The NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament was a smash hit. We hadn’t seen this level of competition so early on in a season in what felt like a decade. Teams seemingly cared, and we were left with a final game that had a great storyline.

The young upstart Indiana Pacers, led by star Tyrese Haliburton, took on the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers. In a game of veteran savvy versus youthful exuberance, King James prevailed. This adds just one more accolade to his fabled career.

This year we witnessed Giannis Antetokounmpo score his career-high-best 64 points in a game. In the process, he also passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the Milwaukee Bucks’ all-time leading scorer.

The gag, however, was that Giannis wanted the game ball for that night’s accomplishment as a keepsake. Initially, the Pacers snagged it, which led to a mini brouhaha post-game.

The Golden State Warriors have been struggling this season. But as of late, they’ve been on a bit of a roll. Recently, it was punctuated by a Steph Curry comeback game-winner over the Boston Celtics.

In a game where the Warriors had been down by double figures a good portion of the game, they forced overtime. Then, it was all about the greatest shooter of all time doing what he does best: putting them to sleep.

Ja Morant recently completed a 25-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team stemming from an off-the-court incident. Well, the budding superstar returned with a Vengeance. He began a night where Steph Curry made a game-winning three, with a game-winning drive to the basket himself.

It was a comeback win over the New Orleans Pelicans where the Grizzlies also trailed for a time. Thankfully, this time, they had an answer. And it’s a parade in the city of Memphis once again.

What’s the NBA season without a Draymond Green scuffle? Well, back in November, Draymond Green found himself attempting to “break up” an altercation on the court where Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert was trying to hold back Green’s teammate Klay Thompson.

Instead of a pull on the arm, or grab at the hip, Green proceeded to put his arm around Gobert’s neck and pull him away from the altercation. This essentially added gas to that fire. It resulted in what I think was the NBA’s most viral moment of the season thus far, as well as a five-game suspension for Green.

This also set the table for the indefinite suspension that Green is currently serving, after an unprovoked swing he took at Jusuf Nurkic of the Phoenix Suns.

Like I said, this is the NBA, where theater lives. Don’t front, you know you love it.