Thankful

While my team(s), the Nets and Bulls seem to not be off to the best of early season starts, I can be thankful for a few things, parity in the league and surprises to come this year.

Of course its not a surprise how competitive the league is, but the fact that in the East it looks like every team could end up .500 except the Cleveland Cavs. The 4 finalists in last years playoffs, Suns, Mavs, Heat and Pistons have subpar records, with only the Mavs seeming to be turning it on as of late. The Pistons are 1 game over .500, the Heat and Suns are struggling. My early pre-season prediction was a Mavs-Cavs finals, and it could still play out, but right now you also have to throw the good ol' Spurs and now the Jazz in the mix.

It's unknown who will win the East, you could believe the Heat will turn things up at in time for the playoffs like last year, but to count out Lebron this year, after he took the Pistons to the brink last season, is a mistake. The guy wants to win, badly, and after seeing his good friend D-Wade do it, that fuels his fire.

The MVP race will also be interesting, because several teams are excelling that weren't necessarily expected to, in the Lakers and the Jazz. Lamar Odom and Boozer, even Derron Williams all come into play. Lebron would also have to be mentioned (as my pick).

So be thankful this year that we have new heroes, in guys like Dwight Howard and Yao Ming, who can dominate the game like Shaq used to. Be thankful that this year the NBA is so even in terms of its play that we are in store for a lot of great games, and probably one of the coolest All Star spectaculars in recent history. Be thankful that we are witnessing the emergence of many great new-era stars in the league, in Lebron, D-Wade, Melo, CP3, and Emeka Okafor..We could be seeing some serious history in the making.. Happy Thanksgiving NBA fans!