Searching for patterns in an unpredictable world seems to be a lost cause. Fortunately, the 2017-2018 National Basketball Association (NBA) season is underway. If there was ever a time to get big money on games, it is now.
You already know the two teams that are going to be in the championship: the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland LeBrons. The Warriors have been in the championship the past three years, while Team LeBron has been to the championship the last seven times.
If you like the Milwaukee Bucks, too bad; they don’t have Kevin Durant. Well, what about the New York Knicks? Nope, they don’t have Steph Curry. With the emergence of super teams, it seems like it is a very safe bet to gamble all the money your mom gave you on whatever team has the best players.
The Warriors’ beautiful system of basketball would not be the same if Curry was not on the team. LeBron James is still considered the best basketball player alive and any team that has him is instantly contending.
Where does this leave your favorite team, which has no household names? I’ll tell you where it leads them: No championship and continued mediocrity. Still, don’t tell your team this. Anthony Davis, power forward for the New Orleans Pelicans, said this season that his team’s goal is to win a championship; anything else is failure. That’s a cute goal, A.D., but do you really think you could beat the Warriors in seven games with the team you have?
This upcoming season will present a challenge to many passionate basketball fans. Why should I watch the games when I know my team is not going to the championship? There are now five teams that could be considered superstar teams: the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors.
There are 30 teams in the league. I’ll tell you why you should continue to root for your favorite team: they will still compete their hearts out every night.
Like Davis said, many teams are aspiring to win a championship, no matter how realistic that goal is. Some are working to bring real change to the city beyond winning games. Even though we probably know how it’s going to end up, we can still sit back and enjoy the ride.
Who doesn’t want to see Westbrook try and break his triple-double record last year? What about Giannis Antetokounmpo and how he is playing every position on the court? 76ers fans have been waiting a long time for a glimmer of hope and they found that in Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz. The Timberwolves finally look like a better team than when Kevin Garnett left. You also have a reality television star playing for the Los Angeles Lakers in Lonzo Ball and you know his dad is going to say some stupid stuff on live television.
Oftentimes, we sum up our seasons in terms of whether or not we won a championship. Not everyone can win a championship, so we should find other standards to judge our favorite teams. I still remember when Anthony Davis scored 59 points on the Detroit Pistons. Then last season, when the New Orleans Pelicans received Demarcus Cousins, a center, in a trade, and he threw an alley-oop to Anthony Davis, my body was shook.
So even though we know it will probably be the Golden State Warriors against LeBron again, let’s not forget there are other teams with outstanding players who will give us great competition every night.