NBA season blasts off

The wildest and most unpredictable National Basketball Association (NBA) season comes off the wraps this morning (Manila time) in a dramatic unveiling of nearly 80 international players from 36 different countries, 99 veterans changing uniforms, 11 new coaches, six jersey debuts, the return of the popular "I Love This Game" campaign and a slew of celebrated rookies starring LeBron (King) James.

Oddsmakers are at a loss as to which of the 29 teams they’ll pick to make it all the way to the Promised Land. Before the outbreak of the Kobe Bryant scandal, the Los Angeles Lakers appeared to be the consensus choice to recapture the league’s championship. But with Bryant losing 15 pounds and facing a possible prison term, the Lakers are suddenly a big question mark. It’ll take a lot more than Zen sessions from coach Phil Jackson to put the Tinseltown squad back in pole position.

Still, three leading pro basketball publications went out on a limb to pick the Lakers over the New Jersey Nets in the Finals this campaign. Roland Lazenby, writing for Lindy’s, predicted the Lakers will whip the Nets in a max of six games. Athlon Sports forecast New Jersey beating New Orleans in the East before losing to the Lakers in the Finals. Street and Smith’s also chose the Lakers over the Nets in the title playoffs.

Sporting News polled five experts, three of whom picked the Lakers over the Nets in the Finals. The two others went for Sacramento over Detroit and San Antonio over the Pistons. Three of the six saw Detroit figuring in the Eastern Conference Finals and two picked Dallas to make it to the Western Conference Finals. Two experts chose Shaquille O’Neal to be MVP–Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Tracy McGrady got the other votes.

McGrady was the majority’s choice to lead the league in scoring with Jerry Stackhouse and Allen Iverson collecting the other votes. For Rookie of the Year honors, Carmelo Anthony pulled in three votes and James, two.

Global TV coverage will assure the NBA of unprecedented media mileage Games will air in 212 countries televised by about 150 partners in more than 42 languages. It’s estimated that the league will reach a world-wide audience of at least 750 million households.

Last season, total attendance reached up to 21,759,779 fans–third in the all-time rankings. The attendance record is still 21,797,222, recorded in 1995-96 when Michael Jordan came back from retirement to win a fourth championship for the Chicago Bulls. The playoffs averaged 19,152 fans a game with arenas filled to 99.42 percent capacity.

Solar Sports is leaving no stone unturned in making sure this year’s coverage will be the most comprehensive ever. The country’s No. 1 sports network is assembling a package of over 1,000 games on IBC and cable. The batch includes 60 games a month via the NBA League Pass (to be launched early next month), 30 games a month on Star cable, Monday and Thursday primetime games on IBC, and 30 classic "greatest" games a month on Star cable. Add doubleheaders on Premier Week and the playoffs, you’ll be treated to a package of over 1,000 NBA games starting today up to the end of the Finals.

To get the ball rolling, Star cable will telecast a twinbill, live at 9 this morning, featuring San Antonio versus Phoenix and Dallas versus the Lakers. The doubleheaders will continue until Sunday to cap the Premier Week.

The IBC schedule reels off tomorrow as Cleveland takes on Sacramento at 7 p.m. That’ll be James’ regular season debut on local TV. On Monday, the Lakers face Golden State in another humdinger.

The defending champion Spurs are bringing back only half of Gregg Popovich’s championship cast. Gone are David Robinson, Stephen Jackson, Steve Kerr, Steve Smith, Speedy Claxton and Danny Ferry. Seven-foot Rasho Nesterovic of Slovenia takes over center chores from Robinson. Recruits include Robert Horry, Ron Mercer, Hedo Turkoglu, Sean Marks, Alex Garcia, Anthony Carter and Australian long-range bomber Shane Heal.

The Lakers also underwent a major facelift. Shipped out were Horry, Brian Shaw, Mark Madsen, Samaki Walker and Tracy Murray. Joining Shaq and Kobe are veterans Bryon Russell, Horace Grant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton.

Another Western squad that looks formidable is Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Mike Finley welcome new teammates Travis Best, Danny Fortson, Antawn Jamison, Tony Delk and Antoine Walker.

In the East, the Nets got rid of Dikembe Mutombo to make room for the comebacking Alonzo Mourning. Mutombo moved to New York. Philadelphia brought in Glenn (Big Dog) Robinson and Marc Jackson to ease the pressure off Iverson. Coach Larry Brown is expected to toughen the Pistons even more with new hires Elden Campbell, Bob Sura, Lindsey Hunter and rookie Darko Milicic reinforcing Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Memo Okur, Chucky Atkins and Zeljko Rebraca.

Other veterans switching teams include Atlanta’s Stephen Jackson and Terrell Brandon, Boston’s Raef LaFrentz, Chicago’s Scottie Pippen, Denver’s Earl Boykins and Voshon Lenard, Golden State’s Cliff Robinson and Nick Van Exel, Houston’s Jim Jackson, Indiana’s Kenny Anderson, the Clippers’ Glen Rice and Eddie House, Memphis’Bo Outlaw, James Posey and Lamar Odom, Milwaukee’s Brian Skinner, Minnesota’s Latrell Sprewell and Michael Olowokandi, New Orleans’Darrell Armstrong, New York’s Keith Van Horn, Orlando’s Juwan Howard, Sacramento’s Brad Miller, Toronto’s Michael Curry, Utah’s Raja Bell and Keon Clark and Washington’s Gilbert Arenas.

The 11 new coaches are Brown, Houston’s Jeff Van Gundy, Miami’s Stan Van Gundy, Cleveland’s Paul Silas, Toronto’s Kevin O’Neill, Indiana’s Rick Carlisle, the Clippers’ Mike Dunleavy, Milwaukee’s Terry Porter, New Orleans’ Tim Floyd, Philadelphia’s Randy Ayers and Washington’s Eddie Jordan.

Hang on to your seats. The NBA joyride has begun.