2006-2007 NBA Schedule Released

Amidst all the hype of the opening of NFL training camps, the NBA quietly released their schedule for the upcoming 2006-07 season. The season begins with a TNT doubleheader on Halloween night as the rising Chicago Bulls visit the Miami Heat, who will have their ring ceremony prior to the game, followed by the Phoenix Suns at the Los Angeles Lakers in a rematch of one of the greatest playoff series of all time. The NBA is establishing tradition with Kobe vs Shaq for Christmas and Martin Luther King Jr. Days. While Los Angeles and Miami are large markets and the Kobe-Shaq rivalry, no matter how old it may be, will always attract an enormous holiday audience, I would have gone with a Texas sized showdown in Dallas-San Antonio and Cleveland-Miami doubleheader. If I were the NBA, ABC, or whoever has the final call on the schedule making, I would throw the two biggest stars in all of sports on the same court in Dwyane Wade and Lebron James (Can you say "Team USA?"). And anyone who truly knows basketball knows that the Mavericks and Spurs were the two best teams throughout the entire season last year. That being said, the NBA always does a great job scheduling, which is a large part of why basketball is the most marketable sport.

The following should be of no surprise as the NBA is all about its stars, so fans get to see LeBron, D-Wade, and Kobe more than anyone else:

MOST NATIONAL TV APPEARANCES

ESPN

10 -- Cleveland Cavaliers

10 -- Dallas Mavericks

10 -- Detroit Pistons

10 -- Los Angeles Lakers

10 -- Miami Heat

10 -- Phoenix Suns

TNT

9 -- Chicago Bulls

9 -- Cleveland Cavaliers