Sunday Scroll: The greatest reality show on Earth

The NBA is split into two conferences with 15 teams in the Eastern Conference (EC) and 15 in the Western Conference (WC). From there, three five-team divisions make up each conference. In the EC, it’s the Atlantic, Central, and Southeast, while the WC boasts the Northwest, Pacific, and Southwest.

• Every team plays 82 games (41 at home and 41 away) from October to April, with all 30 teams in action on April 13th, the final day of the regular season.

After the regular season comes the playoffs — the top six teams in each conference automatically qualify for the postseason, while the seventh through 10th ranked teams will compete in a play-in tournament for each conference’s final two playoff spots. Bring on the drama.

This season will also showcase the NBA's second in-season tournament, the NBA Cup. Unlike traditional tournaments, it runs alongside the regular season, with all results (except for the December 17th championship game) counting toward teams' standings.

• The aim is to boost early-season fan engagement by adding an extra layer of competition, with a significant incentive: $500K for each player on the championship-winning team.

• The tournament kicks off on November 12th with group play, where 30 teams are randomly divided into six groups (three per conference). This leads into sudden-death knockout rounds, building toward the final showdown.

Sometimes the rich get richer, and that’s exactly what happened in last season’s NBA Finals as the Boston Celtics raised their league-leading 18th championship banner. And they did so in dominant fashion, only losing three playoff games before firing up the duck boats in The Hub.

• Even more impressive? The Cs are in a prime position to do it all again — every key player on last year’s roster, including an extra motivated Finals MVP in Jaylen Brown and his partner-in-points, Jayson Tatum, is returning.

• The only blip on Beantown’s radar is Kristaps Porziņģis, who underwent surgery on a rare lower leg injury this offseason. The oft-injured big man is hoping to return to action before 2025 but only time will tell — and the Celtics are in no rush.

Despite Boston’s repeat aspirations, parity’s been the name of the game in the NBA lately: A different squad has taken home the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in each of the last six seasons. A trend this potentially dynastic Celtics squad will be looking to buck.

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⛈️ Oklahoma City Thunder (WC): Despite losing in the Western Conference semifinals last season, OKC, the youngest team ever to secure an NBA top seed, is back with a vengeance. With an MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a strong returning core, and the addition of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein, the Thunder boast depth and talent on offense and defense.

🐴 Dallas Mavericks (WC): Last year’s Western Conference champs have only improved since losing the NBA Finals in five games after making impressive offseason moves, including signing four-time NBA champ and former Splash Bro Klay Thompson.

• Thompson’s sharpshooting should be a perfect complement to Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving’s dynamic playmaking.

🟠 New York Knicks (EC): Always the bridesmaid wedding guest, never the bride, the Knicks have leveled up this year, making a blockbuster trade to bring Karl-Anthony Towns from Minnesota to the Big Apple. With KAT in town, the orange and blue have the best shot of unseating the Celtics in the East.

⚖️ Aside from these three title faves, the league boasts talent from top to bottom. Other teams and names to know include Nikola Jokić’s Denver Nuggets and Anthony Edwards’ Minnesota Timberwolves. Forget MomTok, the NBA is the greatest reality show on Earth.

🔄 The offseason shuffle: As per usual, the NBA carousel was spinning over the summer, but the biggest name on the market was former LA Clipper Paul George, who inked a four-year, $212M deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, completing Philly’s three-prong attack with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

• Elsewhere, Chicago Bull DeMar DeRozan flew cross country to link up with the Sacramento Kings while Atlanta Hawk Dejounte Murray found a home in the Bayou with Zion Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans.

🏅 The MVP race: The battle for the league’s top honor runs about six-players deep. There’s Jokić, who’s won three of the last four MVPs, 2023 MVP Embiid, the aforementioned Dončić and Gilgeous-Alexander, who both finished in the top three of last year’s voting, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and reigning champ Tatum. Buckle up.

🟣 That familial connection: LeBron James is no stranger to making hoops history, and the King’s done it again, this time with his son Bronny after the pair became the first father-son duo to play on the same team in an NBA game during preseason action.

⛳ Capture the Flagg: Superstar prospect Cooper Flagg, that is. He has yet to play a regular-season game for the Duke Blue Devils, but he’s already this season’s diamond (aka the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft).

• The league’s bottom three teams each have a 14% chance of snagging the top pick, meaning for the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, and Portland Trail Blazers, losing might actually be a winning strategy.