NBA players signed for $1B "in terms of total new contract agreements" during the first 36 hours after free agency opened at midnight on July 1, according to SI's Ben Golliver (TWITTER.com, 7/2). In Miami, Greg Cote noted the NBA again has already "won the offseason," as the league "holds the deed to summer" with the start of free agency. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver "revels in a new golden age for his sport." The "more interesting competition is watching the chess pieces move, seeing the power shift." The NFL "continues as the more popular sport," while MLB "hangs on to its National Pastime nomenclature." However, the NBA is "where the players are the show, where one or two stars aligning just right can change the galaxy" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 7/1). NBCSPORTSBAYAREA.com's Ray Ratto wrote the start of NBA free agency is a "year's worth of business in a few hours." The NBA is "beating the hell out of summer." It is "rendering the NFL Combine the ridiculous running of mesomorphs in their underwear that it actually is." It is also "obliterating" the Astros' MLB-leading start to the season. Ratto: "Cristiano Ronaldo would have to meet Lionel Messi in an internationally-televised duel to even make the crawl" (NBCSPORTSBAYAREA.com, 6/30).
HOW THE WEST WAS WON: USA TODAY's Jeff Zillgitt writes, "Early in NBA free agency, the message is this: Players and teams are not running from the Warriors, preferring to compete with them and try to knock them off their perch atop the Western Conference." It is "refreshing to see teams go after the Warriors instead of planning for the future" (USA TODAY, 7/3). CBSSPORTS.com's James Herbert wrote the West is "only getting tougher." The East-West divide is "nothing new and somewhat self-sustaining." However, it has "reached the point" where it "must be a part of every conversation about the NBA's player movement and power structure" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/1). In N.Y., Scott Cacciola noted F Paul George’s trade to the Thunder only "added more luster to the Western Conference while further diluting the quality of the Eastern Conference" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/1).
STAR POWER: In DC, Jerry Brewer wrote the modern NBA superstar is the "most powerful genre of athlete in American professional team sports history." The NBA superstar has "figured out how to run the show." The league "sways on the whims of its greatest players, who believe in partnership over parity." Brewer: "Right now, stars want to combine their powers" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/1).
