Back on the hard court for a full 82 game NBA season. I guess it’s a good thing, because the NHL is dealing with their own lockout this fall. NFL football is in full swing, but Halloween marks the annual tip off of the NBA, and this season has plenty of story lines. Let’s just recap a few to start the season:

1. Ray Allen leaves the Boston Celtics for greener pastures in Miami. The first game of the season matched the defending champion Miami Heat with those Celtics. The game was pretty good, but the most memorable event in the game was the snub Kevin Garnett gave to Ray Allen when Ray was entering the game. In the end, Ray Allen played like, well Ray Allen, and knocked down some big 3 pointers to help seal the victory for the Heat.

2. Anthony Davis had a great debut for the New Orleans Hornets. He scored 21 points, had 7 rebounds, added 1 block and 1 steal. Oh yeah, he also hit all nine of his free throws! Not bad for a first game in the league. Unfortunately for him and the Hornets, he got a concussion in game 2 and is currently out.

3. The Los Angeles Lakers. After putting together a star studded lineup to challenge the best in the NBA, the Lakers started the season 0-3 and things got chippy right away between Kobe and the media. Steve Nash suffered a small break in his leg, and he’s out for at least a week. Thankfully for Jack Nicholson and the rest of the Laker faithful, they picked up their first victory of the season last night against Detroit.

4. Fear the Beard. The Oklahoma City Thunder fell just shy of beating the Miami Heat for the NBA crown last season, and started this season by trading their explosive 6th man, James Harden. Harden jumped into the starting lineup in Houston and has started the season on fire. In his first game with the Houston Rockets, Harden poured in 37 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. He followed up that monster performance by adding 45 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists in his second game. Harden finally “came down to earth” in game three by only scoring 24 points, with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Three games into the season and he’s averaging a gaudy 35.3 points per game.

That’s quite a bit to digest for the first few days of the season. Make sure to check back in and get regular updates here at the FansEdge blog. New gear is in for the start of the season too, so you can click here to see what’s new for your team.

Let me start by saying that I’m thrilled football is back. No doubt it has the largest following of all North American sports. However, with all of the activity this summer, I am also looking forward to the return of the NBA. The NBA draft saw the New Orleans Hornets grab two big names in the top 10 picks, with Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers becoming the cornerstones of the franchise. The Boston Celtics look to remain relevant by compensating for the loss of Ray Allen to the rival Miami Heat, with the addition of Jason Terry, Jared Sullinger, and Fab Melo. We were treated to some NBA players in the summer Olympics, which helped tide me over until the start of the season.

In addition, the defending champion Miami Heat look to be improved, and they are going to need it in order to fend off serious challenges from the Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, and Brooklyn Nets (yes, the Nets). The Lakers scooped up Steve Nash to run the point, and traded for big man Dwight Howard to continue the long trend of superstar centers for the Lakers. The Nets not only moved to Brooklyn, but they also added Joe Johnson, and re-signed Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Gerald Wallace. They are now touting their “Core 4″ to match up against any other team in the league. Finally, Linsanity has packed his things and signed with the Houston Rockets, who hope to ride Jeremy Lin’s popularity and ability to the playoffs and into contention for a NBA title.

One more month until preseason begins. New gear for 2012-2013 will be available soon, so check back and get your new NBA jerseys, tees, hats and hoodies in advance of what promises to be an exciting NBA season.