The NBA is back with several ingredients. Among the most colorful are the search for a two-time championship for the Boston Celtics and the debut of LeBron and Bronny James as father and son within Los Angeles Lakers.
The 2024-25 season will begin this October 22 precisely with those two ingredients on the court. The Celtics, being the current champions, will inaugurate the circuit receiving the New York Knicks. Later, the Lakers will host Minnesota Timberwolves. The next matches will be from October 23.
The Celtics swept the NBA Finals of the 2023-24 season by leaving the series 4-1 over the Dallas Mavericks. It was an uneven confrontation both on the scoreboard and in history, since the Celtics arrived as the league’s top champion with 17 trophies, while the Mavericks were barely looking for the second of their showcases (the only one is still the one from 2011).
Despite the Celtics’ winning reputation, it took 16 years for them to repeat a title. NBA Finals. They had achieved it for the last time in 2008 against the Lakers and, before that, their last championship had been in the distant 1986 (against the Houston Rockets).
With the peace of mind of the 18th title achieved just in June, the Celtics They face the start of the 2024-25 season without any pressure.
“Zero pressure. Soon we’ll all be dead and it won’t really matter anymore, so there’s no pressure. You either win or you don’t. When you win, you try to forget about it a week later, and when you lose, you try to forget about it a week later. So it’s not pressure, it’s an opportunity. We have an opportunity here in the next few years, no matter how long we are together,” said Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla prior to the debut against the Knicks.
According to a compilation of United States betting houses presented by Fox Sports, the Celtics are the favorite team to be champion in the 2024-25 NBA season with -225 in the odds, followed by the Mavericks with +180.
The podium of top candidates is completed by the Nuggets with +750, while the last three places are for the Portland Trail Blazers, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards, all of them with an odds of +100,000 before the start of the season.
“I have already said it in the past: we have the opportunity to take the organization forward, to bet on tradition and history. I wouldn’t want someone to expect me to lose all the time, that would be debilitating. “We have the expectation of winning, we have great character and talent, we simply have to work to maximize that,” Mazzulla added.
At 36 years old, Mazulla will only be living his second season as head coach of an NBA team and can already boast a title. He debuted in 2011 as an assistant for a college team and it was in 2019 when he arrived at the Boston institution, also as an assistant and interim.
For this nascent season, the Celtics They continue with one of the most powerful rosters in the NBA with the base that was champion a few months ago: Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and company.
The James lineage comes into play
Another attraction of the new NBA season is seeing LeBron James, a living legend of the sport, sharing the court with his son Bronny with the Lakers.
Bronny James, who just turned 20, was drafted by the Lakers in the 2024 NBA draft. He was the 55th pick of the second round, after standing out with the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans at the collegiate level.
His father, LeBronnoted in previous seasons that he would not retire from the NBA until he fulfilled his dream of playing alongside Bronny. Everything is in place so that in the 2024-25 cycle that becomes a reality from day one, facing the Timberwolves.
On Sunday, October 6, LeBron and Bronny played an NBA game together for the first time. It was in one of the Lakers’ last preseason games against the Phoenix Suns.
“For a father, this means everything. For someone who didn’t have a father growing up, being able to have that influence on your child, being able to spend moments with him, work with him, is one of the best things a father can wish for,” LeBron reflected.
The Jameses are already part of NBA history and not only because of LeBron’s legacy of four titles and 20 calls to the All-Star Game, but because it had never been recorded that a father-son duo played together in a game.
There is a notable history of father and son who played in the NBA, even grandparents, but not in the same game. Some are Dell and Stephen Curry, Joe and Kobe Bryant, Mychal and Klay Thompson, Bill and Luke Walton, Arvydas and Domantas Sabonis, among others.
The Lakers last won the NBA Finals in 2020, during the pandemic bubble. In the 2024-25 cycle, with two James on the court, they will try to recover the trophy. This is the last year of LeBron’s contract, although he has a renewal option for the 2025-26 season and a clause not to leave the Los Angeles team.
Inauguration of the NBA 2024-25
Tuesday, October 22 (Central Mexico times)
- Celtics vs Knicks – 17:30hr
- Lakers vs Timberwolves – 20:00hr
