NBA Season 2023-24: The National Basketball Association (NBA) is back after another exciting offseason. There is lots to look forward to in the 2023-24 season, with more spectacular trades and the arrival of a generational talent. There’s also a new mid-season event and a slew of teams coming in with title aspirations.
How to watch NBA Season 2023-24
The 78th NBA regular season will begin on Tuesday, October 24, and conclude on Sunday, April 14, 2024. The Play-In tournament, which selects the seventh and eighth seed in each conference in the playoffs with a mini-tournament involving teams seeded seventh and tenth, will be held next year from Tuesday, April 16, to Friday, April 19.
The playoffs begin on Saturday, April 20, with Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals on Thursday, June 6. The inaugural In-Season tournament for the league will take place between Friday, November 3 and Saturday, December 9, when the final will be contested in Las Vegas. During the season, games will be broadcast on TNT, ESPN, ABC, NBA TV, and ESPN Radio in the United States, while NBA TV and NBA League Pass will carry games worldwide.
Two horse race?
The dominating topic of conversation during the NBA summer was what color jersey Damian Lillard will be wearing this season. After 11 seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, the 33-year-old submitted a trade request in the summer, indicating a desire to pursue new opportunities outside of Oregon. Despite indications that his preferred destination was the Miami Heat, Lillard was surprisingly traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a deal that changed the power balance throughout the whole league.
Lillard will join forces with two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to form a dangerous offensive tandem that will push the Bucks from title challengers to title favorites. The excitement around the deal also serves to wash away some of the bad feelings from last season, when Milwaukee was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Miami Heat.
The franchise did lose Jrue Holiday in the three-team transaction – Holiday was subsequently dealt from the Trail Blazers to the Boston Celtics – but the combination of Lillard and Antetokounmpo will be difficult for opposition defenses to handle.
After sharing the court together in the Bucks’ first preseason game, the tandem was already quite complimentary about its future potential. “I’ve never been this open before.” And, first and foremost, I’ve never seen somebody getting double-teamed from the first possession of a game,” the ‘Greek Freak’ stated during Milwaukee’s preseason win against the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN.
According to ESPN, Lillard stated after the same game, “Having another guy out there that’s just dominant.” He has the ability to dominate a game and win it for you. The first couple of plays, they blitz me, trap me, and the guy I’m passing the ball to is Giannis. “So I’m just thinking, ‘Uh, we can do this all night.'” “Do you understand what I mean?”
The Bucks’ major opponent in the Eastern Conference will most likely be the Celtics, who are coming off a devastating playoff loss to the Heat. The club has title hopes, led by the two “J’s” – Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Many believe that with Holiday and Kristaps Porziis on the team, this could be their best chance to finally go over the hump and win the organization’s first NBA title since 2008.
Second-year head coach Joe Mazzulla still has space to improve in his decision-making in crunch circumstances, but with a top-heavy roster, Boston is anticipated to make a serious title push. Many people are forecasting a heavyweight matchup between the Celtics and the Bucks for a position in the NBA Finals, as they are the two most star-studded teams in the Eastern Conference. Others, most notably reigning MVP Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, may have something to say about it, but the Bucks and Celtics may be too tough to beat in the East.
Wide open?
It’s a different story in the NBA’s other conference, the Western Conference. The reigning champion Denver Nuggets begin their title defense on a high note, led by two-time MVP Nikola Joki and Jamal Murray. However, they have suffered important departures from their championship team in the shape of Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, raising concerns about the depth of their roster.
Denver’s baseline remains high, however, with an attack powered by Joki and Murray; their combination has established itself as the NBA’s most dangerous two-man offense – though Antetokounmpo and Lillard may have a say this year. Behind the Nuggets, however, lies a loaded conference ready to capitalize on any mistakes made by the reigning champions.
Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, and Dallas Mavericks all have lofty goals and reasons to feel that this is their year. The Suns are the club that most strongly believes it can challenge the Nuggets for the title, especially with the addition of Bradley Beal to an already illustrious cast that includes Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.
