The new NBA season starts tonight and it will be one with a Belgian touch, with our compatriot Toumani Camara at Portland. What can you look forward to in the coming months? Find out in our extensive preview.
NBA preview in a nutshell:
Toumani Camara, the 2nd Belgian in the NBA. In-season tournament: the NBA Cup makes its debut. Victor Wembanyama, an alien from France. New rules for resting star players. Two challengers for unpredictable Western Conference.
Looking forward to a Belgian: “He has so many qualities”
We have another Belgian in the NBA! Toumani Camara is only the 2nd compatriot in the NBA, after Didier Mbenga. He defended the colors of Dallas, Golden State, LA Lakers and New Orleans between 2004 and 2011.
Mbenga also won the title twice with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010, although it is fair to say that his role in this was limited.
23-year-old Toumani Camara was drafted by Phoenix in June, but was transferred to Portland by the Suns last month. Our compatriot may get more opportunities in the young team of the Trail Blazers than with title pretender Phoenix.
Toumani is a real competitive animal. You know he’s going to throw his all when he’s on the field.
Portland-coach Chauncey Billups
The NBA is unpredictable, but Camara made an impression in the preparation. With his strong defense and his scores at the right moments, he has already won the hearts of the Portland fans.
“He has so many qualities to love,” coach Chauncey Billups also sang the praises of our compatriot. “What stands out for me is his toughness, his hardness. He never gives up.”
“Toumani is really a competitive animal. He plays without fear and goes for it completely. We love that. You know he will throw himself completely when he is on the field.”
I step on the field and I give it my all. That’s who I am.
Toumani Camara
In the preparation, Camara played an average of about 14 minutes in 4 matches. He averaged 6.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2 assists per game.
A promising start, although it currently offers no guarantee for the regular season. Camara’s toughness does speak in his favor. “I step on the field and I give everything. That’s who I am,” says the Belgian. “I just want to play and have fun on the field.”
Camara has certainly scored good points with the coaching staff, but it remains to be seen what his precise role will be once everything is running at full speed. If the preparation was a foretaste of what is to come, Belgian NBA fans can at least prepare for many “Toumani Highlights”.
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Victor Wembanyama, an alien from France
It has been since LeBron James in 2003 that a player entered the NBA with so much hype. The hype was fueled earlier this year by LeBron himself, who described Victor Wembanyama as an “alien”: extraterrestrial.
The number 1 pick from the draft therefore has a unique profile. At 2.24 meters, the 19-year-old Frenchman has the height of a center, but he can dribble like a playmaker and shoot like a real marksman.
Even for San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, one of the best coaches in NBA history, it’s a journey of discovery. “I don’t know yet how we will play him,” he said recently. “We’re still trying to figure out whether he performs better around the three-point line or closer to the ring. I think a bit of both.”
We still have to figure out in which situations we can benefit most from his qualities.
San Antonio-coach Gregg Popovich
“We still have to find out in which situations we can benefit most from his qualities. I don’t even know if he actually knows that himself. But he is a smart boy. Maybe he will even find out before I do.”
In the Spurs’ first practice matches, Wembanyama was at least able to live up to expectations. The young Frenchman impressed with dunks, three-pointers and block shots.
The potential of “Wemby” is beyond doubt, it remains to be seen to what extent his fragile body will digest the succession of games in the NBA. If the Frenchman can stay fit, expectations may indeed be extraordinarily high.
In-season tournament: a cup competition during the season
New this season in the NBA: the “in-season tournament”, so to speak, a cup competition during the season. Select regular season games will count toward the NBA Cup until 2 finalists remain.
The tournament starts on November 3, with the semi-finals and finals taking place in Las Vegas in early December. On December 9 we will know who will be the very first winner of the NBA Cup.
The in-season tournament should provide some extra spice in the first months of the regular competition. With the new cup tournament, the NBA hopes to stimulate competitiveness in the months of November and December and thus attract additional viewers (read: extra income).
To also motivate the teams, there will be a check for $500,000 for each player on the winning team.
