The NBA season finally kicks off tonight, and in style! Lebron and the Cavs visit the defending champion Celtics at 8p Eastern, Bucks at Bulls at 8:30p, and the Blazers take on the Lakers in LA at 10:30p. With the exception of Bucks/Bulls (which I’m guessing most people don’t care about and which will air on WGN), the games will be broadcast on TNT.

This NBA season really has the potential to pick up where the last left off, having been one of the better seasons in years. The Lakers look like they may have what it takes to go all the way, with Kobe hungrier and another season’s experience for guys like Farmar and Bynum. The Celtics kept most of the main pieces intact, and return the league’s most inept coach–maybe of all time. But presumably KG can do most of the coaching from the floor and just try to make Doc feel included. Also, after a few good seasons we get to see if Ron Artest is the championship piece the Rockets have been missing, as well as whether or not CP3 and the Hornets have it all yet. Plus of course the Spurs are still the Spurs, no matter how badly we want to write them off as “boring.”

And perhaps most importantly, we get to see a ton of new shoes, Nike and otherwise. Unfortunately a lot of Nike athletes are going to be sporting those God-forsaken Hyperdunks, but for every Air Penny 1 there has to be 4 or 5 Foamposites.

Thanks to blazers.com for the picture.