What to Expect from the Upcoming NBA Season?

By Jonathan Ram, Year 12

With the 2022-2023 NBA season restarting, millions of fans worldwide are excited to see how the season will pan out. The last few NBA seasons have been unpredictable, with everything ranging from the world champions to the MVP votes. Nearly every franchise made significant changes in the off-season, leading to suspense surrounding the teams and fanbase.

Many big trades happened over the course of the off-season, ranging from Donovan Mitchell to the Cavaliers, to the Minnesota Timberwolves acquiring a former defensive player of the year in big-man Rudy Gobert. In addition, a very bright and talented rookie class was drafted, leading to potential big rookie seasons from the likes of Paolo Banchero and Jaden Ivy. Hopefully, these players will manage to build some team chemistry to lead to some interesting and all-star-level competition.

With the 2021-2022 NBA season leaving the fans with such an amazing post-season and a new champion in the Golden State Warriors, many fans want to see their teams make deep playoff runs, and potentially even become first-time champions, like the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, and the Los Angeles Clippers. 

On the other hand, Lakers fans are hoping to bounce back after missing the playoffs last year, but with an old, injury-ridden lineup, it could be quite the challenge. One thing that Lakers fans should be very hopeful for is seeing their Number 6 in action, trying to break the scoring record. After last season, Lebron James totaled 1,695 points, and if he can stay within this range of points scored (1325+), he will surpass the legendary Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar this season for the all-time scoring record in the NBA. If things keep going strong for Lebron in the upcoming seasons, he will be the first player ever to have recorded 40,000+ points, 10,000+ assists, and 10,000+ rebounds.

The league is more talented than ever making the MVP race very close. Last season was a close race between Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid, with Jokic taking home the trophy, making him the back-to-back MVP. This season, anyone from the likes of Ja Morant, Luka Doncic, or even Stephen Curry could win the award. Personally, I believe that the young, super-athletic Ja Morant will win the MVP and lead the grizzlies to a 50+ win regular season, and lead them deep into the playoffs. 

Overall, this NBA season promises to be something truly special, possibly one of the best in years, with so much to be figured out as the season goes on.