Not a bad amount at first glance, but in a league where the average annual salary is about $10 million and more than 40 players will earn more than $30 million next season, $500,000 is pocket money. So it will mainly have to come from the players’ sense of honor.
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Less rest for the stars
A league like the NBA lives by the grace of its stars. Everyone wants to see players like LeBron James, Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant at work, preferably as much as possible.
But in a league with 82 games in the regular season alone, the burden is very high. In recent years, many top players have chosen to occasionally skip a match, the so-called “load management”.
But load management was and is a thorn in the side of NBA executives and many fans: you may have bought an expensive ticket to see your favorite player and on that day he chooses to take a day off. .
This is mainly about the fans. The basic principle is that you play when you are fit as a player.
NBA bassist Adam Silver
This should change from this season through the “Player Participation Policy”, PRP for short. The new rule encourages teams to let their star players play as much as possible.
It is now forbidden to rest 2 star players in the same match. Anyone who has been named an All-Star or in an All NBA team in the last 3 years is considered such a star player. This season there are 49 players in total, although only 15 clubs have more than one star player in their team.
“This is mostly about the fans,” said NBA boss Adam Silver. “Load management has gotten out of hand in recent years. We do not expect players to play through an injury and we are not saying that they should never rest, but the basic principle is that you play when you are fit.”
Lakers stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James on the bench together: the NBA wants to see this as little as possible from now on.
Two challengers for the Wild West
Predictions are always difficult, especially in an unpredictable league like the NBA. A lot can change between now and the start of the play-offs. But if we look at the balance of power at the moment, 2 teams stand out in the Eastern Conference: Milwaukee and Boston.
The Bucks, the 2021 champions, sacrificed a lot to land a superstar alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo. That became Damian Lillard, one of the best shotters in NBA history. Antetokounmpo-Lillard is a tandem that should strike fear into any team.
Competitor Boston brought in a versatile big boy in Latvian Kristaps Porzingis and also picked up master defender Jrue Holiday, who had to make way for Lillard at Milwaukee. Teams such as Cleveland, Philadelphia, New York or Miami therefore seem destined for a supporting role for the time being.
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While there are 2 clear favorites in the Eastern Conference, things are different in the West. The opulence is unseen, although there are question marks about each team.
Reigning champion Denver lost some useful players in the off-season, but should nevertheless be able to get involved in the title debate again. The key question: can MVP Nikola Jokic recharge for a demanding NBA season after a festive summer?
Phoenix let playmaker Chris Paul leave for Golden State to make room for Bradley Beal, who, together with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, forms a great trio. The key question: is the Suns’ core broad enough to compete until the end?
In any case, there is plenty of width at the LA Lakers, who were able to supplement their core with some useful newcomers this summer. There seems to be plenty of quality in LA. The key question: Will the fragile bodies of star players LeBron James and Anthony Davis hold up well into the season?
For Golden State – 4-time champion since 2015 – it may gradually be the last chance. The big 3 – Curry, Green, Thompson – are already well into their 30s and new signing Chris Paul also has 38 springs. The key question: can the bank also take a step forward to better support the star players?
It doesn’t stop with these 4, because many other teams in the West also start the season with burning ambitions, such as Dallas, LA Clippers, Memphis, Oklahoma City or Sacramento.
But there are also a lot of question marks: will Kyrie Irving remain calm in Dallas? Can the Clippers count on an injury-free Kawhi Leonard? How does Memphis react to the suspension of star player Ja Morant? Will Shai Gilgeous-Alexander take OKC to the next level? Can Sacramento confirm its breakout season?
We will get an answer to all these questions in the coming months.
The most important dates
24/10/23: start NBA-seizoen
03/11/23: start in-season tournament
07/12/23: halve finales in-season tournament
09/12/23: finale in-season tournament
16-18/02/24: All-Star Weekend
14/04/24: einde regulier seizoen
16-19/04/24: Play-In Tournament
20/04/24: start play-offs
12/05/24: NBA draft lottery
06/06/24: start NBA Finals
27/06/24: NBA draft
2023-10-24 04:15:04
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