New Season, Old Stars, By Gabriel Odunayo Obiti

The 2024/2025 NBA season is underway, and some familiar faces are dominating the headlines.

LeBron James, at 39 years old and in his 22nd season, has achieved something unprecedented in his Hall of Fame career: four consecutive triple-doubles. His LA Lakers have now won six straight games. That’s remarkable!

Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors sit atop the Western Conference, while the Cleveland Cavaliers hold the top spot in the East. It feels like a throwback, doesn’t it?

Meanwhile, Kevin Durant is averaging 27.6 points per game for the Phoenix Suns. The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder join the Warriors in the West’s top four seeds. James Harden, not to be outdone, just became the second-most prolific three-point shooter in league history.

And then there’s Russell Westbrook. This season, “Russ being Russ” hit another historic milestone: the only player in NBA history with 200 triple-doubles.

The new stars are shining too—Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum, Luka Dončić, Donovan Mitchell, Nikola Jokić, and more. But right now? It’s feeling very 2016. The old guard is proving they’re not done yet.

Yes, the league is brimming with talent. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker are all putting up stellar performances. But the players who defined an era are still commanding the spotlight—and doing so in style.

Despite this on-court greatness, the league faces challenges off the court. Commissioner Adam Silver attributes early-season viewership struggles to distractions like the World Series and a heated U.S. presidential election. But with ratings on ESPN down 28% year over year and overall viewership down 45% since 2012, the NBA’s decline in audience engagement runs deeper than one season’s distractions.

Even as legends like LeBron and Steph rewrite the record books, reversing the league’s shrinking audience might be their toughest challenge yet.