By On Tuesday October 18th, the 77th season of the National Basketball Association tipped-off, picking up exactly where it left off from last season with the exciting highlights, game winners, explosive dunks, and teams jockeying for top position in their respective conferences. Through the first month of the new NBA season, there have been unexpected changes to both the Western and Eastern conferences.
The Utah Jazz are among one of the surprising teams emerging out of the Western Conference with 10 wins and six losses through the first month of the regular season. This offseason, the Jazz traded away their superstar players Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert for draft picks in an attempt to start from scratch and build a new championship contending team. The Portland Trail Blazers are also a team shocking the NBA. The Trailblazers finished last season with 27 wins and 55 losses and did not make the playoffs. This season, they are off to a hot start sitting in first place in the Western Conference with a record of (10-4).
In the Eastern Conference, The Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics have re-asserted their dominance. The Boston Celtics, who made the NBA Finals last season losing to the Golden State Warriors, sit atop the Eastern Conference with a record of (11-3). This comes after The Celtic’s organization had to suspend their second year head-coach Ime Udoka for the entirety of the 2022-2023 season due to sexual misconduct. The Milwaukee Bucks are positioned in second amongst the Eastern Conference teams with a winning record of (10-3).
The NBA defending champions, The Golden State Warriors, sit just outside the playoffs for the Western Conference with a losing record of (6-8). They continue to lean on the guidance of their head coach, Steve Kerr, to create the successful blend of the veteran superstars in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green with their young and upcoming talents in Jonathan Kuminga, Jordan Poole, and James Wiseman to recreate the championship level play that made them the NBA defending champions.
With nearly 68 games left in the regular season and playoffs to follow in the months of April, May, and June of the 2023 year, young teams will continue to look to build upon their chemistry and talent to create winning programs and possible playoff runs. Veteran teams will seek to retain the successful groove that brought them regular season domination and playoff success last year, into this year.
