The start of the NBA season has, at least for me, started as of this weekend. This is not because trade rumors and needless Lebron hype have already gotten going. Instead, it was the untimely death of coach and former player Flip Saunders. Now, this is not a love letter to Flip. Honestly, I don't know anything about him, other than his name and that he was a less than stellar coach cursed with broken programs. Realistically, this tragedy serves as a dour introduction to one of the best times of the year, the NBA season, topped only by the NBA playoffs.
I have a few predictions for the upcoming season. None of them are based on stats or evidence. This, like the sport itself, is all about heart, raw, unadulterated, baseless heart.
1. The Houston Rockets will not, in fact, win or even go to the NBA Finals.
While it is true that they are pretty stacked with the progress of DOMO, the health of Patrick Beverly, and Josh Smith finally having found a team that he does not cause to rot from the inside out. All that being true in addition to the acquisition of a semi-sober Ty Lawson, the Rockets are simply just not meant to win. They are a team followed by failure. No matter how good they are, or how much talent they have, something will happen, someone will go down or a game or two will just slip away from them for some bullshit reason and keep them out of reach of ultimate victory.
2. Lebron James and his band of below average players, other than Tristan Thompson, will not get a ring.
It just isn't right. No deity, loa or otherwise would allow for this to happen. Lebron went to Cleveland, which is fine; I do not care who he plays for at all, and he just recreated his Miami team with most of the same players but without any of the good ones. Dellavedova starts for an NBA team because of Lebron. There are no other possible worlds in which that could occur. That team is composed entirely of bullshit, again excluding Shumpert and Thompson. I just will not allow this.
3. The Grizzlies will return to the Western Conference finals and likely lose to Golden State.
Memphis is just too likable, even though they added Matt Barnes, who is just a pile of moldy garbage that has been put in a microwave for ten too many minutes and, at the same time, added quite a deal of needed offensive talent and already dominant defensive fortitude to the team. Sure, they can't score unless Marc Gasol and Zach "Never Too Old" Randolph are playing like the best big duo in basketball, which they are, and they will never be a good three-point shooting team, which is the most important thing to ever ruin a sport. However, they are just super cool. Mike Conley is probably the most adorable and gritty point guard in the league, like a teddy bear covered in sand. Then there's Z-bo who never moves and cannot possibly leave his feet but still gets every rebound that could possibly be gotten. You have to love a team that gets rebounds because of the pull of gravity.
Anthony Davis will win MVP and Kawhi Leonard will win Defensive Player of the Year. This is just inevitable. They both deserve it and will keep deserving it and walk hand in hand to the Hall of Fame. Just absolutely amazing players.
