With seven of the eight most recent NBA Most Valuable Player award winners scheduled to visit the Crescent City by mid-December, the early portion of New Orleans’ 41-game home schedule is filled with marquee opponents. Last season’s NBA Finals teams both come to Louisiana in December, while the No. 1 seeds from each conference will be in the Smoothie King Center for Opening Night and in early January.
Narrowing down the home slate to its most attractive contests has perhaps never been more difficult, with star power spread across the league and recent NBA drafts providing an influx of high-impact talent, but Pelicans.