The NBA season begins tonight. Thank GOD. It's about time. You can only write so often about how bad the Ravens' offense is, how long the Orioles have gone without a winning season, and how weak that World Series was.

Before expanding on that, though, thanks to whoever's left out there reading this for your patience, while I took care of a little personal business. (Good stuff, though, just time-consuming.) But the timing is right because there is something new and fresh out there to talk about, a new season that follows an interesting regular season and an absolutely mesmerizing postseason.

And the way it's looking, you're probably not going to get a lot of info about the NBA in our pages. Too bad. I know there's interest in the NBA out there in the Baltimore area; I hear about it all the time. This is now my third NBA season back in town, and I can't even describe how painful it is not to have a team here, to have to go down the road to Verizon Center to get my fix. I know I'm not alone on this.

In a sad way, it was a bit of a blessing that Red Auerbach passed when he did (here's a gateway to the Boston Globe's coverage); it gave ESPN Classic an excuse to do a Celtics marathon all day yesterday. Even if you hate the Celtics - and really, isn't that was Red Auerbach's life was all about, creating a dynasty that was so easy to despise and envy? - it was a great way to feed your NBA jones for the days leading up to the openers tonight.

And if that wasn't enough, there was the Gilbert Arenas blowout in the Post on Sunday. Wow.

Plus, there's the new ball, the Stephen Jackson/Second Amendment Rule, the World Championships hangover (psychological and physical) and, just as we're about to tip it off, the heckler ban. Much more fun debating all of that than fretting over whether Kris Benson will return, isn't it?

Last but not least, predictions: San Antonio wins the West, in revenge for blowing Game 7 of the conference semis at home against Dallas, and for being so banged up by the time they got there.

Cleveland wins the East. It's LeBron Time.

Spurs win it all. LeBron is the MVP.

The Wizards get to the second round, but won't be able to get past either Miami or Cleveland.

Carmelo Anthony gets tired of all the upheaval and drama in Denver, demands a trade, and gets George Karl fired. Rudy Gay proves what a genius Jerry West still is by blowing up big in Memphis. (The Logo is retiring after this season.) Juan Dixon wonders how he, a solid citizen and tough competitor, ended up in Portland.

It's all way overdue.