It's about that time of year again. The leaves are changing colors. The weather is becoming colder. Halloween is right around the corner. It can only mean one thing: It's almost time for basketball.
On Oct. 29, 2013 the back-to-back defending world champs, Miami Heat, will take on the Chicago Bulls as the NBA season opener. Derrick Rose will make his year long anticipated return that night to add a little more fire to the Heat/Bulls rivalry.
This season will be a transition time for the league. This will be David Stern's last year as commissioner. Stern has been in charge of the NBA since 1984, after taking the place of his predecessor, Larry O'Brien. He will be stepping down mid-way through the season and allowing Adam Silver to take the reigns of the NBA.
EASTERN CONFERENCE LOOKING TO DETHRONE HEAT
The Eastern Conference is loaded this year. With the addition of a healthy D-Rose, the Bulls will be among the rest of the Eastern Conference trying to knock off the seemingly unbeatable Heat.
The Heat picked up Greg Oden and Michael Beasley this offseason to strengthen their inside game. On top of that, LeBron James said that he is a better basketball player this year than he was last year on media day last week.
Miami will be tested by some new additions to the Eastern Conference. The Brooklyn Nets were the talk of the off-season as they acquired Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry from the Boston Celtics. Their starting lineup will almost have an all-star team feel to it while being led by first-year coach, Jason Kidd. It will be very interesting to see how the new teammates gel together with the great Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.
The up-and-coming team to watch out for in the east will be the Cleveland Cavaliers. The off-season additions of Andrew Bynum, if healthy, and Jarrett Jack will add dynamics to this team with their superstar “Uncle Drew,” better known as Kyrie Irving. They mended ties with Mike Brown, and he will serve his second term as the Cav's head coach. The Cav's will challenge for a six or seven seed in the East this year after missing the playoffs the last couple years.
OKC SLIGHT FRONTRUNNER
The Western Conference is up for grabs. The Oklahoma City Thunder are the frontrunners, as they have been for the last two years. They are not the favorites by much. There is still a lot of concern about when Russell Westbrook will return and how effective he will be when he does.
Just like every other year, the Spurs will compete for the number one seed in the west as well.
The state we must really keep our eye on this year is California. The Clippers and Warriors have proven to be among the elite teams in the NBA. With some huge additions in the off-season, I feel they can make a run for the West.
After the 2013-2014 season begins, I believe that the league will see phenomenal basketball games across the board, but, when it's all said and done, the Miami Heat will be the league’s first three-peat since Michael Jordan and his Bulls did it from 1991-1993.
