NBA looks poised for a season unlike any it has ever had

The story lines are as long as a Stephen Curry three-pointer.

With a superteam in the West, a megastar in the Midwest, superstars all around the league, its global popularity at an all-time high, more revenue than ever and labour peace looming, this season has the potential to be like no other the league has ever had. Yes, rivalling the Celtics’ run in the 1960s, possibly topping Magic-Bird rivalry of the ’80s and Michael Jordan’s run of the ’90s.

LeBron James is holding the title in Cleveland and Kevin Durant has settled in Golden State, so the NBA final could be headed for the same destination again next June. But what a journey it should be getting there.

“I think there is a somewhat an inevitability of this Cleveland-Warriors meeting in the finals again, which can sometimes make you overlook how enjoyable the regular season can be if you love basketball,” ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy said. “So I think they’ll meet in the finals again, but that doesn’t make the regular season uninteresting to me.”

A summer spending spree created new contenders and enticing questions for a global audience that will begin being answered today when the new season opens in the places the last one ended. The record-setting Warriors will be must-see TV again with Durant, the former scoring champ and league MVP, sharing shots with Curry, the current scoring champ and MVP.

James is on a Jordan-like run, looking for a seventh straight trip to the NBA final and hoping to build a dynasty where there was once just despair.

There’s Dwyane Wade in Chicago and Dwight Howard in Atlanta after both went home.

Derrick Rose left home, traded from the Bulls to the New York Knicks.

Former commissioner David Stern used to say the NBA was in its golden age. Under Adam Silver, it may be even shinier.

“There are a lot of charged-up players in this league,” Silver said. “There are a lot of teams, young teams in the development cycle, where I think they would even say realistically they’re unlikely to win the championship this season, but they’re on the road to winning a championship.”