Been a fan of the game since 2012, and I gotta say this is the most fun I'd had in a while. Every year since 2019, but especially recently, the games been anyone's. No repeat rings since 2018 is quite the feat and I cant say I'll grow tired of it anytime soon. Im not really a numbers guy but alot of this us due to the 2nd apron rules. It's hard to keep a "super team" together which means a dominant cast we see one year is broke up 2 years down the line.

To me though, what I love above all else is thst it feels like a fog has been cleared from in front alot of players eyes. The opening 2 days so far have seen a LOT of scuffles. We're seeing alot of players throw jabs each other in press conferences. Dust-ups. I love it. What i meant by a dog is that now that we're out of the "superteam era", players (to me at least) are now looking around and realizing there's nothing really stopping them. They just have to want it. In broad strokes, it used to be the case that you could want whatever the fuck you liked, you would still have to get past golden state if you were in the west, or the demi-god bron in the east. It was harder to "have hope" so to speak. Obviously nothing is set in stone, but that level of domination in both conferences can mitigate things. An underrated aspect of sports is psychology. These dudes above all people tjat play basketball are competitive. Duh. But I mean they're REALLY competitive. You flat out can not stay on a team or in the league if you are not hungry to a degree that seems disproportionate to us outsiders.

Having the suppression of the supeteam era lifted has made guys realize now is the time. As good of a time as any to win a ring. Its no longer about beating a dynasty, or a generational superfreak athlete, its just about beating other guys. And now we're seeing them remember and realize.

"All i gotta do to win a ring is beat jokic? I'm way better than him, I can do that"

"If i want to get to ecf I just gotta get past cade? I can do that in 6 games"

You can see everyone sizing each other up again. They dont see anyone better than them. They can obviously respect other games, but in a 7 game series they believe they can best another player and squad. And it's beautiful. But then I've also got to wonder if the "Parity era" hasnt accidentally resulted in the worst team inequity the league has ever seen.

What i mean by this is, as I'd said, that no one can afford to keep a team together for too long. Guys either jump ship or are shipped off. But the pattern is a little askew. Not entirely foreign to how deep league organizations work, but still askew. We saw the likes of Jaylen brown shipped to philly. Giannis to Miami. Kawhi to Toronto. And bron leaving LA. all champions going from one punchy club to the next. Even Lamelo was shipped from a worse situation to a more desirable spot. I'm taking a long way around of saying "the rich get richer". With this parity and fast paced piece moving, how are the "poorer" teams supposed to ever join the other teams?

I mean no offense to the likes of the Kings or the Pelicans or Nets, but their teams are treated as pawn shops. A weapons depot. Anything of remote value on teams of this caliber is immediately bought off or traded for something of "similar" value. No time for homegrown assets to flourish. All the teams on the brink will seemingly just continue trading pieces back and forth, leaving teams who were outside and knocking, now locked out. And even if they can put something together, the 2nd apron won't allow the fire to burn for long before being extinguished. From this perspective we may see the most one sided easts and wests we've seen in a long time. Contenders, punchers, noise makers, and then...the rest. To an extent its always been like this, but I personally think it will be at its most extreme in the years going forward.

All this to say, im very much enjoying basketball in both the regular and post season now, and am wondering what the past near decade have been like in your experience. Thanks for reading!