Training camp and preseason are largely viewed as the precursor to a fresh year of basketball, but the new season truly starts on NBA Media Day. It’s an opportunity to bring players, coaches and staff together in an official fashion for the first time since the offseason reshaped each group from just months prior. It’s usually a joyous day for players and fans alike with plenty of fresh memes and juicy soundbites for NBA Twitter to salivate over.
It’s also a huge opportunity to clear the air over things that unfolded in the offseason, and this summer, there was a lot more off-court news than you’d expect. Between legal trouble, organizational shifts, harsh criticisms and massive player movement, NBA Media Day 2022 will offer a setting to clear the air and start fresh for many teams.
Keep an eye on these storylines, which might be awkward, but loom over the impending season.
NBA Media Day: Sarver will be front and center for the Phoenix Suns.
Besides a few tweets, there hasn’t yet been much of a chance for the players and staff of the Phoenix Suns to speak about the report on Robert Sarver and his decision to sell the dominant share in the organization. Although he’s far from a beloved figure, many of these players are sure to have established some level of rapport with the man who embedded himself into the team.
Sarver was present at games, practices, shootarounds and promotional events for the Suns. Maybe the team would’ve been better off if he was an absentee Managing Partner, but that wasn’t Sarver’s style. He liked to be seen and make his presence known. Therefore, every one of those players is going to have an opinion on him and the situation that unfolded.
So even while the Suns try to focus on earning the top seed in the Western Conference once again, Sarver will still be the center of attention for this organization — at least on NBA Media Day.
NBA Media Day: Expect every Boston Celtics player to be asked about Ime Udoka.
Part of me wonders if the Boston Celtics intentionally waited until now to finalize the season-long suspension of head coach Ime Udoka. This way, they can clear the air during NBA Media Day and shift their focus back on what’s really important: getting back to the NBA Finals. Nonetheless, players are sure to be asked about the coach’s absence and it’s certainly going to get stuffy in that room when most guys, presumably, struggle to respond.
And what are they supposed to say? There is no right answer — specifically when the intimate details of the situation are being kept behind closed doors. As it relates to his head coach’s debauchery, star forward Jayson Tatum has bigger fish to fry. Coming off tough Finals loss to the Bay Area’s dynasty, Tatum is almost guaranteed to be focused on earning his first ring and MVP trophy.
In fact, it won’t be surprising to see some players resort to the ‘Next Question’ tactic or a ‘That’s none of my business’ type of response.
But it’d also be bad journalism not to ask the team that just won the Eastern Conference about losing the head coach who helped them get there. So on all parts, it’s an awkward position. The journalists won’t want to ask about it and Celtics players won’t want to talk about it, but they have to face the situation head-on if they want any chance of moving past it.
NBA Media Day: Charlotte and its beat reporters navigate the Bridges situation.
It feels like it’s been a long time since former Charlotte Hornets star Miles Bridges was arrested on allegations of domestic violence and child abuse, but for the team itself, adjusting to life without Bridges begins now. This seems quite trivial in the wake of the real-life ramifications of his actions, but that’s been covered at length since the initial incident took place.
Now, the Hornets have to come to grips with the fact that their leading scorer won’t be on the team. He’s not injured, he wasn’t traded and no one is coming to take his place — Bridges is simply gone, and Charlotte has to completely recalibrate the way it operates right now and while building for the future. Navigating that is going to be difficult, which makes NBA Media Day an important test for both the team itself and the journalists who cover it.
How will reporters tackle these important questions while remaining sensitive to the issue? Has the team’s leadership prepared its coaches and players on how to discuss this problem? On one hand, it might be something that everyone wishes to avoid. But on the other, this team has to face the facts starting in training camp.
Basketball will never be more important than real life — even when the game is embedded into your life and career. With that said, Bridges’ absence is going to have a drastic impact on the team’s season, so this will be a true test of the Hornets’ beat reporters and their journalistic expertise.
NBA Media Day: Watch for Kevin Durant, Steve Nash to open up about tension.
Hey, remember when arguably the greatest scorer in basketball history demanded that he be traded unless his GM and coach are fired? That felt sort of unprecedented, and then swept under the rug when he decided to take it all back. We didn’t get to hear much about the first-hand perspective of those involved, so maybe it’ll come back up on NBA Media Day?
The Kevin Durant/Kyrie Irving trade drama was an absolute mess that dominated way too much time and energy early into the offseason, so it’s almost irritating to waste more oxygen on it. And yet through it all, it’s going to be hard for anyone who loves the league to resist hearing what Durant has to say about his relations with Steve Nash and Sean Marks. Likewise, Nash and Marks will have to present like it’s water under the bridge, even if that’s not how they truly feel.
Being asked about the trade demand is almost sure to bother Kevin Durant, who would rather speak about his decisions on his own terms. I respect that, but he’s also going to be in a room full of people who spent months dedicating countless hours to thinking about, writing about, speaking on and researching this trade demand.
My best guess? Durant gets annoyed by the conversation and tries to move on as fast as possible.
NBA Media Day: Russell Westbrook is still a Laker — brace for fireworks.
Basically from the moment that the Los Angles Lakers’ 2021-22 season came to a close, the talk of the town has been finding a new destination for Russell Westbrook. Once considered a yearly threat to win the MVP trophy, boasting an explosive playing style of the likes we’ve ever seen from a guard, Westbrook has grown into the black sheep of the NBA.
Once lauded as the hero of OKC, Westbrook’s rapid decline and horrid efficiency cloud a person who was, and still could be, a force in this league. It can safely be assumed that Westbrook will be asked about the rumors and how much he paid attention to them. He’ll also be asked questions about what he did during the offseason to prevent such mishaps from repeating themselves.
Although it’d be unusual for the team to trade its starting point guard right at the start of training camp, it’s certainly not unheard of, and if the right deal materializes, Westbrook will be shipped out faster than you can say ‘Crypto Dot Com Arena.’
There have been many times in the past when Westbrook become chippy when confronted by the media. While he’s not the type of player to be completely dismissive of reporters in all scenarios, Westbrook is going to let you know how he feels if you ask him a question that he doesn’t like. Given how much of a microscope he’s under — and rightfully so, coming off what was objectively his worst season since the early years — it’s safe to bet that fireworks could pop off when Russ steps up to the podium for NBA Media Day.
The first round of NBA Media Day is on Friday, Sept. 23 with most teams participating on the 26th.