered among the game’s greatest players. Expect them to be featured rather prominently when the league announces its 75 best players to mark the NBA’s 75th anniversary this year. I’d tell you which way we’re leaning, but you’re going to have to wait for those rankings to drop in a few weeks.
So We're Calling it the Trae Young Rule?
The brand of basketball the NBA features on a night-to-night basis is far from perfect, but at least the league keeps tweaking things in an attempt to give us the best product possible. So salute to the Association for implementing a new rule this upcoming season that will no longer reward offensive players for drawing a foul (and potentially a trip to the free-throw line) via a non-basketball move. You know what we’re talking about here. Hopefully gone are the ticky-tack fouls James Harden, Trae Young, and a bunch of others are become experts at drawing like:
- Launching into a defender
- Shooters excessively kicking out their leg to draw a foul
- Hooking arms with a defender
- Offensive players egregiously initiating contact
Offensive plays can now earn a foul in certain situations and it’s about damn time. If you paid attention to Olympic basketball then you know the international game is officiated way differently than the NBA—it’s a more physical and, frankly, better game if you ask me—and a number of NBA stars were frustrated when fouls they’re normally used to drawing weren’t called. Absolutely nobody needs to see Young pump-fake a three and then launch themselves into a defender in order to head to the free-throw line or Harden (expertly) hooking arms with a defender as he drives that more often than not earns him a whistle.
Familiar Faces, New Places
Free agency wasn’t exactly a free-for-all, as notable names didn’t get nuts swapping cities left and right. But a number of All-Stars/quality players did change locales. Kyle Lowry is now running point in Miami and he’ll be joined by PJ Tucker. While the roster configuration is a little weird, Chicago made big splashes by inking DeMar DeRozan and acquiring Lonzo Ball in a sign-and-trade. Spencer Dinwiddie is teaming up with Bradley Beal in the Wizards’ backcourt. Evan Fournier is the Knicks’ new shooting guard and Kemba Walker is now New York’s point guard. The Nets fortified their bench by bringing in Patty Mills. Dennis Schroder’s gamble on himself didn’t pay off and now he’s playing on a minimum deal in Boston. Same for Andre Drummond who’s now backing up Joel Embiid on a one-year deal in Philly. They’ll look weird for a minute in their new jerseys, but that wears off before you even realize it.
What Rookies Will Have an Impact?
It’s not a particularly hard exercise to pinpoint which rookies should have the biggest impact before we hit preseason. It’s Cade Cunningham’s team in Detroit. Jalen Green’s going to be exciting to watch in Houston. And Jalen Suggs should impart his influence on the rebuilding Magic. But what other first-round picks could carve out significant roles with their new squads?
Cameron Thomas out of LSU is one name to look for. The 27th selection by the Nets, Thomas should bring some serious offensive punch off the bench for the East’s No. 1 team. Same goes for James Bouknight, the UConn product taken 11th by Charlotte, who easily can light it up for the Hornets on the wing. It’ll be interesting to see how the Warriors implement their two first-round selections—Jonathan Kuminga (7) and Moses Moody (14)—considering Golden State feels like it’s back to being a championship contender. Kuminga and Moody are more about the future than the present, but Kuminga’s an athletic marvel and Moody might end up being a bargain since many had him projected to be a top 10 pick. The most interesting pick to keep an eye on? How about Scottie Barnes in Toronto? The Raptors surprised some by taking the Florida State forward fourth over Gonzaga’s Suggs despite an obvious need at point guard. Barnes is raw offensively, but with his length and defensive acumen, the rebuilding Raptors have someone that could quickly turn into a monster.