The NBA, the biggest basketball league across the world, is coming to the close for the regular season. This season there were many exciting story lines, and some disappointing performers. Generational talent Victor Wembenyama entered the league, the Clippers are a contender for the championship, and are very controversial.
Victor Wenbenyama
Victor Wenbenyama, the 7’4 20 year old from France is arguably the best young prospect since Lebron James. On a night to night basis he makes grown seven feet 250 lb men look like little boys. Never in the history of basketball have we seen a rookie who can shoot like Curry, dribble like Durant, and posterize your favorite player like Shaq, while also being the best defensive player in the league. This season he is averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 3.5 blocks a game. Although his team is one of the worst in the league, his rookie season is nothing short of greatness.
Clippers improvement
Since the Clippers traded for star players Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in 2019 they have been in championship contention nearly every year. Although, bad luck and injuries have held them back. This season with the addition of future Hall of Famer’shall of famers James Harden and Russel Westbrook, as well as Paul George and Kawhi Leonard playing almost every game this season, it’s their best chance to finally win a championship. They traded for James Harden earlier this year and struggled in the beginning going on a multiple game losing streak. However after that stretch of losing games they went on an impressive win streak and have been very hard to beat ever since.
In Season Play in Tournament
Since NBAba viewership goes way down in November and December, the league decided to incorporate a regular season tournament in Las Vegas. The winners receive $500,000 each and get a banner hung in their arenas. The tournament works by putting teams into random groups of five teams that are all in the same conference. The group competition lasted from November 3, 2023 to November 28 2023. Each team will play at least one game against the teams in their groups. Then, the knockout rounds will take place, where only the eight of teams that have played the best in the tournament will advance to. After that, the qualifying teams will be able to advance and compete for the in-season tournament championship.
Thunder’ss improvements
The Oklahoma City Thunder have successfully rebuilt their team from being one of the worst teams a few years ago to being a top team in the league today. Their superstar player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who is averaging 30 points per game and leading their teams to many wins is second in the MVP race. Their all time great young core consisting of 20 point per game scorer Jalen Williams, 7 ‘2 sharpshooter and DPOY candidate Chet Holmgren, and amazing passer Josh Giddey have all had stellar seasons. Due to this they have already won 20 more games than they did last year with about 10 games left in the season.
All star weekend
This year’s all star weekend was filled with disappointments, anticipation, and excitement. The all star game in itself was sad to say the least. Both teams scored close to 200 points. Lazy defense was played and the players didn’t give much effort at all, which made the game very boring to watch. The dunk contest was much of the same with lackluster dunks and Mac McClung winning it again. The Skills Challenge however, Although the skill challenge was pure comedy., P players were tripping over their feet, losing their dribble, and air balling wide open shots. However, the 3 point contest was legendary. The best shooter in the NBANba Steph Curry, competed in a shooting competition with the best 3 point shooter in the WNBA Sabrina Ionescu. Many people considered it to be the best part of the whole weekend.
As the playoffs near, teams prepare to play more games and compete for the championship. The 2023-2024 season had its highs and lows which made it very entertaining. This year was a special one for sure, one many NBA fans will remember for a long time. There are many signs from this season that tell NBA fans that the league is in good hands.