TODAY, September 25 (PH time), is the first allowable date for veteran NBA players to report to their teams (no earlier than 11 a.m. local time).
The following day (Sept. 26) is the start of training camp for all other NBA teams outside of Dallas and Philadelphia, which opened last September 22 as both are scheduled to play two preseason games against each other in China — Shanghai on October 5 and Shenzhen on October 8.
Teams are set to play no more than five preseason games each. The preseason games conclude on October 12 (Oct. 13, PH time).
The 2018-19 NBA regular season will unwrap on October 16 (Oct. 17, PH time) with a pair of games — Philadelphia at Boston and Oklahoma City at Golden State.
On that day, the back-to-back NBA titlist Warriors also will receive their championship rings in a pre-game ceremony at the boisterous Oracle Arena.
The forthcoming season’s opening playdate is the league’s earliest since the 1980-81 campaign began on October 10.
A year ago, the NBA’s 1,230-game regular wars opened on October 17.
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For the sixth consecutive year, newly-minted Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James ranked No. 1 in Sports Illustrated’s list of the top 100 NBA players for the 2018-19 season.
Also making it to the top 10 were 2-Kevin Durant (Golden State), 3-Stephen Curry (Golden State), 4-James Harden (Houston), 5-Anthony Davis (New Orleans), 6-Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee), 7-Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City), 8-Chris Paul (Houston), 9-Joel Embiid (Philadelphia), and 10-Jimmy Butler (Minnesota).
Can you believe this …. LA Lakers playmaker Lonzo Ball, with just one injury-plagued season under his belt, made it to Sports Illustrated’s annual list of the NBA’s top 100 players for the 2018-19 season at No. 100?
Can you believe this …. Dallas Mavericks frontliner Dirk Nowitzki, who is headed for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is ranked only No. 96?
The 7-foot, 40-year-old German shepherd is set to eclipse Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers) for the NBA record for most consecutive seasons with one team in a career once he makes his debut with the Mavs in the 2018-19 regular wars for a 21st straight year with the Texas franchise.
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LeBron James and the revitalized Los Angeles Lakers will play an NBA-high 31 games (out of 82) on national television during the 2018-19 regular wars.
The back-to-back league champion Golden State Warriors and the defending regular-season kingpin Houston Rockets, who slugged it out in a maximum seven games during the Western conference final playoffs last May, have 28 nationally-televised games each.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers will all appear on national TV 27 times.
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