If you are new to being an NBA fan, or have lived under a rock, the last year of professional basketball has been a show that nobody could ever script. This time last year, everyone expected the Golden State Warriors to repeat, LeBron James to lead the Lakers back to success, and the Boston Celtics to be the best team in the Eastern Conference. None of that happened. What actually happened? Well, where do we even begin? Let’s take a stroll down memory lane.
October
Jimmy Butler demands a trade, and then beats the starters with third string players. He starts the season with the team.
Kawhi Leonard, now a Raptor, invents a laugh we love.
Kyrie Irving makes a plea to re-sign with the Celtics after the season.
Carmelo Anthony is a Rocket.
Markelle Fultz is starting for the 76ers.
The Warriors get off to a fast start, particularly Steph Curry. They also make a remix of Fergie’s national anthem after a game versus the Knicks.
The second game of the year, Chris Paul, Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo get into a fist fight.
Derrick Rose scores 50 points Halloween night and let’s everyone knows he can still play.
November
Tyronne Lue, a championship coach for Cleveland, is fired after 6 games. Kevin Love is injured and is forced to miss two months.
Steph Curry gets injured and misses 11 games. Kevin Durant and Draymond Green have a falling out in the middle of a game, casting doubt on his future with the team after the year.
Jimmy Butler is traded to Philadelphia.
Carmelo Anthony lasts 10 games with the Rockets before being released.
Paul George is playing like the best player on Oklahoma City.
Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard have an epic matchup in Toronto.
We all realize fast that rookie Luka Doncic is a star in the making.
Kawhi Leonard signs a shoe deal with New Balance after leaving the Jordan brand.
December
LeBron James injures his groin Christmas Day, proceeds to miss 18 games. The Lakers go 6-12 during that stretch.
The Rockets start the month as the 14 seed, and Chris Paul injures his hamstring. James Harden starts a 32 game streak of 30 points or more.
The Celtics beat the Bulls by 56.
A three team trade goes wrong because Phoenix thinks they are acquiring Dillon Brooks. Memphis was offering Marshon Brooks.
Dirk Nowitzki starts his final year with the Mavericks.
John Wall has his season ended because of Heel surgery.
January
Anthony Davis requests a trade from the Pelicans.
Giannis Antetokoumpo, James Harden and Paul George establish a clear 3-man MVP race.
Demarcus Cousins returns from his torn Achilles, everyone sees the dream Warriors starting lineup.
Lonzo Ball injures his ankle and is out the remainder of the season.
Victor Oladipo, the Pacers’ star player, tears his quad and has his season ended, and ends the Pacers chances of being a contender in the East.
February
The Lakers and Pelicans have a legendary public negotiation for Anthony Davis, which ends up going nowhere. The Lakers offer the entire roster (basically) and no trade still. They end up trading for Mike Muscala instead.
Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks franchise player, requests a trade and ends up with the Dallas Mavericks. This, however, frees up two max salary slots for the Knicks in free agency, with their targets being Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
The Clippers, a playoff team, trades Tobias Harris, their best scorer, to Philadelphia.
Marc Gasol, who played in Memphis for 10 years, is traded to Toronto.
Kyrie Irving tells the media to “ask him July 1st” about his pending free agency and says he “doesn’t owe anyone s*it”.
James Harden’s streak of 30 plus points finally ends. It’s the longest streak of 30 plus points in consecutive games in NBA history.
March
It’s starting to hit everybody that the Lakers will not make the playoffs for the sixth year in a row. It’ll be the first time in nine years the LeBron James will not compete in the NBA finals.
Tanking teams all try their hardest to lose games.
NBA fans are ready for the playoffs.
April
Ah, the playoffs. Oh wait.
Magic Johnson quits as Lakers President of Basketball Operations in a News Conference one hour before the start of one of their final games. He then goes on TV and calls GM Rob Pelinka a “snake”. Okay, now it’s playoff time.
The 8 seeded Clippers take the 1 seeded Warriors to six games. Demarcus Cousins tears his quad and doesn’t return until the NBA Finals.
Kevin Durant remembers who he is and goes on a playoff scoring tear.
Steph Curry becomes the all time leader in three pointers, only needing 91 games to accomplish the feat.
The Nuggets and Spurs have a great 7 game series, where the Nuggets outlast them because the Spurs have poor clock management at the end of game 7.
Damian Lillard hits a 37 foot three pointer to beat Oklahoma City and wins the series in five games. That shot ended the Oklahoma City franchise as we knew it.
The Eastern Conference 1st round goes according to plan, setting up a semi-finals matchup of the Bucks-Celtics and Sixers-Raptors.
May
The Celtics dominate game 1 against the Bucks, leading Paul Pierce to say the series was “Over”. Milwaukee goes on to win the series in 5 games and Giannis looks unstoppable.
The Sixers and Raptors have an epic seven game series. Kawhi Leonard hits the best buzzer beater in NBA history to clinch not only the win, but the series.
Kevin Durant injures his calf during Game 5 of the Rockets-Warriors series with the series tied 2-2. The Rockets still lose in 6 games, allowing Steph Curry to score 33 points in the second half of Game 6.
Portland and Denver also have a 7 game series. Portland goes on the road and win game 7, leading to their first Western Conference finals since 2000.
The Warriors and Blazers have a competitive series, but Portland can’t hold on to any lead. They get swept in 4 games and Golden State goes to the Finals for the 5th straight year, all without Kevin Durant.
Milwaukee jumps out to a 2-0 series lead, lead by Giannis. It feels inevitable they are going to the NBA Finals. Instead, the only thing that was inevitable was Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi leads Toronto back, winning four straight games and leading the franchise to their first NBA Finals.
June
The NBA Finals was such a strange, yet fascinating series between Golden State and Toronto. So many things happened that changed how the NBA is going to be this year. Toronto is up 3 games to 1 and Kevin Durant comes back for Game 5. It is obvious early on in Game 5 that Golden State is better than Toronto with a healthy Durant. Unfortunately, Kevin Durant tears his Achilles in the second quarter. Golden State still overcomes that injury and wins game 5, forcing the series to go back to Oracle Arena in Oakland. Game Six was an awesome game, and I highly recommend you go back and watch the game. Klay Thompson goes full Game 6 Klay (look it up) but then tears his ACL late in the 3rd Quarter, ending any shot the Warriors had. Kawhi Leonard is named Finals MVP and cements his place among the greats today and of all-time, leading Toronto to its first championship in franchise history.
Off-Season
Truth is, there is no off-season in the NBA. The last three months have produced some of the wildest moments we’ve ever seen, and there’s been no shortage of blockbuster moves.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving spurned the Knicks for the Nets.
The Lakers traded their entire team (mostly) for Anthony Davis.
Jimmy Butler signed with the Miami Heat.
Russell Westbrook was traded to Houston for Chris Paul and draft picks.
Mike Conley, a long time underrated guard, was traded to the Utah Jazz.
Kawhi Leonard held three teams hostage for five days, picked the LA Clippers over the Lakers and Raptors.
Two minutes later, we find out Paul George is traded to the Clippers to join Kawhi. In return, Oklahoma City receives FIVE future first round picks, an NBA record.
All this happened in a span of three weeks.
What does all this mean?
Very simply, this upcoming NBA season is as wide open as its been in the last decade or so. There are so many familiar faces in new places, it’s going to take time for even the most hardcore basketball fans to get used to. Change is good, change is needed time to time. This season will have so much drama, so much entertainment, so much intrigue, you won’t (and shouldn’t) want to look away.
Need a visual of the last year of basketball? Heres a video by the great Rob Perez.
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