By Barry Hirshfeld
The encapsulating progression of the 2021-2022 NBA season globally entertains a multitude of basketball fans. The plethora of exciting events occurring this season, ranging from unexpected top-seeded teams to veteran trades and signings, make its development especially surprising and enjoyable. Nearing the playoffs, this season possesses the potential to possess the most competitive postseason of all time.
Here is a look into the top championship contenders, rising underdog teams, and busts that I believe will characterize the 2022 NBA postseason:
- Bulls: championship contenders
- Possessing multiple MVP nominees and all stars: Demar Derozan, Zach Lavine, and Nikola Vucevic… along with notable role players such as Lonzo Ball, Colby White and Alex Caruso the Bulls definitely possess winning talent. Will their talent however make up for their lack of playoff experience and possible chemistry issues?
- Suns: championship contenders
- The Suns returned from an upset in the 2020-2021 NBA finals with an almost identical team. Led by generational talent Chris Paul and scoring leader Devin Booker, they lead the Western conference, and are the current playoff favorites.
- Warriors: busts
- An electrical start to the season, the Warriors, until recently, possessed the first seed in the West. Led by Steph Curry, who started the season playing at an mvp-caliber, has greatly slowed down. The return of Klay Thompson does not display any sign of the Warriors championship contention, an early season favorite, they are a bust.
- Jazz: championship contenders
- Last year the Jazz were a favorite and surprisingly lost to a severely injured Clippers team in the second round. Scoring phenom Donovan Mitchell and dpoy Rudy Gobert return to the top of the Western conference once again with hopes of contending for the finals.
- Grizzlies: underdog team
- The return of Jaren Jackson Jr. elevated the Grizzlies to success at a rate that basketball fans hoped Klay Thompson would to the Warriors. The mvp-caliber season Ja Morant has places this team at the top of the stacked Western conference, and if he can keep this up in the playoffs, we may get a glimpse of Ja in the finals.
- Lakers: busts
- Constantly dealing with injuries surrounding their all-NBA talents: Lebron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook plague the team and their chances at success this season. If the ninth-seeded Lakers however win the play-in tournament, they will play against a top-seeded team in the playoffs, and with a lack of chemistry, they are bound to bust
A multitude of surprising events surround this super-team loaded season, and the top championship contenders, rising underdog teams, and busts that characterize the 2022 NBA regular season will hopefully amount to their expectations and make this Western-dominated postseason legendary.