As expected, Team USA won the gold in Olympic basketball in Paris last week. Related to my previous piece, I missed on my other finalist as I had either Canada or Serbia battling the US for the gold. France was my long shot, but they surprised this corner.
With Paris 2024 over, let’s set our sights to the 2024-2025 NBA season which is set to open on October 22 (October 23, morning PH time) featuring a double-header.
The Boston Celtics, following league tradition, play homecourt against the New York Knicks on opening night. They will raise their league-best 18th championship banner to the rafters at the TD Garden. Likewise, they will receive their diamond encrusted championship rings.
If Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson had recovered well from their respective injuries, the Knicks could be a problem for the Celtics as they have a revamped frontline, then there’s the addition of Mikal Bridges.
The other game features the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves. This will have LeBron James and Anthony Davis going up against Olympic teammate Anthony Edwards, the projected future face of the NBA.
The following day, the Los Angeles Clippers, minus Paul George, will play their first regular season game at their brand new, $2 billion Intuit Dome, hosting Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns. The Clippers finally have their own home after sharing Staples Center, now renamed Crypto.com Arena, with the Lakers. The Clippers still have Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.
The Clippers have two former Sixers in their roster with big man Mo Bamba and small forward Nicholas Batum on minimum contracts.
Talking about Philadelphia, they’ll be playing against the Milwaukee Bucks also on the 23rd. The Sixers inked Paull George to a 4-year, $212 million max deal and joins MVP center Joel Embiid and All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey. They form a legitimate big three that could challenge the Celtics for the title.
Reportedly, Sixers owner Josh Harris, basketball operations president Daryl Morey, GM Elton Brand and Sixers legend Julius Erving flew to LA to meet with George. Big guns were needed to convince a 34-year old, 9-time All-Star.
George wanted a 4-year max contract but the Clippers offered only a 3-year deal, which Philadelphia obliged.
Both the Bucks and the Sixers exited the first round of the playoffs mainly because of to injuries Giannis Antetokounmpo and Embiid.
The league will release the full 2024-2025 schedule later this month.