Lebron, Durant, Curry, Leonard, Irving to star in NBA's 75th season opener

NAGPUR: The 75th season of the world's numero uno basketball league organized by the NBA will begin with an opening-night doubleheader on Wednesday (IST).Defending champion Los Angeles Lakers open the 2020-21 campaign with city rivals Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors face their former teammate and superstar Kevin Durant in a road trip to take on the Brooklyn Nets. In his debut with the Nets, Durant will join forces with Kyrie Irving, making Brooklyn a team to watch out for in a shortened 72-game season.The opening night will see NBA MVPs Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and LeBron James and two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard in action. It will also mark the return of Curry, Durant and Kyrie Irving as the trio looks primed to put on a spectacle on Day 1. Durant's first game in 18 months - and his first as a Net - comes against the team with whom he won two NBA championships and two NBA Finals MVP awards.The Warriors, who finished last in the Western Conference in the 2019-20 season will hope that Curry and three-time All-Star Draymond Green will guide the team's turnaround with the addition of second overall draft pick James Wiseman and the acquisition of Kelly Oubre Jr to play alongside former No 1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins.The Nets, on the other hand, who finished seventh in the Eastern Conference last season, are expecting to take a giant leap forward with the return of 10-time All-Star Durant and six-time All-Star Irving. Brooklyn hopes to join the Eastern Conference elite with Jarrett Allen, Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert and Joe Harris under new head coach Steve Nash.On the other hand, the Lakers and Clippers - the Western Conference's top two seeds of last season - add a new chapter to their budding rivalry. Reigning Sixth Man Award winner Montrezl Harrell has jumped from the Clippers to the Lakers and the Morris twins - Marcus (Clippers) and Markieff (Lakers) - are on opposite sides.The Lakers begin their title defense with a reshaped roster around James and Anthony Davis.On the other side, Leonard, Paul George and the Clippers enter the season looking to rebound from last season's loss to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals, where LA could not hold a 3-1 series lead and finished one win shy of the franchise's first Conference Finals appearance.NBA 2020-21 SEASON: NUMBERS, KEY DATES, TOP PLAYERS30 - Teams72 - Regular Season games108 International players from 38 countries on opening-night rostersDec 3 – 75th Season startsMarch 5, 2021 - First half of Regular Season concludesMarch 6-11 - All-Star breakMarch 12 - Second half of Regular beginsMay 17 - NBA Regular season concludesMay 19-22 - Play-in tournament for Playoff four teams.Top six teams in both the Western and Eastern conferences qualify directly for Playoffs. Play-in tournament to identify the 7th and 8th seeds - four teams in each conference play the tourney.May 23 - NBA Playoffs startJuly 23 - NBA's 2020-21 Season concludes(All dates according to IST)FAMILIAR FACES / TOP PLAYERS WITH NEW TEAMSLEBRON JAMES (LOS ANGELES LAKERS): In 2019-20, LeBron led the NBA in assists for the first time, set the NBA record with his 16th All-Team selection, won his fourth NBA championship, earned his fourth Bill Russell Finals MVP Award and became the first player to be named Finals MVP with three different franchises. James also moved into third place on the NBA's career scoring list and climbed into eighth place on the career assists list. James needs 759 points to reach 35,000 for his career. Only two players have scored 35,000 points - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) and Karl Malone (36,928).KEVIN DURANT (BROOKLYN NETS): The 10-time NBA All-Star and 2013-14 MVP is set for his first action since the 2019 Finals. In three seasons with the Warriors, Durant won two Finals MVP awards and reached three Finals. Durant has the sixth-highest scoring average in NBA history (27.0 ppg).STEPHEN CURRY (GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS): The two-time NBA MVP led Warriors to three NBA championships and five consecutive NBA Finals appearances.KYRIE IRVING, BROOKLYN NETS (20 GP): Irving made a splash with 50 points in his first game as a Net, the highest-scoring debut inNBA history. He averaged 27.4 points in 20 games, which would have been a career high over a full season.RUSSELL WESTBROOK (WASHINGTON WIZARDS): The 2016-17 MVP has been an NBA All-Star in nine of the last 10 seasons. Last year, he was one of two players (along with the Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic) to average at least 27.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists.GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO (MILWAUKEE BUCKS): Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists, won his second straight NBA Most Valuable Award and earned the Defensive Player of the Year Award for the first time while leading his team to the league's best regular-season record for the second season in a row.JRUE HOLIDAY (MILWAUKEE BUCKS): A 2013 All-Star and two-time All-Defensive Team selection, Holiday joins Milwaukee after playing seven seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans.