The NBA will begin a new season today “under a cloud of scandals and drama that has distracted from the basketball” and that has “challenged the progressive image the league has long cultivated,” according to Sopan Deb of the N.Y. TIMES. Last season’s finals teams -- the Warriors and Celtics -- are “navigating internal crises.” Two teams in top media markets -- the Nets and Lakers -- are “trying to integrate their stars.” A situation in Phoenix has “brought the league’s leaders and image under scrutiny.” There are “still many things for fans to be excited about,” such as “a new rule to speed up games and the improved health of some injured stars, several issues are lingering as the season gets underway.” Warriors F Draymond Green punching teammate G Jordan Poole, Suns owner Robert Sarver’s misconduct case, Celtics head coach Ime Udoka’s suspension, and trade rumors of the summer “aren’t over yet” (N.Y. TIMES, 10/18).
LET THE GAME SPEAK: In D.C., Jerry Brewer writes “after a sobering offseason, the NBA needs its game to be the star.” The NBA “needs basketball to be its salvation.” It “needs the game to dominate the marquee, not share it with the drama that strangely enriches the viewing experience.” This offseason exposed “some sobering sins” in addition to the “usual clatter of trade requests and hurt egos.” Since Warriors G Stephen Curry “put last season to bed,” the NBA has had to “wrangle with the toxicity of Robert Sarver, the shame of suspended Ime Udoka and the violence of Draymond Green.” The negative trifecta “jolted the league and its followers out of their dishy soap-opera mentality and forced a grim consideration of larger problems” (WASHINGTON POST, 10/18).
UP FOR GRABS: USA TODAY’s Jeff Zillgitt wrote a Lakers team with F LeBron James, F Anthony Davis and G Russell Westbrook “might not even be one of the top eight teams” in the Western Conference. A Raptors team with G Fred VanVleet, F Pascal Siakam, F Scottie Barnes, F OG Anunoby and G Gary Trent Jr. “might not be a top-six team” in the Eastern Conference. Those statements “illustrate just how deep the NBA is this season” with the Lakers and Raptors “possibly reduced to bystanders by the second round of the playoffs.” This is “as deep as the NBA has been in recent seasons,” with “multiple teams capable of reaching the Finals." The league is “wide open," or "at least it seems that way” (USA TODAY, 10/17).
