By: Rory Zeman

Culture Editor

Since the start of the 2023-24 NBA season, the 30-team league has done nothing but surpass the expectations of fans. With the implementation of the new In-Season Tournament, the competitive race for the MVP Title, and the minimal disparities of team records in each conference, the NBA is in pristine condition.

The NBA’s new In-Season Tournament (see last issue for more details), revolutionized the sport, providing heightened incentive for early-season effort among the teams. The quarter-finals saw the Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Phoenix Suns, with Lakers guard Austin Reaves hitting a three-point shot to win the game. In a startling upset, the New Orleans Pelicans ousted the Sacramento Kings by a significant margin — ten points. In the East, the Milwaukee Bucks decimated the New York Knicks by 24 points, while the Indiana Pacers put on a show by beating the Boston Celtics by ten points. In the semifinals, the Lakers won against the Pelicans and the Pacers surpassed the Bucks. In the finals, the Lakers decimated the Pacers, with LeBron James winning the first-ever In-Season Tournament MVP award.

The NBA’s 77th season debuted the exponential development of an array of young stars. On the Kia MVP Ladder, familiar faces are present, with last year’s Finals MVP, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, appearing at the top. Furthermore, last year’s regular season MVP, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, is the current runner-up. However, there is also unprecedented representation from the new generation of players, with Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks and the OKC Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tying for third. Not only that, Tyrese Haliburton, who has the most assists per game in the NBA, is also in the top-ten projections. Lakers star LeBron James, still playing at an elite level, remains among the top-ten candidates for MVP in his 21st NBA season. 

The most surprising aspect of the newest NBA season is the early season tenacity and competitiveness among the teams, as corroborated by their proximal records. At the top of the Eastern Conference, as per usual, lie the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks. However, behind by only 1.5 and two games lie the Orlando Magic and 76ers respectively. The Atlanta Hawks, who are at the number ten seed (the minimum to get into the playoffs), are only a minuscule six games behind the number one seed Celtics. Following the same trend, the Western Conference’s 10-seed Los Angeles Clippers are a mere 6.5 games behind the number-one-seed Minnesota Timberwolves.

The excitement of the In-Season Tournament, the impressive contention for the MVP award, and the small record margins all have engendered a competitive feel to the NBA that, in previous seasons, has never reached the same heights.