The steady rhythm of dribbling reverberates throughout the gym. A stream of steady squeaks of sneakers contributes to the cacophony. Whistles shriek, coaches shout, the horn goes off and the lines are run. Purple prose begins to dominate the columns of gym-rat reporters everywhere.
Basketball season is starting up.
National Basketball Association training camps will begin this week in the midst of Major League Baseball’s impending playoffs and subplots. The National Football League season is barely four weeks old, and there’s still time to shake up the college football rankings. A series of unfortunate events (the Malice at the Palace, the Tim Donaghy scandal, the destruction of the Seattle SuperSonics) have threatened the livelihood of professional basketball in recent years, but the 2007 playoffs provided a shocking, if welcome, distraction: quality basketball.
When the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals, the series, which pitted two historically great teams against one another, foreshadowed a new beginning. Michael Jordan has long since retired and the major scandals are fading in the collective memory of the fans, though the league office and commissioner David Stern should be held culpable for their roles in various instances. The NBA, it would seem, is getting back to basketball. Consider:
The NBA Draft has become a highly suspenseful spectacle. In June, Portland Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard began the offseason with four draft picks. (Each team is allotted two, but they can be traded.) He bought a fifth with approval from team owner Paul Allen, then made four trades as the draft progressed. When the dust settled, the Blazers emerged with Arizona guard Jerryd Bayless and French forward Nicolas Batum (draft picks), and former Indiana forward Ike Diogu (trade).
Pritchard, who set an NBA record for draft-day trades with six in 2006 (three of which netted franchise cornerstones Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge), also added draft picks through trading to where he’ll have five picks in the 2009 NBA Draft. Though Portland has stolen the show on draft day in recent years, a late-hour transaction between Memphis and Minnesota (the Grizzlies traded Kevin Love to the Timberwolves for OJ Mayo, with other players included) created a huge buzz. And the debate over who to select No. 1 overall – Kansas State’s Michael Beasley or Memphis’ Derrick Rose, Chicago’s eventual selection – was fierce and ubiquitous on the radio airwaves. The league may have an image problem, but it is not intrigue.
The off-season subplots are worthy of professional wrestling. Los Angeles Clippers forward Elton Brand, playing for the league’s most mercurial franchise, was considered something of a forgotten superstar before leaving for Philadelphia, amidst what the Clippers claim were broken agreements. After the Clippers landed star guard Baron Davis from the Golden State Warriors, they traded for Denver’s Marcus Camby with the hope of filling the void left by Brand. Meanwhile, Golden State signed guard Corey Maggette away from the Clippers and added complementary pieces, such as Lakers forward Ronny Turiaf.
Not to be outdone, the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for guard Mo Williams in an effort to give superstar forward LeBron James a sweet-shooting sidekick. Houston added explosive (to put it nicely) forward Ron Artest to gear up for a championship run. It can be legitimately argued that all the reshuffling helped each team in the short term, but…
The NBA is stronger as a whole, and it will be a struggle for the Celtics to repeat as NBA champions. The Lakers are surely looking for revenge, but the Western Conference is crowded with potentially outstanding teams. Houston, the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Hornets are expected to be the main contenders, but the Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and even the Blazers could realistically make a push at an NBA Finals berth. Boston still is the class of the East, but Cleveland and the Detroit Pistons are as good as last year, and Philadelphia could surprise somebody. Lest we forget, Boston was taken to seven games in its first-round playoff match-up with the Atlanta Hawks (who were blown-out in the final game of the series).
The first game of the 2008-09 NBA season begins on Oct. 28, when Cleveland visits Boston. I, for one, cannot wait.
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