Sports
NBA 2023-2024 Season
Leah Ally
Volume 5 Issue 1
September 20, 2024
Image Provided by Dreamstime.com
The 78th National Basketball Association (NBA) season kicked off on October 23rd,2023 and thirty of the best teams in the nation each played a total of 82 games in hopes of securing a spot in the playoffs. This season was held at high expectations with star players such as Nikola Jokic, Anthony Edwards, and Luka Doncic hoping to grow their legacies. Additionally, unlike previous seasons, there was a “play-in tournament” implemented that brought even more excitement to gameplay.
Before discussing the 2023-2024 season in-depth, it is crucial to understand how it is formatted and based on what criteria. To begin with, the teams are separated between an Eastern conference and a Western conference with fifteen teams in each. To qualify for a playoff spot, a team must be in the top six of their conference based on their number of wins and losses. However, with the new play-in tournament, teams in the 7th-10th seed of their conference have a chance to fight for a playoff spot. The 7th seed plays the 8th seed, and the winner secures the 7th seed in the playoffs. Yet, the loser gets another chance. The 9th seed then plays the 10th seed, where the loser is eliminated. The loser of the 7th vs 8th game then plays the winner of the 9th vs 10th seed game for the final playoff spot (Merrell, 2024). Overall, this new aspect of the NBA adds excitement and competitiveness to the end of the regular season. Not to mention the annual All-Star weekend where the dunk contest, a three-point contest, skills challenge, and All-star exhibition games take place. This year was the first time a WNBA player was included as part of a charity event. The matchup was between NBA star Stephen Curry and Sabrina Ionescu, a WNBA star, both competing in a three-point contest and Curry won. Nevertheless, because of this unique matchup viewership skyrocketed to 5.4 million, the most it has ever been within the last 4 years.
With a season full of high expectations and the most skilled players in the country, there were bound to be teams that stood out based on their performances and predictions. Some of the most notable teams this year included the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, and the Indiana Pacers. These teams ended their regular season within the top five of their conference proving themselves to have some of the best rosters in the league. Some of these players include Luka Doncic, Ja Morant, Donovan Mitchell, and Devin Booker. However, there were also teams who had historically terrible records. For instance, the Washington Wizards achieved only 15 wins and had 67 losses, while similarly the Detroit Pistons had 14 wins and 68 losses (ESPN statistics). During the season, the Pistons went on the longest losing streak in NBA history with 28 games in a row. As for viewership of the regular season this year it remained at a steady average of 1.6 million people who tuned in for each game. As usual, betting on NBA games has stayed popular, allowing fans to engage in several types of bets depending on a specific player or a team’s performance.
All in all, this season proved to be interesting and full of excitement for fans, players, and coaches. However, it is not over yet as the Celtics who are 3-1 in the series, and Mavericks who are 1-3 are currently waiting to play Game 5 to determine the outcome of the finals.
Update: The Boston Celtics won the Championships.
Sources: Basketball - 2024 NBA Play-In Tournament Explained: Teams, schedule, how it works (olympics.com)