It’s been a long off-season for NBA fans, but the end is finally in sight with the release of the 2022-23 schedule. The regular season will begin on 18 October as the Golden State Warriors look to defend their hard-won title.
The Warriors finished 3rd in the Western Conference and missed out on the Pacific Division title to the Phoenix Suns. However, led once again by their irrepressible, talismanic point guard Steph Curry, they triumphed in the Playoffs with a 4-2 series win over the Boston Celtics in June’s NBA Finals. The Championship was the 7th in their history and their 4th in the last 8 seasons. Golden State’s efforts to defend their title in this campaign will be aided by new arrival Donte DiVincenzo, who was part of the Milwaukee Bucks 2021 Championship team.
Naturally, the Warriors won’t be the only franchise gunning for glory. Having missed out in the Finals – in what was their first appearance since 2010 – the Celtics will be desperate to get back there again. Boston are the joint-most successful team in NBA history with 17 titles, but their last came in 2008, so by their own impressive standards it’s been an interminable wait.
The team who jointly hold that record with them, the Los Angeles Lakers, will be similarly keen to add to their trophy cabinet. The Lakers won the Championship in 2020, but they’ve struggled to sustain that success in the 2 seasons that have followed. In 2021, they exited the Playoffs in the first round, while last season they failed to qualify entirely – just the 2nd time since 2006 that LeBron James has not appeared in the post-season competition.
In 2022-23, the regular season will come to an end on 9 April, after which will come the Play-In Tournament from 11-14 April. The Playoffs will begin the following day on 15 April and run through May before culminating in the Finals once again in June.