It’s the protest in the streets we’ve all been waiting for. Law-abiding citizens have banded together to fight back against a capricious, craven billionaire class that exploits them and leaves them dangling in the wind. The demonstrators are people who have had enough — people who will no longer sit idly by as everything they’ve spent their lives valuing and fighting for is thoughtlessly dismantled.
I’m speaking, of course, of Dallas Mavericks fans, who, in the wake of their favorite team’s decision to trade generational superstar Luka Doncic — to the Lakers of all teams — have begun gathering outside American Airlines Arena before every home game, wielding signs and chanting slogans. (They’ve also started accosting Mavericks brass in public.) I will confess that this is not exactly the cause I might deem most worthy of mass protest at the moment, but, you know, it’s at least encouraging to know that there are Americans still capable of some sort of collective action. Baby steps.
As this year’s All-Star Break recedes into the rearview mirror, the NBA’s television ratings are down, but its vibes are otherwise immaculate. (Other than the poorly received All-Star Game itself.) The league is firing on all cylinders: Its two biggest stars (LeBron James and Stephen Curry) brought in reinforcements at the trade deadline. It’s got a cavalcade of new stars firmly establishing themselves on the global stage (Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards). It features a riveting playoff chase with most famous teams in its biggest markets firmly in championship contention. And it’s coming off the Doncic trade, which was so stunning that it was briefly the biggest story at the Super Bowl. With the “second half” about to kick off — and with only two months left until the playoffs begin — it’s the ideal time for an NBA status check. Here are the five biggest story lines down the stretch, each of them compelling enough to maybe just get you out into the streets.
The Trade and the End of LeBron As the League’s Signature Figure
The Luka Doncic trade was the biggest NBA event this year, the one story that crossed over into the non-sports world. That a player like Doncic — who is only 25 years old and the sort of star franchises go full half-centuries searching for in vain — would be dealt at all is essentially unprecedented. But for all the upheaval in Dallas, the other side of this deal is even more interesting. L.A. may be worse off in the very near term, but the trade isn’t about 2025; it’s about identifying the next Lakers superstar to build the team around. Implicit in that statement, and the trade itself: That superstar isn’t LeBron James. This is completely logical, of course, considering LeBron is 40 years old. But he’s still LeBron and still one of the league’s best players. That LeBron was reportedly not consulted on the trade is indicative of his waning power in the face of the ravages of time, and, if anything, he’s about to be a supporting player on a team for the first time in his entire life. This is about to be Luka’s team, not his. The NBA has been wondering when the LeBron era would end and what would happen when it did. It’s now clear: It is happening. The only question is whether LeBron (thanks to Luka) can win himself one more title before he leaves. If it happens, it will likely be known, one suspects, as Luka’s title — not LeBron’s.
The Twilight of the Other Older Stars
Last week, just before the All-Star Break, Kevin Durant became the ninth player in NBA history to score 30,000 points. In his next game, he passed Julius Erving for eighth-all-time in scoring with Wilt Chamberlain, Dirk Nowitzki, and, yes, Michael Jordan now in his sights. It should be noted, however, that Durant’s Suns lost both of those games to fall under .500 on the season. Basketball Reference’s Playoff Odds give the Suns only a 14 percent chance of making the play-in game, let alone reaching the playoffs themselves. Suffice it to say, that’s a disaster for the expensive Suns (who have Devin Booker and Bradley Beal surrounding Durant). The Suns were clearly shopping him at the deadline, but Durant is still in Phoenix, where he’s likely to miss the postseason for the first time since he played for the Seattle Supersonics (a team that hasn’t existed since 2008). Durant is still great, but he’s not the centerpiece of a playoff team anymore. If that gets him down, well, he has company in two fellow former MVPs who are mostly irrelevant in this year’s title chase: Stephen Curry, whose Warriors are just trying to sneak in the play-in game, and Joel Embiid, whose 76ers are trying to do the same. (Embiid is younger than the other two but far more fragile.) The NBA is transitioning out of the LeBron-Steph era — those two are still by far the biggest brand names in the league — and that transition may happen fully this season. Durant used to be the most compelling personality in the NBA. Now he’s just an old, expensive player who will be watching the playoffs at home like the rest of us. It happens faster than you think.
The Most Anonymous Dominant Team in NBA History
Hardcore NBA fans love to show off how many Oklahoma City Thunder players they know. Lu Dort! Jalen Williams! Jaylin Williams! Isaiah Joe! God, I feel like such an NBA hipster just typing those names. The Thunder have one bold-faced star, MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — the only Thunder player in the top 15 of NBA jersey sales (he’s 11th). But they are unquestionably the best team in the NBA this season, a team so dominant defensively that some statistical analysts think they’re one of the best of all time. This is despite the fact that if you’re not a hipster NBA fan, you don’t know any of these guys. Eventually, the casual NBA observer will get acquainted with the Thunder; they’re too good not to push themselves into the American consciousness. But they are still largely anonymous, which makes their incredible season so far feel largely unseen, even ignored. (Playing in, you know, Oklahoma City doesn’t help.) The NBA truly mints its stars in the playoffs. The Thunder will take every opportunity to teach us who they are — even if a whole bunch of people probably think Durant still plays for them.
Boston Sleepily Tries to Win Another One
The Celtics were last year’s dominant team that nobody quite trusted in the playoffs before they blitzed everybody, including the Mavericks in the finals. They haven’t shown anything like that sort of urgency this season, a classic case of championship hangover. The Celtics are playing like a team that believes they can turn it on for the playoffs. There’s little reason to think they can’t: In moments when they’ve been challenged this year, they’ve generally woken up and looked like their old selves. They’re almost locked into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, behind the breakthrough Cavaliers, but they’re still the team everyone knows they have to get through, to the point that some of their top challengers (namely the Knicks) have built themselves precisely in Boston’s image. For all the talk of NBA dynasties, no NBA team has repeated as champions since the Golden State Warriors in 2018. It would surprise no one if the Celtics became the next team to do so. That is if they’re really up for it.
Knicks Knicks Knicks
With apologies to every other team in the NBA, there would be no bigger story — not LeBron or the Celtics winning again, not a Steph Curry explosion, not commissioner Adam Silver suddenly transforming into a dragon — than the Knicks making the NBA Finals. (I’m not sure there would be a bigger story in all of sports right now.) If the Knicks were to keep up their current .667 winning percentage, it would be their best regular-season record since 1996 and their fourth-best of the last 50 years, rarified air for a franchise whose feverishly loyal fans have known mostly misery. You don’t have to squint hard to see this team, when they’re at their best, being title-worthy: They have everything you need, from two big scorers (Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns), a defensive stalwart (OG Anunoby), and perfect complementary players (Mikal Bridges and the irrepressible Josh Hart). They’ve struggled with top-shelf teams so far this year — the Celtics, their likely second-round opponent, have been a particular thorn — but all the pieces are there. The Knicks may never have a better opportunity than they do this year. Can they stay healthy? Are the fans going to lose their ever-loving minds come April and May? Could the biggest story in sports happen? The NBA is in a healthy place. But there’s nothing that would cross over more, and give the league everything it wants, like a Knicks NBA Finals. Lord help us all if it happens.
