Welcome to the VERY FIRST State of the Sport, where we will be taking a hard look at what is REALLY going on in various sports over the summer with a subject matter expert.

Today, Friend of the Show, Jalen Sandvick, will be dissecting the current State of the NBA.

Two weeks ago, we witnessed the crowing of a new NBA Champion in the Oklahoma City Thunder, their first championship in franchise history. It was the seventh champion the league has crowned in as many seasons.

The NBA used to be the sport of stars, but it is slowly turning into the sport of depth and small markets, as the Thunder battled a Pacer team in the final nobody predicted to compete with them in the series, let alone take the Thunder to seven teams.

The second apron under the NBA salary cap has made it harder to build a dynasty. Along with that, the NBA is in a little bit of a transition period, with stars like SGA, Tyrese Haliburton, Nikola Jokic, Anthony Edwards and others taking the mantle from LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.

Speaking of Durant, he is on the move to Houston, Cooper Flagg is in Dallas, the Eastern Conference is in limbo due to various injuries. This offseason is shaping up to be a wild one.

And now ladies and gentleman, let me introduce to you, the man who is going to help the audience of Brandon’s World understand the State of the NBA, he is the man who has participated in many Brandon’s World segments, including Fair or Foul and Buy, Sell or Hold. He is an NBA aficionado. Jalen Sandvick.

‍