The Season is (Almost) Here! Your Guide to Media Day Throughout the League

The NBA season is upon us, and with teams set to open training camp throughout the league, that means media day is here! Because NBA players are probably funnier and more engaging than athletes in any other major sport, NBA media days are always pretty entertaining. Certainly better than preseason basketball, anyway.

So today's activity across the league figures to generate plenty of material worth your time. Luckily, we'll have a number of bloggers on location to give us updates, analysis, and hopefully a slew of goofy photos. Stay tuned throughout the day and week to see what our bloggers come up with.

To whet your appetite, here's some of what the guys at Indy Cornrows and Blog-a-Bull came up with for their media days, which happened last week.

From Indy:

I suddenly felt like T.J. Ford after taking a charge from Shaq. One of the thousands of thoughts that flashed through my mind while absorbing the hit was, I hope they can reschedule the media event so I don't miss it. Once the car came to a stop and reality kicked in, the wrinkled hood obstructing my view and the throbbing pain in my neck brought about the realization that the media day show would be going on without me this year.

Then after stepping out of the car to get my bearings and assess the damage, the clouds opened up and began pouring rain. Within two minutes, a day that began full of renewed hope and excitement quickly turned into a painful, soggy, insurance-infested disaster. Fortunately, it appears all of the soreness is muscular which I'll be able to treat with ibuprofen and Miller Lite. So spare your concern for someone who really needs it.

I refuse to believe my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day was an omen for a painful Pacers season. It was just a bad day for me. Plus, after checking out all of the great coverage from the Fieldhouse, there remains plenty to be excited about as the Pacers begin practice tomorrow morning. Also, a huge "thank you" to Sean for pinch hitting on the fly to make sure there was some coverage around here today. He da' man!

It continues from there, and they've got a few great interviews with All-Star Danny Granger, Head Coach Jim O'Brien, and the W.A.S.P. G.O.A.T., Mike Dunleavy, Jr. Click over to check 'em out.

As for the Chicago Bulls, SBN was on the scene there, as well, and Blog-a-Bull had this say:

The Bulls certainly have an organizational message going into training camp, and it's improving the defense. Coach VDN is preaching it in practice, and Mike McGraw at the Herald called it the 'overall goal of the team' this season.

It's a nice way (and I mean it) to spin the Ben Gordon departure. I always thought Gordon's defensive deficiencies were overblown, but there's no doubt that replacing all of his minutes with Hinrich, Salmons, and Deng is an upgrade on that end (as is a full season of Brad Miller over Nocioni/Gooden), and at 18th in defensive efficiency last season there's plenty of room for improvement. There's a chance they're actually better offensively this season too, but I think making the defense above-average is a more attainable goal, with Improvement from Noah (not being pushed around) and Tyrus (not being out of position entirely) being the best way to make it happen.

They also had a nice collection of links from various Chicago media, so be sure to check those out, as well. And get excited! Media day is here, and that means that the NBA is right around the corner.