20 reasons to be stoked about NBA restart

5. Fully rested LeBron James 

Not that regular-season LeBron is a slouch by any means, but Playoff LeBron takes it to another level. His defensive effort goes up, he brings out his signature chasedown blocks, and he’s 3-6 percent better than Regular LeBron. And that’s true even after an 82-game regular season grind, not to mention 20 or so playoff games. But when the season restarts, King James will have played just 61 games in the past 16 months, his batteries will be fully charged and he’s probably memorized every offensive play.

6. Seeing who’s most out of shape 

There were some obvious choices for the player who would be most out of shape returning from a four-month layoff. New Orleans' Zion Williamson wasn’t exactly trim when his season started late. Denver's Nikola Jokic used to be built like an agile refrigerator, but it looks like he’s slimmed down to mini-fridge size during the break. But it looks like college-age Luka Doncic of the Mavericks gained the Freshman 15 over quarantine, which could lead to some tight-fitting jerseys and in-game exhaustion. There’s not much time to get in peak physical condition, but all the out-of-shape players will make the league relatable to their fans, who’ve been stuck in their houses for months, hoarding snacks and doing half-hearted exercise classes over the internet.

7. Jeff Van Gundy’s brand-new grievances

 Van Gundy was a successful NBA coach turned mildly successful color analyst turned the NBA’s version of Andy Rooney. Every telecast features gradually less game analysis and gradually more of JVG’s rants. Why does anyone care about the Kardashians? Twitter is dumb! Car washes are too expensive! But now he’s going to be stuck in Orlando for three months, and we fully expect him to turn those rants onto Disney World. If Goofy and Pluto are both dogs, how come Goofy is the only one who can talk? Dumbo the elephant is way too out of shape to fly! And why is there an Abominable Snowman on the Matterhorn ride when Yeti lives in the Himalayas? 

8. Damian Lillard playing, and not rapping

Look, it’s great that Lillard has interests outside of his sport, but he’s truly great at basketball, hitting clutch buzzer-beaters in the playoffs reminiscent of Michael Jordan. But when it comes to music, he’s not even in the same league as Montell Jordan, as evidenced by his underwhelming All-Star Weekend performance and his sporadic rap battles with other NBA figures. It’ll be great if Lillard and the Blazers make the play-in tournament, since it will keep him out of the recording studio for a few more weeks.

9. The fully healthy Clippers

The Clippers brought in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George last summer and then saw them play together in only half of the Clippers 64 games. George had offseason shoulder surgeries, then injured his hamstring, and Leonard missed one out of five games via load management. But PG-13 is now fully recovered, and Kawhi is well-suited to the quarantine bubble, since he’s basically a robot in sleep mode when he’s not on the court. At full strength, the two should be a terrifying and versatile defensive duo, although the one duo they can’t match up with is LeBron and Anthony Davis.

10. The Raptors defending their title

Despite losing Kawhi and suffering injuries up and down their roster, the Raptors actually have a better winning percentage this season than last. Pascal Siakam is an All-Star, OG Anunoby is a defensive stopper, Serge Ibaka has a career-high in points and the Raps are second in defensive rating. They already play harder than any team in the league, but in case they need motivation beyond the chance to repeat as champs, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Fred VanVleet are all playing for new contracts.

11. Play-in madness

The end of the season is usually the slowest time for the NBA, simply because there’s not a lot to play for. Most teams have either qualified for playoffs or thrown in the towel, so jostling for seeding isn’t as important as keeping players healthy. But now, with the eight seed subject to a play-in, the eight to 12 teams in the West have eight do-or-die regular-season games. It was always going to be a shame that only one of the Pelicans, Spurs, Blazers, Kings, or Grizzlies would make the playoffs, but now, they’re all effectively in a mini-playoffs. Which also means…

12. At least eight more games of Zion

It’s rare that a highly touted prospect lives up to the hype and rarer still when he does so immediately. But that’s what happened in the fourth quarter of Zion Williamson’s first game back. He’s simply unlike anyone else in the league: an explosive and powerful low-post scorer who’s impossibly strong for a teenager (he turns 20 on July 6). Nineteen games of Zion was simply not enough, and regardless of whether New Orleans can get it together and make the playoffs, every Zion game is appointment viewing.

