The most anticipated arrival to the NBA.

First I need to mention that the NBA gets little to no coverage here in my area (Ottawa). The lead story on the sports page of NBA opening night wasn't about Vince Carter and the Raptors or any of the issues mentioned above. Instead the top sports story focused on the new glass that was installed for the Ottawa Senators at the Corel Centre. To put that in perspective an inanimate object gets better coverage than the NBA. To hockey fans in Canada wondering why the NHL lacks popularity in the States, look at the coverage the NBA gets in Canada and you'll get an idea for the mention that the NHL receives down there.

With their offseason moves, the Dallas Mavericks were the most captivating team for me to follow entering the year. The team plays little to no defense, they don't have an established big rebounding body down low and yet, to address their needs, they deal Raef Lafrentz to the Celtics for Antoine Walker, the single most undisciplined shot taker in the league. Then they also pick up Antwan Jamison from the Golden State Warriors. So entering this year their starting lineup looks like Walker, Jamison, Dirk Nowitski, Steve Nash and Michael Finley. What, Reggie Miller wasn't available? Dirk, the only big body in the lineup prefers to play on the perimeter, so that leaves Walker and Jamison to be counted on for rebounds. I guess it's a philosophy of: We can't get a legitimate big man so let's get as many shooters as possible and hope for the best. That philosophy is like buying a car with no brakes and counting on tons of inclines to slow you down.

	Jersey sales will soar like 'Melo's game.

LeBron James. Simply mentioning his name draws discussion. What makes the NBA such a marketable league is the constant emergence of young superstars, perhaps none bigger than the arrival of the 2 year hype machine known as LeBron. Judging by his early performance he'll fit seamlessly into superstardom. He has it all; a triple double threat, unselfishness, confidence, respect for his opponents and a calm demeanor and of course an endorsement smile that will carry him to Tiger Woods/Michael Jordan type success. I also think Carmelo Anthony will post a solid season. He won't quite have the individual impact of Lebron because he's surrounded by a better cast but one area where 'Melo will have an advantage over LeBron is in jersey popularity. LeBron's jersey has already over-saturated the market making 'Melo's redesigned Denver Nuggets powder blue jersey will be the jersey to be seen in. Those San Diego Chargers powder blue throwbacks from last year were incredibly popular NFL sellers. So you can just imagine what 'Melo's jersey will rake in.

Centers in the NBA have the same shelf life as cans of Spam. How else do you explain that Dikembe Mutombo has a job with the N.Y. Knicks and Arvydas Sabonis is being heavily pursued to come out of retirement for the second time? Basically if you are tall then you're guaranteed a lucrative contract. Gheorge Muresan, Manute Bol, and Shawn Bradley, the list of examples continues to grow. Yao Ming's dominant arrival only preserves the plight of the seven-footer. When it comes to centers, GM's are like De Beers; constantly searching for diamonds.

Since the NBA is driven heavily by the success of marketing it only makes sense to jump on the reality show bandwagon and turn the NBA's biggest joke into a moneymaking reality series. To make this happen the NBA needs to relocate the Portland Jail Blazers to Las Vegas. It's a Carmen Electra-Dennis Rodman marriage waiting to happen. Just picture it: viewers get to watch Damon Stoudamire's adventures at McCarron Airport and Maurice Cheeks attempt to corral his players away from the casinos for a practice. The casinos could even run odds on things like the first arrest, first team fight, and an over/under on the 1st marijuana possession.

	Kobe & Nutella. Does anyone see a connection?

If the attempt was to divert attention away from the trial then mission accomplished. "It doesn't matter whose team it I," Bryant said. "But this is his team, so it's time for him to act like it. That means no more coming into camp fat and out of shape, when your team is relying on your leadership on and off the court." Kobe and Shaq's media war added even more attention to a team that picked up Gary Payton and Karl Malone in the offseason. With the rape allegations and the feud with Shaq, Kobe's good guy image is in the distant past. I mean his off-court actions have already cost him his Nutella sponsorship deal. You know Nutella, the chocolate hazelnut spread. How did that sponsorship deal ever come about? Did anyone ever see any Nutella/Kobe ads?

Poor Eastern Conference. The East is weaker than a milk and sugar-filled cup of coffee. Let's just say that the short lived silver, shinny Dallas Mavericks uniforms will still hold a longer existence than the Eastern Conference will have in the NBA finals.

The Charlotte Bobcats start play next year. Bobcats, really? That's the choice? One of the other options was "Flight". That would have made sense with the whole Wright Brothers first flight and of course the association with the style of the NBA. The Bobcats choice was reportedly made to reflect the name of the new owner Robert (Bob) Johnson who apparently is a modest man. Just imagine if new Senators owner Eugene Melnyk would have taken the same approach when he purchased the club. Judging by the performance of his now struggling pharmaceutical company, Biovail the team could have followed the trend of using numbers in the team name like the 49ers, 76ers and 67's and named themselves the 11's as in Chapter 11.

Would anyone really care if the NBA got rid of the Memphis/Vancouver Grizzlies franchise? It's been a few years since the city of Vancouver lost the franchise and yet the loss was barley felt or acknowledged. The Memphis fans are hardly flocking to watch the team. Having the Grizzlies leave would be like losing a sock for the NBA.

I'll end with some predictions: I'll take Sacramento to beat Detroit in the finals. I just think that there are too many distractions with the Lakers to carry them to another championship. My acne team of the season is the Denver Nuggets. They've added 'Melo and Andre Miller to go along with Nene in the starting lineup and they've added two strong bench players with the additions of Jon Barry and Earl Boykins. I'm not saying that they'll beat the Kings, Spurs or Lakers; simply that they'll be much better and possibly make a run at the 8th spot.