NBA Weekly Recap: Week 1
The NBA has officially tipped off the 2022-2023 season, and the first week has already begun to write the stories of the season.
Sitting atop the Eastern Conference are the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks and, most surprisingly, the Washington Wizards. Washington will be fighting for a play-in tournament level seed, and Atlanta will remain competitive, but expect more of this level of play from the Bucks and the Celtics.
Not only do these two teams have high championship aspirations, but both are home to players that are fighting for an MVP trophy — Jayson Tatum and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo already has claimed the award twice in 2019 and 2020 and finally should be free from voter fatigue. Tatum just led his team to the Finals, and is going to be on a warpath this season to prove that he and the C’s are elite. Tatum was my pre-season pick for MVP, and I still feel great about my choice. Though the season is still in its infancy, he leads the league in scoring with 34.7 points per game.
One team in the East that has not lived up to expectations is the Philadelphia 76ers. Despite a 40-point masterpiece from Joel Embiid, the 76ers fell to 0-3 on the season after a nine-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs. It’s still very early in the season, but the 76ers enter the year as a team with championship potential that needs to pick up the slack.
This season, the Western Conference is going to be an open race. In the East, it feels like there are some teams that are the clear leaders of the pack. Out West, I could legitimately see six different teams ending up as the No. 1 seed.
The best-looking team out west so far has been the Pelicans. This team can play big inside with Zion Williamson and Jonas Valančiūnas, light teams up from outside with Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy III, and lock players down from the arc with Herb Jones and Jose Alvarado. This team is yet to lose this year, and I don’t think they'll be losing much at all this season.
Another team that is somehow undefeated is the Utah Jazz. Considered by many (such as myself) to be the worst roster in the league headed into the season, this team is undefeated, including a blowout win over the reigning MVP Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets.
The Jazz’s only mission headed into this season was to be really bad. And somehow, the Jazz are really bad at being really bad. This team built of nothing but depth pieces is leading the league in points per game, passing the ball really well, and playing strong defensively. The worst thing this organization could do this season is stay in “Play In Purgatory,” but it looks like that might just be the path they are on.
This year, it is likely that teams are going to be tanking harder than ever before. In the 2023 draft, Victor Wembanyana will be the first overall pick, and it’s easy to see why. His handle and touch has never been seen in a 7-foot-2 frame.
It feels like we have a prospect every five or so years that is heralded as “the best prospect since Lebron.” This is the first time I am buying into that hype before I have seen a player on an NBA court. Expect teams that are performing poorly by midseason to start trotting out terrible lineups in order to try and win Wembanyana’s services.
It is a great time to be a fan of the NBA. I cannot wait for this season to keep playing out to watch the storylines develop.
Nolan Collery is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email njc5848@psu.edu.
