Four teams kick off the NBA season today, opening what is likely to be the most international campaign in the league’s nearly 80-year history.
The five most likely winners of the Most Valuable Player award, based on betting odds, are all from outside the US; the two teams seen as the championship favourites — the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets — are helmed by a Canadian guard and a Serbian center, respectively.
This season also marks the beginning of the NBA’s lucrative new broadcast deal, which for the first time includes a streaming giant, Amazon Prime, in part to expand the league’s global reach, while games are being played as far afield as the UAE and Australia.
