to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy… and to laugh along the way
This year, the Oklahoma City Thunder are overwhelming favorites to win another title. The Denver Nuggets, led by the 3-time MVP NIkola Jokic, will be crowding out the Thunder, for the western pennant. In the East, the Cleveland Cavs should finally win it, if they remain healthy for the playoffs. Victor Wenbamyama will continue maturing with the San Antonio Spurs, while rookie Cooper Flagg gets us excited. Move over, Lebron. Watch out, Steph and Kevin. The next generation stars are here!
The Lakers could not sustain their superior ball because fatigue caught up with their maxxed out starters. JJ relied heavily on his first 5, failing to optimize his rotation, opting not to make adjustments particularly late in games. Ultimately, this fatigue factor would also lead to defensive lapses, the breakdown in the offensive rhythm, and more critically, more exposure to possible injuries.
The NBA Cup is a mini-tournament held within the ongoing NBA season. It is on its 2nd iteration, after a very successful 1st edition last year which was eventually won by the Los Angeles Lakers over the Indiana Pacers. That pioneer edition, then called the NBA In-Season Tournament, has since been renamed into the Emirates NBA Cup, after its top sponsor.
Team USA may have annexed both the men’s and women’s 5×5 golds in Paris, but it doesn’t have a lock on the same next Olympics. Although there will be a huge advantage with the homecrowd in Los Angeles in 2028, the reality is that the world has been catching up on the US side.
This should be a game similar to the inaugural In-Season Tourney Finals between Lebron James’ Lakers versus Tyrese Halliburton’s Pacers, who incidentally are both starters in this match. In that championship game, Lebron’s bigger, stronger veterans upended Tyrese’s smaller, speedier youngsters. This All-Star game will pit Team Lebron’s size and experience against Team Giannis’ speed and youth.
It’s halftime, sports fans, for the NBA’s 2023-24 season! There have been some surprises and some disappointments; but by and large, the perennial favorites have
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