The 2021-22 NBA season is a month plus a week away and opening night should not disappoint, but there are matchups later on in the season to watch.
October 30: Atlanta Hawks at Philadelphia 76ers, the 76ers finished with the NO. 1 seed and seen by some as the eastern conference finals favorites, but the 76ers lost to the Atlanta Hawks. Plus there’s lots of uncertainty surrounding Ben Simmons and whether he will still be in Philadelphia come mid-October. Simmons is under contract for four more seasons and his camp and the 76ers are at a stand still. Simmons has indicated he wants to be dealt. Simmons is just 25 and is a three-time all-star in addition to being a two-time All-defensive selection.
How did this come to be? In the eastern conference finals game 7, Simmons passed up a clear shot dunk and passed the ball to Matisse Thybulle with less than 4 minutes to go, some league experts believe that it is only a matter of time before Simmons is out of Philadelphia.
Simmons has incredible potential on the court, he is 6’10, plays the point and can also matchup with other teams big men. In his 4 seasons, Simmons is averaging nearly 16 points a game but his free throw shooting is abysmal and he isn’t as aggressive as he should be. If he were to impose his will more often, those scoring numbers would be closer to 20 a game if not more, the talent is there. His assist numbers are excellent, he needs to know what he can do on the court because if he does, #25 will be a force to be reckoned with.
November 10: Detroit Pistons at Houston Rockets, this game is significant in that this will be the first matchup between the top two picks, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and Houston’s Jalen Green. Cunningham is just 18 and Green is 19 and Green made some headlines where he said he didn’t want to be selected as the NO. 1 pick and play in Detroit. Thankfully for Green, this game will be in Houston but he will get some negative reaction when the Rockets go to Detroit.
Going into the much anticipated NBA season, Cunningham is the favorite to win rookie of the year but the last time a first overall pick won that award was Ben Simmons in 2018. Despite being the favorite by some, Cunningham will have some competition for that award, the afore mentioned Green will be in the conversation, Evan Mobley, Scotty Barnes and Jalen Suggs will be mentioned as contenders for this award.
Christmas day, there will be five games but the most anticipated will be the Brooklyn Nets at Los Angeles Lakers. In this matchup, there will be former teammates going head to head. LeBron James vs. Kyrie Irving, James Harden vs. Russell Westbrook, and Harden vs. Carmelo Anthony. The Lakers and Nets are super teams with the names mentioned above. This game should be the most exciting of the five on Christmas day. Irving and Durant were not completely healthy in the eastern conference finals series and that could have cost the Nets a trip to the NBA finals. The Lakers lost in the first round to the Phoenix Suns and you can expect a LeBron led team to be eager to erase the way how last season ended from the get go.
January 29, Brooklyn Nets at Golden State Warriors, while this won’t be Kevin Durant’s first game back in the bay area, it’s expected that Klay Thompson will be fully healthy for the Warriors. This could mean a more competitive game between two potential finals opponents and Durant made some headlines for why he left the Warriors.
There has been some speculation that Durant left the Warriors when he got into it with Draymond Green after a loss to the LA. Clippers in the early part of the 2018-19 season. Durant wasn’t pleased with Green’s decision making just before the game went to overtime. Green took Durant to task about going to free agency and that action cost Green a game for conduct detrimental to the team. That interaction was talked about for much of that season.
Will that moment from three years ago carry over to this matchup? The headlines going into that matchup should be about how talented both teams are but if anything else comes out about that run in, those headlines may take a back seat.
Another aspect not to forget about is the sneaker culture. Three years ago, the NBA eased it’s on court sneaker restrictions and players are taking advantage of this, expect players to take the sneaker culture up another notch this season. The sneaker culture is trickling down to fans and expect to see fans in jerseys dressed with some really slick kicks.
This will be the 75th NBA season and it will be thrilling to watch incredible matchups and headlines off the court. In some ways, news off the court could be more interesting than games itself, although the NBA has a world of great talent that will entertain die hard fans. for many years to come. The best way that sports leagues can relate to fans is for fans to feel like they are part of the game and the NBA is doing a stellar job at that.
ryanhackman1026 