The starter’s gun sounds today on an NBA sprint of a season that will reward cohesiveness and fitness in a compressed 66-game campaign that has the Miami Heat as clear front-runners.
Miami’s “Big Three” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh came together as free agents last year and the nucleus made it to the NBA Finals before falling to the Dallas Mavericks.
After one season to work out the kinks, the Heat look ready to show they really have a hold on a league that used a five-month lockout of players to get a labor agreement that gave owners a bigger share of revenues and reshaped rules toward improving competitive balance.
James, who shied away from crunch-time responsibilities in the Finals, showed his commitment to claiming a maiden title by making an off-season pilgrimage to Houston for a tutorial on post moves from Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon.
In preparation for the season’s Christmas Day start, teams held hurry-up training camps that coincided with a frenzied free-agent signing period that produced winners and losers.
The Heat index shot up, the Mavericks lost some firepower and the lowly Los Angeles Clippers created an instant rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant by adding premier point guard Chris Paul and other pieces.
Miami improved by adding sweet-shooting small forward Shane Battier, while Dallas might have taken a step back after losing center Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks), forward Caron Butler (Clippers) and backup guard J.J. Barea (Minnesota Timberwolves) despite welcoming two-time NBA champion Lamar Odom to Texas.
A disgruntled Odom was ultimately traded by the Lakers, who had included the versatile forward in a trade offer to league-owned New Orleans for Paul, which was nixed by the NBA.
The Chicago Bulls, who reached the Eastern Conference final against Miami, added a potentially key piece in shooting guard Richard Hamilton, who could provide just the complement to point guard Derrick Rose, the NBA’s reigning most valuable player.
While the impact of provisions on competitive balance is yet to be seen, the season figures to be ruled by teams that already know how to play together and can withstand the rigors of a schedule that includes three games in three days for all teams and stretches for some of five games in six nights.
Veteran-laden teams such as the Boston Celtics, with their aging impact trio of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, could start fast, but might wear down come playoff time.
The San Antonio Spurs could be in the same boat as Boston, ready to hit the hardcourt smoothly with a veteran trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker, but eventually challenged to keep step with last year’s Western Conference runners-up the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder, with a young core of NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant coupled with guards Russell Westbrook and James Harden leading the way, might be ready to reach the Finals.
The Knicks and Clippers are rounding into shape as possible contenders, but might need time to gel.
The Clippers, who won 32 games last year and have exceeded the .500 mark once in the last 19 years, have a new look.
Besides adding premier point guard Paul, they have also welcomed former Mavs forward Butler and veteran guard Chauncey Billups to a young squad that boasts former overall No. 1 pick Blake Griffin and talented center DeAndre Jordan.
Chandler brings a defensive presence down low for the Knicks, whose high-scoring duo of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire continue to blend their skills after half a season together in New York.
One big unknown factor in the season is the fate of Dwight Howard, the powerful center of the Orlando Magic, who is in a lame duck season with free agency looming.
Viable suitors for Howard include the Lakers, Mavericks and the New Jersey Nets, whose imminent move to Brooklyn gives them appeal as a true second New York City team with outstanding point guard Deron Williams already in place.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB