LeBron James has returned home to Cleveland, Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose have played their first regular season games since suffering season-ending injuries last year, the San Antonio Spurs have started the defense of the NBA Championship, and highly touted rookies Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins have played the first game of their careers.
So why does it feel like the NBA season hasn’t actually started?
Maybe it’s because last seasons MVP won’t step onto the court until December.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that the NBA season is back underway, but after the novelty of the first week wears off we all start to realize just how long the season is. We also realize that only a handful of team are going to make any noise in the playoffs. This has always been my problem with the NBA. It’s 82-games and in the end it’ll come down to whatever team LeBron James is on in the East and the San Antonio Spurs or whatever team can beat the Spurs in the West. That’s how it’s played out in the last three years and I have no reason to believe that the same thing won’t happen this year.
The Oklahoma City Thunder hope to be that team that knocks off the Spurs and meets the Cavaliers in the Finals, but first they need to be at full strength. The Thunder that you’re going to see for the next couple of months aren’t the Thunder you’re going to see in 2015.
Oklahoma City will somehow just have to keep their head above water until Kevin Durant, and now Russell Westbrook, return. They certainly aren’t going to make the playoffs in the next two months, but they could put themselves in a tough position where they’ll have to make up a lot of ground. They just have to stay in the playoff race until the dynamic duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook is re-united. That’s when the regular season starts for the Thunder. That’s when it will feel like games are important and wins and losses actually matter.
They’re going to win some games and they’re going to lose some games, but the entire league knows that the team they play in the next two months won’t be the team that they play in May. It’s not just that the team will grow together and learn like every other team, it’s that they’ll be getting back one of the top two players in the league. That won’t happen for any other team in the league. When 29 other teams wake up on Christmas, they’ll be unwrapping a jersey with sleeves. When Oklahoma City wakes up on Christmas, they’ll be unwrapping a 6’9’’ scoring machine that can single handily dominate the offensive end of the court. And in their stocking will be a 6’3’’ ball of energy that can change the game in a flash.
This isn’t a Derrick Rose situation where Rose got hurt early in the season, teams weren’t playing “the real” Chicago Bulls, and then Rose would return in the playoffs. Even if Rose had returned in the playoffs, while the Bulls would’ve been a better team, it would’ve been tough for Rose to knock off the rust and for the team to gel in such a short pressure filled time.
Durant and Westbrook will be back. And they will be back with plenty of time left in the season to knock off any injury rust and re-find their rhythm with the team. There won’t be days and days of speculation on whether or not Durant and Westbrook will play. There won’t be fans posting Durant jersey’s online that are suits or Westbrook jersey’s that are leather pants and shirts. They will be back with plenty of time to make an impact and help lead the Thunder to a comfortable playoff spot.
Whether they end up as a one seed, a four seed, or even sneak in as an eight seed. If you’re a playoff team in the west, wouldn’t you be very afraid of a healthy Thunder team?
Tip-off was on Tuesday. Some teams are still undefeated. Some teams are still searching for their first win. It’s exciting that basketball is back. The season has officially started. But the season doesn’t truly start until Kevin Durant steps onto the court, makes his first basket, and raises one finger to the sky.