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The dog days of the NBA offseason are here and fans are desperately waiting for some basketball action. No team is making significant moves, all extension talks have paused and the players are enjoying time with their families.
On the business front, the league quite recently revealed a bunch of key dates for the upcoming season. One takeaway was that LeBron James and Steph Curry will battle on opening night after the Warriors receive their 2022 NBA championship rings.
Let's take a look at some news stories from around the NBA in the last 24 hours.
LA Lakers owner Jeanie Buss calls Michael Jordan the GOAT
Jeanie Buss, the controlling owner and president of the LA Lakers, made headlines when she called Michael Jordan the greatest of all time. While it is common knowledge that MJ is widely considered the GOAT, even by people who haven't seen him play live.
Four other players in the GOAT conversation have ties to the LA Lakers. LeBron James is the closest rival of MJ, while others like Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have also been called the greatest of all time. James is the most recent champion with the team and the other three are club legends.
Hence, it was controversial that Jeanie Buss would call MJ the greatest when four other candidates are from her organization.
Steph Curry and the Warriors partied with their Finals rivals at Draymond Green's wedding
Draymond Green married Hazel Renee yesterday. Unsurprisingly, the wedding was a star-studded event. Famous rappers DaBaby and Roddy Rich performed for the guests and LeBron James was spotted talking to Green's college coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans.
In the course of the wedding, Draymond Green and Steph Curry partied with their NBA Finals rivals Jayson Tatum and LeBron James. Tatum and James are Green's friends, so obviously they would attend his special day, but the "Twitterverse" wasn't very kind to them. Memes started flooding on social media taunting the two stars for feasting at Green's wedding after losing to him in the Finals.
Giannis Antetokounmpo teases a move to the Chicago Bulls
Giannis Antetokounmpo is currently representing his country Greece in the 2022 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers. He will face another two-time NBA MVP in Nikola Jokic when his team faces Serbia on August 25 in Belgrade.
Antetokounmpo often jokes with the media during press conferences and is known for his sense of humor during interviews. He has teased the idea of leaving Milwaukee before and once said that he isn't sure if he will finish his career with the Bucks. He was asked about the Chicago Bulls and he answered:
"I think anybody when asked that question, if he plays basketball, if he said no, he'd be a liar. It's a team that have won multiple championships. It's a team that one of the greatest players, if not the greatest player to ever play the game played for. So, it's a no-brainer.
Everybody would love to play for Chicago. Down the line, you never know. You never know how life brings it. Maybe I play for Chicago, but right now I'm committed to Milwaukee."
NBA reveals Christmas Day schedule for the upcoming 2022-23 season
The NBA revealed the 2022 Christmas Day slate to calm down agitated fans desperately waiting for some basketball action. The schedule didn't receive a happy response as most fans expected better matchups.
The league is not going to have a traditional NBA Finals rematch this Christmas, and many playoff teams have been snubbed in favor of big-market franchises like the LA Lakers and New York Knicks.
The Athletic's Shams Charania tweeted a list of teams playing on December 25th.
The league decided to milk the newest rivalry between the Warriors and Grizzlies instead of having the Celtics play at Golden State for a traditional Finals rematch. The Lakers and Knicks were both in the lottery spots last season but got a Christmas Day game over playoff teams like the Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, and Minnesota Timberwolves. Meanwhile, star-studded teams like LA Clippers and Brooklyn Nets aren't featured as well.
NBA reveals date of the first Battle of LA next season
Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James will face off for the first time in almost two years this season when their respective teams collide on October 20th, 2022. Either the Lakers or the Clippers will host the game at Crypto.com Arena.
The Athletic's Shams Charania reported via Twitter:
"The first Lakers-Clippers game of the 2022-23 NBA season is scheduled for Oct. 20 at Crypto.com Arena, sources tell The Athletic (and) Stadium. LeBron James-Anthony Davis vs. Kawhi Leonard-Paul George again for first time since Dec. 22, 2020."
Guess the Lakers players!
