Last night was the opening night for the NBA season. You may or may not have known that, because either you’re not a big NBA fan or because we’re largely in the throes of both football and the MLB Playoffs. So you may not have realized that last night launched the regular season schedule, the first two of over a thousand games played in the regular season alone.
Generally speaking, I don’t pay much attention to the first half of the season, both because I’m an obsessive college football fan but also because, well, it just doesn’t really matter. Basically, half the teams are going to make the playoffs, and home court doesn’t matter nearly as much as it used to, with every arena looking and feeling more like the Vegas Sphere. So unless you’re just tanking through the All-Star break, the first 40 or so games are basically a warm up. It’s why we always used to consider Christmas Day the unofficial start of the season, when people sitting at home turn on a TV and actually realize they’re playing.
That said, I did find myself watching the first game last night, mainly because the team I’ve rooted for my whole life, the Houston Rockets, were opening up at the defending NBA Champs the Oklahoma City Thunder. The NBA and broadcast partners are pretty intentional on who they pick to launch the enterprise. So the Thunder made perfect sense. And the Rockets, a team on the rise, added NBA legend Kevin Durant in the offseason, making them a trendy pick to win it all. So having these two teams kick off the season grabbed my attention. The game was what one might expect, and certainly what NBC hoped for. A double overtime thriller that went to the final shot, when the Rockets missed to let OKC escape with a one-point victory. All in all an exciting game, if not a bit disappointing for Rockets fans who thought they might steal one against the champs after leading all of the second half.
What was perhaps most surprising, and I’d suggest disappointing, was that the Rockets new, all-world acquisition, Kevin Durant, was perhaps the reason the Rockets lost. I’m saying that because a) he missed a key free throw at the end of regulation that would have made it much more difficult for Oklahoma to force overtime and then had a critical foul at the end of the second overtime that led to the free throws that won the game, and b) he said so himself, when he apologized to fans for the loss in his first game as a Rocket. The reality is, for all the hype in adding KD, he played, well, fine, but certainly not what one would hope for in a franchise altering deal. For perspective, Durant is 37 years old and will earn 54 million this year. He also just signed a two-year extension worth 45 million for each of the following two seasons, which will take him to age 39. And in bringing Durant to Houston, the Rockets traded away Jalen Green, who was the number two overall pick in the 2021 draft and likely hasn’t yet hit his full potential.
So why all the prelude about one game that my favorite NBA team lost that will mean basically nothing by the time we get to January, much less March? It’s that perhaps the outcome tells us everything we need to know about the landscape of modern professional sports. The Rockets, who were getting closer every year with a young and improving roster, blew it all up to try and get a title right now.
And they bet on aging talent at an exorbitant price in that aspiration. One that, no matter what, will probably cost them down the line when Durant hits the senior NBA age of 39. Last night, I think we may have seen a preview of why those kinds of bets don’t always pay off. Because no matter how good someone is or was, father time is still undefeated. And if you don’t believe me, just ask how well 40-year-old LeBron James played last night in their opener against the Warriors – which is a trick question, because he missed the game with an injury.
It's a sports story as old as time. Wanting something now so bad, you probably ignore both your better judgement. Ask Jets fans about that. Of course, I probably shouldn’t worry too much. As we all know, opening night in the NBA just doesn’t mean that much.
Keith Strudler is the Dean of the College of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. You can follow him at @KeithStrudler.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