With a full offseason under their belts and Beal amongst their ranks, head coach Frank Vogel, in his first year with the team, will be expected to contend for the Larry O’Brien trophy. The other Western contenders all have reasons to be optimistic, with the majority of them led by talented players, but there are lingering questions.
The Grizzlies will be hampered by the early absence of star point guard Ja Morant, who has been suspended for the first 25 games of the season for “conduct detrimental to the league” after an Instagram Live video circulated on social media that appeared to show him flashing a gun while in a vehicle with others, just two months after he was suspended over a similar video.
Injuries to the Clippers’ two stars, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, have hampered the team’s progress since they joined in 2019, and Zion Williamson has had a similar experience with the Pelicans. The Kings will be looking to recreate their breakout success from last year, when they entered the playoffs for the first time in over 17 years, but with only a few changes to their roster, will continuity benefit them or will standing still allow others to catch up?
Also Read: StubHub Reports A 60% Increase In NBA Season Ticket Sales Due To Increased International Demand
The Warriors, Lakers, Timberwolves, and Mavericks all have high expectations for the season, but each team has issues to work out before tip-off. This star power at the top has resulted in a crowded conference in which every game might have major postseason implications.
Keep a watch out on these rookies
The anticipation of witnessing the next generation of rookies enter the NBA is usually strong, but this season, that enthusiasm is nearly entirely due to one man: Victor Wembanyama. The Frenchman was rated as one of the most highly regarded prospects to enter the NBA, sparking a ferocious race last season to the bottom and earn the right to draft him.
In the end, the San Antonio Spurs won the lottery for the top choice in the 2023 draft, bringing Wembanyama to the Alamo City to work with great coach Gregg Popovich. The buzz surrounding potential generational talent hasn’t been this high since LeBron James’ arrival in the NBA in 2003, with Spurs’ TV games becoming far more compelling than before.
Although many are already penciling Wembanyama in for Rookie of the Year owing to his outstanding preseason performances, he may face serious competition from Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Holmgren was selected by the Thunder in last year’s draft but missed his entire rookie season after suffering a Lisfranc injury in his right foot before training camp even started in 2022.
As a result, the 7-foot-1-inch center would be eligible for Rookie of the Year, and if preseason and Summer League performances are any indication, he may be a force to be reckoned with after a year away. The pair already appear to have struck up a rivalry after facing off against one another in the preseason. Holmgren had 21 points and nine rebounds and Wembanyama had 20 points as the Thunder beat the Spurs in a game where they were often directly battling against each other.
However, one particular moment stood out from the game. Wembanyama powered through Holmgren for a basket and a foul, flexing his muscles as Holmgren was on the floor. Replays showed that Wembanyama’s head made contact with Holmgren’s head, causing the Thunder center to later post on X, formerly Twitter: “The headbutt is an unstoppable move fasho.”
Playing in similar positions, the two big guys will have an intriguing head-to-head rivalry for many years to come as they strive to make their way in the NBA. Other rookies to keep an eye on include Scoot Henderson, who is attempting to fill Lillard’s void with the Trail Blazers, and the Thompson twins, Amen and Ausar, who were selected with subsequent picks in the draft by the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons, respectively.
A format change
The aforementioned In-Season Tournament, a new annual competition for all 30 clubs introduced by the NBA, will also make its debut in the 2023-24 season. The In-Season Tournament, which begins on Friday, November 3 and concludes on Saturday, December 9, intends to “provide players and teams with another competition to win, engage fans in a new way, and drive additional interest in the early portion of the regular-season schedule,” according to the NBA.
Based on their previous season’s performance, all 30 teams have been divided into five groups, with each playing four group games, one against each group opponent, on ‘tournament nights,’ which are every Tuesday and Friday from November 3 to 28, omitting national Election Day in the United States on November 7. On ‘tournament evenings,’ the only games that will be played are In-Season Tournament group games.
The knockout stage will feature single-elimination games in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship game, with eight teams advancing from the group stage. Teams will play for a cash fund as well as the NBA Cup, the new In-Season Tournament trophy. The tournament will have an MVP as well as an All-Tournament team. Except for the final, every game in the tournament will count towards regular-season standings.
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