The NBA is back! Even better, it’s back for a full slate of 82 games. In the first week there has already been drama, dunks and diamonds. The drama comes by way of Sacramento, Philadelphia and Brooklyn. The dunks were courtesy of the Lakers (4), Nets (3) and Bucks (8). Honorable mention to Stephen Curry who tried his best to give us one for the Warriors! As for diamonds, well how about 400 on the Milwaukee Bucks championship ring?
Can we talk a bit about that ring? On top of it’s 400 diamonds it has a removable top that can be worn as a pendant, emeralds, tons of meaningful quantities of other things and of course a QR code. When scanned the code will send you to a highlight video of the Bucks championship run. Wow!
Sure, it was only one game, but narratives are built on less than that. So, what do know now about the Bucks, Lakers, Nets and Warriors? To be honest, not too much. I mean, come on, it was one game! But again, narratives are built on less!
Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks played their first game of 2021-22 as if they don’t want their 2020-21 championship to be this teams only one. They looked good on both ends of the court and, brace yourself every non Bucks fan, their star is only 26 years old. While there is no number that works for everyone, a basketball players prime is about 26-31. Of course, things like genetics, metabolism, training and more all factor into it. But, any way you slice the pie, the Greek Freak is just entering his prime.
Oh, and he is under contract until the 2025-26 season.
Things are good in Milwaukee!
Los Angeles Lakers
Well, clearly it’s time to blow this team up and start over!
Just kidding! Although, fans of the Lakers run the gamut from feeling exactly like that to preaching patience. The latter group is correct. This team is new and they are going to have to play games to build that chemistry. Russell Westbrook’s fit is a legitimate concern. Our partner HoopDini breaks it down a lot better than I could here.
The bench, which is undermanned right now, needs to improve. The defense, which was so important to this team last season, needs to improve. The free throw shooting HAS to improve. Thankfully, at 47.4% it can’t get much worse! On the positive side though Anthony Davis and LeBron James look as incredible as ever!
Golden State Warriors
I admit to being surprised at seeing the Warriors on a lot of people’s picks to have a very good season. Some have picked them to make it as far as the Western Conference Finals with Stephen Curry on more than one MVP list. My guess is that those people are expecting Klay Thompson to come back and be the Klay Thompson he was before. To be honest though, even a 75% Klay would have an impact. But, would that be enough to propel this team to greatness in a tough Western Conference?
Maybe!
Jordan Poole looks like he may have taken a huge step forward. If his game against the Lakers is peak at who he can be this season then all the predictions I listed above just might be right!
Brooklyn Nets
There have been two teams dominated the “best teams in the Association” conversation. They are the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets. Interesting that they both started the season with an L.
The Nets are going to have to hope for a quick resolution to their Kyrie Irving conundrum, but that aside, they have to play defense! The Nets have two of the most incredible offensive players in the Association in Kevin Durant and James Harden. But, you have to be able to stop the other team from scoring too. Until the Nets can do that with consistency in big moments they will struggle with, or without Kyrie.
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