13. It’s the most wide-open playoffs in a decade

The last decade was dominated by superteams. The playoffs are always exciting, but there was an inevitability to the Warriors marching through the West, or whichever of LeBron’s teams of All-Stars was dominating the East. It’s not that there aren’t still superteams scattered throughout the league, but there’s enough of them that the results are unpredictable. You could make a strong championship case for either Los Angeles team, the Bucks or the Raptors, and the Celtics, Heat, Nuggets or Rockets could all pull upsets. The Sixers could beat anyone in a short series, the Mavericks can put up points on anyone and even the Pacers are loaded with talent. Plus, there’s no real home-court advantage, which is a huge benefit to lower seeds.

14. The Sixers vs. everyone, including themselves

Philadelphia has been one of the more disappointing teams in the league, with Al Horford not fitting in alongside Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris delivering less than max-contract-level production and Ben Simmons and Embiid struggling with nagging injuries. No one meshed, and no one seemed happy. Still, the overall talent level is undeniable. While the offense might well be stagnant, Philly has the height, length and smarts to be a lockdown defensive team. And their inconsistency might work in their favor: The Sixers are either great, or terrible, so they just have to string together four great games out of seven to advance.

15. Victor Oladipo is back

In a season full of injured superstars, it’s a relief to have one of them returning. Indiana's Oladipo is apparently back to 100 percent, after coming back not completely healthy or in shape. That’s not a knock — he missed a whole year! But when he’s feeling good, Oladipo is a basket-attacking machine, an All-Star talent who drives Indiana’s offense. And with Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabnis stepping up in his absence, the Pacers don’t have to rely on Oladipo, but he’s a gigantic boost to their mediocre offense.

16. Chris Paul and Danilo Gallinari leading the Thunder – and auditioning for their next teams

Oklahoma City is the biggest surprise team in the league (though some people thought they could make the playoffs), after dealing three of their starters in the offseason. OKC is currently fifth in the West, going 34-16 after a rough 5-10 start. Still, with Gallinari an unrestricted free agent this summer and Paul on an expensive deal, it’s possible they’ll both be playing elsewhere next season. If there were scouts allowed in the bubble, they’d be interested in watching these Thunder stars.

17. Jayson Tatum could become a superstar 

The Celtics’ young star,Tatum, made a quantum improvement this season. He’s been a steadily improving defender and extremely good at knocking away passes, but he thrived this season as Boston’s primary offensive weapon. Tatum started taking a ton of threes — 7.1 per game, which he hit at nearly a 40 percent clip. He’s already dueled LeBron in 2018, so he’s comfortable with the pressure, and his combination of shot-making and “Mamba Mentality” is exactly what could make him a huge star if Boston makes a deep playoff run.

18. Lukamania hits Florida

For a guy who easily won Rookie of the Year last season and started the All-Star Game in February, Luka Doncic still hasn’t totally broken through to the public. Some of that is exposure: The Mavericks haven’t been on national TV as much as some other teams, mainly because they weren’t that good last season. But now he’ll have a huge national audience for his heroics, as long as he’s not too sluggish to hit his stepbacks, and he could quickly surpass Goran Dragic as the greatest Slovenian postseason scorer in history.

19. The NBA Finals finally return to Orlando

Sure, the first two NBA Finals in Orlando have been defined by Magic guards being unable to hit wide-open shots, whether it was Courtney Lee on an alley-oop or Nick Anderson at the free throw line. But even if the Magic get swept by the Bucks in Round 1 or somehow blow the play-in series to Washington, the fans can take comfort that the 2020 NBA champion will be playing their home games in Orlando! For a few months at least. 

20. It’s real basketball

We've been so starved for sports content since March that we’ll embrace anything resembling sports. Korean baseball with stuffed animals in the crowd? Yes. Tedious games of H-O-R-S-E shot on iPhone cameras? Absolutely. Russian ping-pong leagues? People are not only watching, but they’re also betting heavily. In these chaotic times when government institutions are crumbling and human physical contact is a thing of the past, it will be tremendous to watch the best athletes in the world playing the best sport in the world. Even if the stands are full of stuffed animals.