This past NBA season was exciting. Lots of stuff happened. This article will recap the significant events that happened in chronological order.The Washington Wizards chose John Wall with the first pick in the draft. He was instantly considered to be the front-runner for Rookie of the Year.
Before the season started, many players were free agents and had to decide what teams to sign with. LeBron James made his long-awaited decision and decided to take his talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Amar'e Stoudemire signed with the Knicks and Carlos Boozer joined the Bulls. Players who stayed with their teams included Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki, and Rudy Gay. Meanwhile, Allen Iverson didn't get any contract offers from any NBA teams and ended up playing in Turkey.
Though some expected the Heat to break the regular season record for games won, they lost their first regular season game and had a 9-8 record later in the season.
Jerry Sloan retired midway through the season and ended his 22-year tenure as head coach of the Utah Jazz.
During the All-Star Weekend, Blake Griffin won the Dunk Contest and James Jones won the 3-Point Shootout. The West beat the East in the All-Star Game and Kobe Bryant won MVP.
Two major trades occurred before the trade deadline. Deron Williams was traded to the Nets and Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Knicks.
At the end of the regular season, the Chicago Bulls finished with the best record in the league and Derrick Rose won the MVP award. The San Antonio Spurs ended up finishing with the best record in the West and Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers was named Rookie of the Year.
In the 2011 NBA Playoffs, the Memphis Grizzlies upset the Spurs and won their first ever playoff series as a franchise, while being seeded 8th in the West. Meanwhile, the Knicks got swept by the Celtics.
In the Semifinals, the Mavs swept the Lakers and the Thunder beat the Grizzlies in the West. In the East, the Bulls beat the Hawks and the Heat beat the Celtics.
During the Conference Finals, both series ended in 5 games. The Mavs and the Heat advanced to the Finals while the Thunder and the Bulls ended up losing.
The Finals proved to be exciting. Some people wanted Dirk to get a ring while others rooted for LeBron and the Heat. Each game seemed to go down to the wire. Although the Heat won Game 1, the Mavericks came out on top. I correctly predicted in my Finals preview that the Mavs would win in 6 games and Dirk was named Finals MVP.
What's next? The NBA might go into a lockout. Let's hope that next season (if there is one) is just as enjoyable as last season was.
Have any thoughts on this past NBA season or the possible lockout? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.
No comments:
Post a Comment