The NBA Season is not far away, with only one month left. Opening night is scheduled for Oct. 19 with the Bucks facing the Nets and the Lakers facing the Warriors. Personally, I have this date circled in my calendar. I can’t wait to see how this new Celtics team plays, hopefully they won’t humiliate themselves like last season and they finish better than the seventh seed and a first-round exit. But enough about the Celtics for now, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about this NBA season and I will rank them for you.
3.   All-Star Game
Last year, the all-star game was a little disappointing. Originally the plan was to not have an all-star game last season and instead have it just be a break for the players.  However, Adam Silver eventually decided to hold the all-star game in Atlanta. This caught players off guard and as you can imagine they weren’t happy about losing their extended break. You heard players like Lebron, Giannis, and De’Aaron Fox express their discontent for the event. This was such a big deal because the players’ morale affected the enjoyment of the game. It ended in a blowout by team Lebron, and while there were some fun moments, as a whole it lacked competition.
Despite last year being disappointing, I think now that the pandemic is starting to die down we will see a great all-star game again. The 2020 all-star game might have been the most exciting game I have ever seen, and this was because of the competitiveness of the event. This was the first year of the all-star game being devoted to the late Kobe Bryant. They introduced new scoring rules and even dedicated the All-Star MVP to him. Not only that, but each team was playing for a different kid’s charity. They actually had the kids from each charity at the game. Usually, the players don’t make the all-star game too seriously. However, with all the stakes that were introduced this year, both teams played with tons of passion. For the first time in a while, we actually saw defense in the all-star game. I think that we might go back to that type of excitement from the all-star game, and I am excited to see it again.
2. Lakers Vs Nets
I think before the 2021 offseason there was a consensus that if the Brooklyn Nets were healthy, they were winning the championship. However, the Lakers made a huge trade for Russell Westbrook that might have changed some people’s minds. Not only that, but they also added Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn. They might be the oldest team in the league, but they will be one of the best teams as well. As for the Brooklyn Nets, they made small but impactful moves like signing Patty Mills and Paul Millsap. They will meet only twice in the regular season, but I expect them to meet in the finals. Just imagine the storylines of that final’s series. Russell Westbrook Vs. James Harden, Kyrie Irving Vs Lebron James, KD Vs Lebron. If this does not happen, I will be greatly disappointed.
1. Celtics
Of course, I am looking forward to watching the Celtics this season. I am a Celtics fan at the end of the day. After a humiliating season that ended in a first-round exit by the Brooklyn Nets, the Celtics made a bunch of moves to change up their roster. Ideally, with these changes, we should be better than the seventh seed. One thing that I always love to see is the improvement of our young players. Last year, it was so fun to see the improvement in Robert Williams in particular. When he first came into the league, it would annoy me that he would bite on literally every pump fake. Last season, though, he seemed to get a hang off it a little more. I remember jumping out of my seat during his nine-block game in the playoffs. I would love to see this type of improvement from someone like Pritchard who had a good rookie season but will have a much bigger role with Kemba Walker gone. And then, of course, there is Jayson Tatum. Last year, Tatum showed the world he is a superstar in this league. You can expect to see insane scoring games from him, and I believe that he can have an MVP caliber season. Now, all we have to do is keep our fingers crossed that Jaylen Brown will be healthy for the playoffs and we are looking at a very exciting season.