New season in NBA set to start on Tuesday

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - The 2022-23 NBA regular season will begin with two games on Tuesday, as the Philadelphia 76ers will visit the Boston Celtics and the defending champions Golden State Warriors will host the Los Angeles Lakers on the opening night.

It has been four months since Stephen Curry-led Warriors won the 2022 NBA title, defeating the Celtics 4-2 in the finals series.

Before the Lakers game at San Francisco's Chase Center, the Warriors players will have their 2022 NBA championship rings each.

Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala will get their fourth ring with the Warriors.

The regular season will be played through to April 9, 2023, and it will be followed by the 2023 NBA Playoffs that will start on April 15.

The NBA finals that will decide the 2023 champions will be in early June.

As part of the NBA Global Games, there will be two regular season matchups outside the US and Canada.

In the previous seasons, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NBA to discontinue its international regular season games temporarily, but the NBA Global Games returned to the 2022 schedule.

The Miami Heat vs. San Antonio Spurs game will be held in Mexico City on Dec. 17, and the Chicago Bulls vs. Detroit Pistons match will be played in Paris on Jan. 19.

- Celtics, Lakers have most titles

With 17 wins each, the Celtics and the Lakers are the teams that have the most NBA titles in history.

The Celtics last claimed the NBA title in 2008.

Meanwhile, the Lakers last won it in 2020.

- 2023 NBA All-Star in Utah

The 2023 NBA All-Star weekend will be held in Utah's Salt Lake City on Feb. 17-19.

The game will be hosted by the Utah Jazz's 18,300-seat home court, the Vivint Arena.

There will be an All-Star break on Feb. 17-22.

- NBA retires legend Russell's no. 6 jersey across league

Eleven-time NBA champion Bill Russell's no. 6 jersey was retired throughout the league as he was the first player to have his number retired league-wide.

So no players can select this number on their jerseys as of the 2022-23 season.

However, those who currently wear no. 6 jerseys before the new season, such as Lakers' star LeBron James, were said to be "grandfathered."

In addition, all NBA players will wear a commemorative no. 6 patch on their jerseys to honor the Celtics' legendary player and head coach.

Russell, who was a Celtics center in 1956-1969 and later the NBA's first Black head coach, died on July 31.

He was 88.

- LeBron set for his 20th NBA season

The Lakers' US forward James is entering his 20th season in the NBA on Tuesday.

James, 37, played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003–2010 and 2014–2018.

He played for the Miami Heat from 2010 to 2014.

The experienced forward has been a Lakers regular since 2018.

James is a four-time NBA champion. He secured back-to-back titles with the Heat in 2012 and 2013.

The 18-time NBA All-Star last won the NBA with the Lakers in 2020, the viral year.

James scored 37,062 points to be second in the NBA's all-time scorers list, and eyes the record that is still held by former player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The Lakers player should score 1,326 points in the regular season to lead the all-time scorers list.

Abdul-Jabbar, 75, scored 38,387 points during his NBA career.

- Banchero vs. Cunningham on Wednesday

The Orlando Magic will face the Detroit Pistons in an away game on Wednesday, as the match will see a contest between the Magic's Paolo Banchero and the Pistons' Cade Cunningham.

An Italian-American, Banchero, 19, was selected by the Magic with the no. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Banchero played with 17.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists for the Duke.

Pistons guard Cunningham, 21, was the top pick of the 2021 draft.

- Important signings of 2022

The Utah Jazz's All-Star pair Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert left the Western Conference franchise in 2022 summer.

In September, the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired three-time All-Star Mitchell from the Jazz.

During his basketball career, the US guard, 26, averaged 23.9 points, 4.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 345 games.

Mitchell's former teammate, Gobert, joined the Minnesota Timberwolves in July.

The French center played with 12.4 points and 11.7 rebounds in 611 games for the Utah.

Gobert, 30, was picked as the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

So the Timberwolves cemented their defense as they are currently keeping All-Star power forward-center Karl-Anthony Towns.

In June, the San Antonio Spurs traded 26-year-old guard Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks.

Last season Murray was named NBA All-Star with his performance.

In the 2021-22 season, the US guard played 68 games to average 21.1 points, 9.2 assists, and 8.3 rebounds for the Spurs.