Klay Thompson walked through the Dallas Mavericks’ facility in his new uniform for the first time. Chris Paul posed side-by-side with Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio, one standing about a foot and a half taller than the other. And LeBron James and Bronny James officially headed to work together in Los Angeles as the NBA’s first father-and-son teammates.
Basketball is back.
Monday was Media Day for 28 of the 30 NBA teams, featuring new faces — Paul, Thompson, Paul George in Philadelphia among them — in new places and tons of optimism everywhere before training camps truly begin for those clubs on Tuesday. The exceptions are Boston and Denver; they got to start camp last week because they’ll be heading to the United Arab Emirates for preseason games this week.
“It’s the NBA. Everyone starts 0-0 at the beginning of the year,” said another of those new faces in new places, guard Alex Caruso of the Oklahoma City Thunder. “And everyone thinks that they could win a championship or reach the playoffs, whatever it is, that big trophy for that team at the end of the year. You have to show up and play the games.”
Media day might be the happiest, most lighthearted day of the NBA year. Players make silly poses for the camera, sometimes commandeer the cameras themselves, do a ton of interviews and generally seem to be enjoying themselves.
The hard work starts Tuesday. About half the teams in the league will be holding at least some of their training camp on the road — for example, Miami and Philadelphia are going to the Bahamas, while Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers are off to Hawaii — in an effort to bond and limit distractions.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces and a lot of guys trying to take next steps in their careers and it is going to be fun from Day 1 tomorrow when we hit the court and start getting our reps in,” said Stephen Curry, the Golden State star guard and now Olympic gold medalist as well. “We say it all the time in training camp. It is a way of thinking if you want to be great in this league, but it is true for us more than ever. Every day does matter for us to be able to figure this thing out.”
For the Warriors, they’re figuring out life without Thompson. There’s a flip side of that coin: The Mavericks, who went to the NBA Finals last season, now get to figure out what life will be like with the veteran sharpshooter.
“I’m excited that he decided to come here, that he decided to commit to us for the next few years,” Dallas guard Kyrie Irving said of Thompson. “And I feel like our dreams can be possible because he’s here now and he’s added some great value to our championship aspirations.”
The 76ers feel the same about George, who comes to Philly to pair up with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey after being part of the Clippers.
“I think we’re kind of right in the middle of where you need to be to compete for a championship,” George said.
And even though they couldn’t talk about it — the trade wasn’t official during their media day events Monday — the New York Knicks surely feel the same about Karl-Anthony Towns, who is on the move after a surprise trade from Minnesota.
“KAT’s an amazing player,” the Knicks’ Josh Hart said, which is about all that anyone from New York could say because the trade was still pending.
In San Antonio, the 6-foot Paul posed next to the 7-foot-4 — or more — Wembanyama. Paul barely reached the shoulder of the reigning rookie of the year. Paul was brought in to help lead a team that the Spurs hope is on the rise, after years of being someone tough for the team to deal with in opposing uniforms.
“I have despised Chris for many years,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
“It’s mutual,” Paul said.
They’re happy to be together and joined at the hip now, of course. Also back at work now: The U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team, which beat France in Paris for a fifth consecutive gold medal. Curry was part of that team, as was James, who remains the oldest player in the league — he turns 40 in December — and now has son Bronny playing alongside him in L.A.
He doesn’t feel old, though. Winning gold again made James feel reborn, and said his Olympic run reminded him what’s possible.
“I do have a lot in the tank,” James said. “A lot. I can help be a big part of a team win the ultimate, whether it’s gold or the Larry O’Brien Trophy or whatever the case may be. I can still get it done.”
