Though the games are still a few weeks away, the season's festivities kicked off in earnest on Monday as a majority of teams addressed the media for the first time. LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and pretty much every other notable new face in a new place spoke to reporters Monday, while franchise stalwarts elsewhere like Nikola Jokić addressed their own futures. So, what did we learn on media day?
Let's round up some of the most notable quotes and moments from Monday's press conferences: Nowadays, when a superstar reaches the summer before free agency, he is almost always either re-signed or traded. Nikola Jokić, eligible for free agency through a player option next summer, is the exception, and after a disappointing first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, speculation about Jokić's future has started to build this offseason. Jokić has, at all turns, indicated a commitment to Denver, but until he actually puts pen to paper, the rumor mill won't let up.
Jokić was as clear about his future on Monday as he's ever been. "I'm gonna sign next year," Jokić said, before joking, "if they want me." Now, Jokić's word isn't technically binding here (with Kyrie Irving being the most notable example of a player who has made such a statement before ultimately leaving), but there were real financial reasons for Jokić to be patient. By waiting an extra year, Jokić could tack one more year onto the eventual contract he signs with the Nuggets, one that should pay him more than $70 million per year over a five-year span.
No commitment is ironclad. But for now, Jokić has done everything short of actually signing a contract to signal that he plans to remain with the Nuggets for the foreseeable future. There is no perhaps no bigger story in the NBA this season the budding superteam in Philadelphia.
The 76ers brought in LeBron James and Jaylen Brown to join Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe this season, and the immediate question all of that talent has created has been how they plan to share the ball. Combined, the five of them have a career usage rate of 134%. When asked who the alpha on the team would be, Brown responded, simply, "next question." At his introductory press conference in August, Brown rejected the premise of an alpha altogether.
"It doesn't have to be anybody's team," he said at the time. The key, he said, will be "respect and work." James, fortunately, seems amenable to whatever the team needs. "Whatever they need me to do.
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