NBA: Expect an odd, unfulfilling ending to an odd, unfulfilling 2020-21 season
It will be an odd and unfulfilling end to the 2020-21 NBA season.
Excitement spread throughout the league, especially amongst fans when it was announced that the 2020-21 NBA season was slated to begin during Christmas week and not the end of January. That means more basketball and basketball quicker, from a fan perspective.
For players and the rest of the league, it means less rest and more work in a smaller window – especially for those teams that played a big role in the NBA’s successful restart bubble. And the writing should’ve been on the wall when the season started.
The 2020-21 NBA season began with no bang and left much to be desired. Many star players were sitting out back-to-backs, taking longer rest and recovery days, teams weren’t practicing to gain extra rest after such a short offseason, and then the injuries started to arise.
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And that didn’t let off when the playoffs began. In fact, it only got worse. Of the teams that were in the race for the playoffs or in the playoffs entirely, at least 17 key contributors each missed significant time during the regular season or in the playoffs.
Of the players that came to mind, here is a list: Jaylen Brown, Victor Oladipo, Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, John Collins, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, C.J. McCollum, Kristaps Porzingis, Kawhi Leonard, Jamal Murray, Chris Paul, and Donovan Mitchell, and Mike Conley.
And those are simply the players that we know about. I’m sure I’m omitting one or two and we’ll likely learn of other players that had to play through a bad injury once the season is over and done with.
Injuries have piled up in the NBA Playoffs
What has this odd and unfulfilling left us with as we get closer to the final four teams in the postseason? Well, the Phoenix Suns are through to the conference finals but now Paul, the heart and soul of the team, is in health and safety protocols and there’s no timeline for his return to the team.
In the other West semifinal, the LA Clippers have lost Kawhi for what will likely be the season and the Jazz is trying to make their first NBA Finals since 1998 without Conley and a hobbled Mitchell.
In the East, the Hawks are playing without both Cam Reddish and DeAndre Hunter while the Sixers are without Danny Green. The Nets lost Spencer Dinwiddie earlier this season and lost Kyrie in this series against the Bucks. Harden is now playing but is far from his 100 percent healthy self.
Milwaukee lost Donte DiVincenzo against the Heat.
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Even though nothing can be taken away from whichever team ends up winning the NBA championship this season, I can’t shake the feeling of how odd and unfulfilling this season will end up being.