The 2021-22 NBA season officially is a week old and that means it’s time to overreact.
Who’s a contender and who’s a pretender? Well it’s definitely too early to know for sure, but not too early to form an opinion about one week of play and defend that thought until the very end of the season.
So, let’s get after it.
REACTION 1: Are the Los Angeles Lakers frauds?
I’m not willing to completely give a ruling on this question at this moment, but it definitely wasn’t an ideal first week for the star-studded Lakers. Los Angeles always was going to go through growing pains as they adjust to their new-look roster featuring Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and DeAndre Jordan among others, but a 2-2 record after Week 1 isn’t ideal. In the grand scheme of things, the Lakers most likely will figure everything out and sit near the top of the Western Conference, but it’s interesting to wonder.
REACTION 2: The New York Knicks will be a top-two seed in the East.
The Knicks are back and aren’t going anywhere. The Julius Randle-led squad surprised many en route to securing the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference last season, which was New York’s first playoff appearance since the 2012-12 season, but they shouldn’t be a surprise anymore. With the return of Randle, Derrick Rose and R.J. Barrett along with the acquisitions of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier this team is built to make a postseason run and I will live on this hill all season especially after a red-hot 3-1 start to the campaign.
REACTION 3: The Phoenix Suns are one-hit wonders.
Phoenix most certainly hasn’t gotten off to the start it hoped for after an improbable run to the NBA Finals last season. Sitting at 1-2 after Week 1 they have shown signs of last season’s success, including a big win over the Los Angeles Lakers, but haven’t been as dominant as last season. Most of the team returned including Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker but they appear hard pressed to make it back to the Finals this season.
These might all be be untrue, but after a week of NBA action this is where I’m at. Maybe I’ll be proved wrong, or maybe at this time next season I’ll be running a team’s basketball operations after these reactions. Stay tuned.
