Jayson Tatum, a five-time All-Star, MVP candidate, and four-time All-NBA pick, is the current champion of the NBA. He has won 334 games with the Boston Celtics in his first six seasons, including playoffs. However, he was not considered a champion until last season. Now, the Celtics are champions, and Tatum sees the season as the start of a chase for a 19th title. According to BetMGM Sportsbook, the Celtics are the favorite to claim the 2025 championship.
The journey starts with ring night in Boston, where the Celtics take on New York in the first game of a doubleheader to formally open the league’s 79th season. The nightcap is Minnesota at the Los Angeles Lakers, a game that will see LeBron James tie Vince Carter by playing in a 22nd NBA season. There will be challengers to a Boston repeat, including New York (adding Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns) and Philadelphia (adding Paul George). Rising teams in the East, like the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers, have also loaded up to try to supplant Boston atop the Eastern Conference.
The Western Conference also has several contenders, with Oklahoma City, the No. 1 seed in the West last season, as the narrow favorite to win that side of the league. Thunder forward Chet Holmgren emphasizes putting expectations on processes, how they show up every day, how they go about their work, what they do, and the attention of detail that they do it to. Golden State’s Stephen Curry helped the U.S. win Olympic gold this summer, and with James, neither can the Lakers.
The West is just loaded, but the Celtics know what it takes to be the last team standing. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said that Boston can say whatever they want to say going into this season. With that said, they still have to earn it. But it’s a new season, new year, and there will be a bunch of teams gunning for that title.
Coaches on the move include JJ Redick, who was coaching the fourth-grade team at Brooklyn Basketball Academy earlier this year, Charlotte’s Charles Lee, and Brooklyn’s Jordi Fernandez. Other coaches who have new jobs entering this season include Mike Budenholzer in Phoenix, Kenny Atkinson in Cleveland, and JB Bickerstaff in Detroit. Brian Keefe is a new coach as well, having finished last season as Washington’s interim coach for the final 39 games.
Half of the league’s coaches — 15 of the 30 — enter this season having completed two years or less with their current clubs. Key dates to know this season include Miami playing Washington in Mexico City on November 2, all 30 teams will be in action on November 4, Election Day will be held on November 5, the NBA Cup is back for a second season, Christmas games will be held on December 25, Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be celebrated on January 20, and reigning rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama returns to Paris.
(AP)
