On the heels of Tom Brady and the Patriots making the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history to win a fifth Super Bowl, what better time is there to talk about…the NBA regular season so far? (Hey, don’t get mad because I’m staying in my lane.) As the NBA season nears the All-Star break, there are a few storylines that stand out: Who’s the MVP so far this season? James Harden, Russell Westbrook or the old standby LeBron James? Are the Warriors the outright favorite to win the championship this season with KD or does the addition of Kyle Korver to LeBron’s Cavs put them back in front of the pack?

Let’s look at the MVP race, which seems to have two players leading the pack: Harden and Westbrook. Westbrook has been a triple-double machine, but while his Thunder have been good, his one-time teammate James Harden leads a great Houston Rockets team that has, surprisingly, the third-best record in the league behind only Golden State and San Antonio. And speaking of those Warriors and Spurs, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Kawhi from their respective teams are putting their names into the MVP hat. Then of course there’s LeBron James, who is having his typical ho-hum All-Star caliber season while leading his team in points, assists, minutes, etc. James recently asked publicly for some on-court help in the form of a backup point guard or “another playmaker” as James put it. His public request led to an even more public dispute with former NBA players and TNT analyst Charles Barkley. The exchange was heated until Barkley backed off a little, but only a little. Also in the East and not to be forgotten in the MVP race is the Boston Celtic’s diminutive Isaiah Thomas, who at 5’9, is playing big as a fourth-quarter assassin – leading the entire NBA in fourth quarter points and also leading his Celtics to the second-best record in the East at the moment.

The MVP race may come down to the wire, but the NBA championship matchup seems to be a forgone conclusion, the Cavs versus the Warriors once again. There seem to be no teams from the respective conferences that are perched to challenge them for a championship berth, but as the trade deadline nears, perhaps a team will make a move that maybe shifts the balance of power even a little. Now that football is over, all the professional sports world will be paying attention to the NBA, which is my favorite time of the season. From the drama in Chicago and New York to the new hope in Washington and even Philadelphia and highly anticipated return of KD to OKC with a matchup between his new team and his old teammate Russel Westbrook, who is a one man wrecking crew. I love it all! Let’s hope we get some big surprises soon. Carmelo Anthony to Cleveland anyone? Stay tuned…

All stats from NBA.com