NBA: 5 things to know about the new 2021-22 season

D-Day is fast approaching. Yes, it is in the evening (or rather the night) of this Tuesday, October 19 that the NBA will make its big comeback. What is special about this new season? What will be the big events? Who are the favorites for the title? Who are the French who will play on the prestigious courts across the Atlantic this year? And above all, how to follow the matches? So many crucial questions that we had to answer!

#1 The NBA turns 75

This new NBA season will have a special flavor, knowing that the famous American basketball league is celebrating its 75th birthday this year. A birthday that she was obviously not going to forget. To mark the occasion, the National Basketball Association has notably flanked itself with a new logo. If he still sports the same blue, white, red colors and the same silhouette, no offense to fans of the late Kobe Bryant who hoped to see him replace Jerry West on this emblem, he exceptionally presents a different shape, in diamond. Quite simply because at 75, we celebrate our Diamond Jubilee...

The other (nice) birthday present that the NBA gave itself is a short film. A short video of barely 3 minutes, full of stars, to honor the league and especially its legends. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but also LeBron James or even Kevin Durant make an appearance, while it is a certain Michael B. Jordan who drives the bus crossing the "path of memories" ("Memory Lane" , in English)… Failing that, too bad to see Michael Jordan also participate in this All-Star short film. We let you savor:

Dates to remember

After a pre-season which went smoothly from October 3 to 15, that's it, the big day is coming. The NBA will officially begin its 2021-22 fiscal year this Tuesday, October 19, in the middle of the night for us viewers in France. Yes, as always, we will have to stay up (very) late to follow the first shocks of this new season: the kick-off will be given at 1:30 a.m. on the night of this Tuesday to Wednesday, with the defending champions, Milwaukee Bucks , who will of course open the ball against their great rivals in the Eastern Conference, the Brooklyn Nets. In the West, the festivities will begin a little later in the night, at 4 a.m., with another pretty poster: the Los Angeles Lakers will face the Golden State Warriors. This is what is called a beautiful opening night!

While it will of course be marked by a few traditional events, such as Christmas Day (December 25) or Martin Luther King Day (January 17), not to mention an always eagerly awaited All-Star Game which will take place between February 18 and 20, the regular season will then officially end on April 10, 2022. And, surprise (or not), it will be followed by a Play-in tournament, which seems decidedly ready to be part of the tradition, two years after its first appearance in 2020 to compensate for a year disrupted by the pandemic… While the calendar is finally returning to normal, with 82 matches scheduled per team throughout the regular season, the NBA has indeed decided to maintain this small session play-offs, which will determine the 7th and 8th in the East and West rankings, and will therefore take place between April 12 and 15, 2022. The next day will then mark the start of the most anticipated moment on the courts across the Atlantic: that of the Playoffs. After which, we already know that the best will compete from June 2, in the famous Finals. And we should know the name of the new NBA champion by June 19, 2022, the date on which a possible and final Game 7 is scheduled…

#3 Who are the favorites for the title?

First of all, the reigning champions Milwaukee Bucks, of course, who after the second victory at the top of their history will try the back-to-back, still led by the Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo. But there is also another big favorite franchise in the East for this new NBA 2021-22 season, which may even be ahead of the Bucks… The one they got the better of in the conference semi-finals last season. , but still has enormous potential with its Big Three formed by James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. We are obviously talking about the Brooklyn Nets, who have further inflated their workforce by signing two experienced players: pivot LaMarcus Aldridge, who finally came out of his (short) retirement to find the Nets, and strong winger Paul Millsap freshly arrived from at the Denver Nuggets. The previous season, the Brooklyn franchise suffered from injuries. With any luck, this could be their year. It would still be necessary that Irving agrees to be vaccinated…

Then in the West, eyes will initially be on Utah Jazz, which finished first in its rankings at the end of last regular season, but then collapsed in the Playoffs. After leading 2-0 in the conference semi-finals, the franchise of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell had finally cracked against the Clippers, yet deprived of Kawhi Leonard in the fourth game. With the same workforce, plus a few reinforcements on the bench, the Jazz will certainly still give everything to get it, this first NBA title. But the competition will be tough, especially from Los Angeles. If the Clippers will have to do without Kawhi Leonard for a good part of the season again, they will once again be able to count on Paul George. The biggest threat, however, will come from the Lakers, of course. They certainly missed their season last year, released in the first round of the Playoffs when they were defending champions. But in an attempt to offer a fifth ring to the fingers of King LeBron James, the purple and gold franchise went to get him a Big Three capable of competing with that of the Brooklyn Nets: in addition to Anthony Davis, already a beefy acolyte, the big star of the basketball courts (who will soon celebrate his 37th birthday!) will be able to count this year on a certain Russell Westbrook, former shock guard of the Washington Wizards and especially of the Oklahoma City Thunder before that, who is none other than the record holder for the number of triple-doubles scored in NBA history, just that.

#4 The French this season

There are still a few, Frenchies who will tread the courts across the Atlantic this season. Starting with the one who has become a real star in the NBA: Rudy Gobert, elected Defender of the Year three times and twice participating in the All-Star Game, who will therefore try to lead the Utah Jazz to the title. For his part, Evan Fournier will take his first steps with the New York Knicks, while Nicolas Batum has re-signed with the Los Angeles Clippers. Young Theo Maledon is staying with the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. We will also find Killian Hayes, deprived of a good part of last season, with the Detroit Pistons. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot has confirmed his new contract with the Atlanta Hawks, and Frank Ntilikina has left the Knicks to join the Dallas Mavericks.

Then there are those who, signatories of two-way contracts, will only have one foot in the NBA, and the other in the G-League. Killian Tillie, who still played 18 games last season with the Memphis Grizzlies, but will share his playing time with the Memphis Hustle. He will be joined there by his compatriot and teammate Yves Pons, also undrafted but drafted by the Grizzlies. Joel Ayayi, after having signed a two-way contract already with the Lakers, has signed a new one this time with the Washington Wizards. Petr Cornelie, who has just received an Olympic silver medal, will be able to take his first steps in the NBA with the Denvers Nuggets, who drafted him five years ago, in 2016. And then we will find the phenomenon Sekou Doumbouya in a two-way contract that will split his playing time between the South Bay Lakers, in the minor league, and the prestigious Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA.

#5 How to follow the NBA this season?

So, are you excited? To follow the NBA in this new 2021-22 season, it's always on the same channel: beIN SPORTS. If you haven't subscribed yet, now is the time! Knowing that three options are available to you at SFR:

More information on the page devoted to TV Sport packages on the SFR website.

Sources: NBA, Paris Sportifs, Ouest-France, Eurosport

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