Only four more shopping days ‘til the start of the NBA season. ...
For season-ticket holders, cable viewers and hard-core fans, the NBA opens in October.
As far as ABC is concerned, it starts Christmas, launching coverage with a rematch between the Warriors and Cavaliers, whose blowout Finals ratings last spring showed how far the NBA has come, and how fast.
You don’t have to go back very far to remember a far different Christmas, like the one in 2004 when the “marquee matchup” featured the fallen Lakers, en route to a 34-48 season against Miami in Shaquille O’Neal’s first game back after being traded.