Thoughts on 2026 NBA Season

Although the NBA season has just started, it seems like this is going to be a fun year. Each team seems to have at least one All-Star on it. The first 8 weeks of any NBA season is typically the best, this is before fatigue and injuries set in so you get to see rosters at their fullest. I’m not one on predictions to see who will reach the NBA Finals this year, but I do really like the Philadelphia 76ers. This is a true All-Star team with a great mix of exceptional talent in various seasons of their respective careers. Although the Cavs lost to them last night, I still believe Cleveland will excel in the East as well. Miami will be the other team that I believe will fare around the top, especially if GA has a return to form. In the West, the predictions are a little murkier. It is hard to fathom that OKC will not finish at the top again with Denver and Minnesota most likely falling behind them. Do not count out a Dallas club with a healthy roster though too, and they may be the sleeper to watch.

Overall, it seems like the most energy is going to be in the East, which is great for me, because those games occur in my time zone. I also like the streaming schedule this year, I have ESPN and Prime Video, so I can catch most games, instead of being locked out because I do not have cable. I do have a problem though with the actual broadcast, the commercial to action ratio is kind of out of whack. It’s getting a little hard to sit through a game now without losing attention as it is constantly shifting into commercials. I noticed this last night on the ESPN app, which made me sit through un-skippable and very long ads which frustrated me. You tend to forget what is going on in the game until it comes back on again. It might be better just to watch these games on demand going forward, and if you cannot do that, let the game start for 30 minutes so you can fast forward through some of the commercials. NBA probably needs to fix this issue. I get revenue maximization but do not let it deteriorate your product.