NBA - Halfway Thoughts and Analysis

 

We're over halfway!

It has been an extremely interesting NBA season thus far for a variety of reasons. Most of my preseason predictions seem to be less than prophetic - but time will tell! There are still 35-40 more games to play before the playoffs!

Here are my main points of analysis at the halfway point of this 22-23 NBA saga.

1. A Truly Wide Open Season

It seems like every time I check the league standings, the top few spots have shuffled around, or a newcomer has broken into contention. Some stat-head smarter than me can figure out the number of lead changes or something, but the point is this: there is no clear favorite. Unless you are the guy who becomes firmly convinced he is witnessing second coming of the '97 Bulls every time a team rattles off a 7-game win streak, it is clear that a whole lot of teams truly have a shot. In the East, there is only a 2-win spread between the Nets at Number 2 and the Knicks at Number 6. We're seeing lots of good-but-not-great teams vying for supremacy. Out West, the spread from 4th to 9th is also only 2 wins - with the defending champion Warriors only holding the 7th position. It's exciting to have a postseason with so many reasonable scenarios, instead of LeBron (13th in the West) just steamrolling his whole conference. And speaking of LeBron...

2. Who is the King?

LeBron's 2020 title very well could have been his last. And now with an endless parade of accolades already safe in his trophy case, one final and very important distinction will likely soon be his: Kareem's all-time scoring title of 38,387 points. It's a big deal, no matter which (human) way you look at it. I think the question most people are asking is whether this will make him the goat. We are so much like those old foolish disciples we love to laugh at, asking who is the greatest. Jesus is the greatest. Shut up, you vain and dying mortal man. Your lauded legacy is simply to return to the dust, for out of it you were taken. All our accomplishments will pass away like vapor in the wind. The scoring title, the rings, the records: vanity of vanities. So take that!

3. The Cavs are good at basketball again

Like, really good. 71 points good. And like I said, this season is wide open. Similar to most of the East, the Cavs have struggled to really establish themselves as a front-runner. It will get ugly come playoff time, when all these good-but-not-great teams are vying for a spot in the next round. I think the Cavs are going to pull themselves together for a second-round playoff run, as I predicted at the start of the season. If they play as "really good" as they are capable of, they can go even farther.

4. Many Tall and Brittle Men

I don't know if it's always been this way or the development is more recent, but everybody who does sports is just hurt these days, all the time. It's not just a problem exclusive to pro basketball, either. I feel like there was a time when it wasn't like this, and perhaps we have been gaslighted. I seem to remember reading about runners like Bill Rodgers or players like John Stockton or backs like Walter Payton who got beat up just as bad as these guys if not worse, but just kept playing! Maybe we've wimped out, maybe the workload has become unrealistic from too young an age, or maybe it's something else entirely. But my goodness, get a hint from a guy like LeBron. Take care of your body first and foremost - I don't care how good you are if half the time you're not lacing up. Same deal in running - imagine the kind of consistent training you can get it if you just don't push yourself to the point of injury. Listen to your body, don't just blindly follow some protocol or diagnosis. 

5. And The Title Goes To...

I'm between the Heat, Celtics, Bucks, Grizzlies, and Mavericks right now. My preseason prediction of the Heat is looking harder and harder to stand by, but I won't give in until they're eliminated. However, let me just go ahead and put in the Celtics as my second choice... and the Cavs as my third! The title is not going West this year.