The story lines are as long as a Stephen Curry 3-pointer.With a superteam in the West, a megastar in the Midwest, superstars all around the league, its global popularity at an all-time high, more revenue than ever and labor peace looming, this season has the potential to be like no other the league has ever had. Yes, rivaling the Celtics run in the 1960s, possibly topping Magic-Bird rivalry of the `80s and Michael Jordans run of the `90s.LeBron James is holding the title in Cleveland and Kevin Durant has settled in Golden State, so the NBA Finals could be headed for the same destination again next June.But what a journey it should be getting there.I think there is a somewhat an inevitability of this Cleveland-Warriors meeting in the finals again, which can sometimes make you overlook how enjoyable the regular season can be if you love basketball, ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy said. So I think theyll meet in the finals again, but that doesnt make the regular season uninteresting to me.A summer spending spree created new contenders and enticing questions for a global audience that will begin being answered Tuesday when the new season opens in the places the last one ended.The record-setting Warriors will be must-see TV again with Durant, the former scoring champ and league MVP, sharing shots with Curry, the current scoring champ and MVP.James is on a Jordan-like run, looking for a seventh straight trip to the NBA Finals and hoping to build a dynasty where there was once just despair.Theres Dwyane Wade in Chicago and Dwight Howard in Atlanta after both went home.Derrick Rose left home, traded from the Bulls to the New York Knicks.Former Commissioner David Stern used to say the NBA was in its golden age.Under Adam Silver, it may be even shinier.There are a lot of charged-up players in this league, Silver said. There are a lot of teams, young teams in the development cycle, where I think they would even say realistically theyre unlikely to win the championship this season, but theyre on the road to winning a championship.He will give James and the Cavaliers their rings before the season opener, and Durant joins Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson in the expensive and explosive Warriors lineup later that night against San Antonio.Their teams are heavily favored to meet in the NBA Finals for the third consecutive year, a rivalry that could turn into something like the Celtics-Lakers, or before that of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.But this is no two-team show.Its tough, Green said. But at the same time Im almost certain that its a goal of (Clevelands) to get back to try to win a championship. With that being said, theres a lot of great teams in this league. And theyre not saying were going to watch the Cavs and the Warriors in June.Like Russell Westbrook and Oklahoma City being defiant, not devastated by Durants departure the way the Cavs were when James bolted for Miami in 2010.Or young stars like Karl-Anthony Towns growing up into the spotlight, now that Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, titans for so long, have grown old and retired. And yet another batch of unmatched international talent, led by No. 1 pick Ben Simmons, an Australian whose debut will be delayed as he recovers from a foot injury.Its what the league sought to create during the 2011 lockout, when more revenues were shifted from players to teams in hopes the clubs would then distribute them better and chip away at the gulf between the big-market haves and the little-market have-nots.Money really started pouring in with the extension of the leagues national TV contracts, which kicked in this season to the tune of about $2.6 billion annually. The TV deal has sent salaries soaring so much that owners and players are poised to agree to a new labor agreement soon without the type of fight that led to the last one.The wealth of talent, and the wealth to acquire it, has emboldened teams to spend now where they once may have stood pat.Durant, Al Horford and many more switched teams during the dizzying days of July free agency, with the Spurs putting Pau Gasol alongside Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge into the frontcourt spot that Duncan for so long had anchored.A third of the league changed coaches, with clubs like Minnesota (Tom Thibodeau) and Houston (Mike DAntoni) turning to proven winners to steer them through the rough Western Conference waters.The Spurs or Clippers could emerge as the toughest test out there for the Warriors. Things look easier for James in the East, where he has emerged as the champion for six straight years. But he never thinks about what happened in the past.There are going to be so many more challenges, so many different obstacles that were going to have to face this year as a ballclub, James said. We have to be mentally focused, mentally prepared for it all. I think we will, be but it will not be easy and it shouldnt be.Silver, who should definitely like what he sees, summed up the anticipation:Im looking forward to the season. Larry Csonka Womens Jersey . The Redskins announced Monday that the quarterback who led the team to the Super Bowl championship in the 1987 season will serve as a personnel executive. Jason Taylor Womens Jersey . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. http://www.dolphinsrookiestore.com/Dolphins-Dan-Marino-Jersey/ . Kozun faked to the forehand and beat Monsters starter, Calvin Pickard, pad side in the second round for the winner. Spencer Abbott also scored in the shootout for the Marlies (25-13-4). Minkah Fitzpatrick Dolphins Jersey . Then the Pacers gave Oladipo and his Orlando teammates the cold shoulder. Paul Georges buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter spurred a 21-4 run, finally sending Indiana past the Magic 97-87 in a tougher-than-expected opening night matchup. Dan Marino Womens Jersey . Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens. During last nights game he tweeted: "Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to (minor-league) Hamilton for David Desharnais please. Given the long and grueling march Andy Murray endured to finally get to the summit of mens tennis, it seems like sweet justice that the 29-year-old Scot now gets to enjoy sitting atop the world rankings for a few weeks longer. His rout of longtime nemesis Novak Djokovic on Sunday in the year-ending ATP World Finals ensured that Murray will have top ranking until at least the beginning of 2017.Murray has rarely accomplished anything great quickly. Its just not his M.O. But his careerlong habit of stubbornly persevering, come what may, is precisely what lifted and distinguished him in a mens tennis year that became a war of attrition by the end of 2016.First, Roger Federer fell out, injured. Then Rafael Nadal, too. After finally winning the French Open for the first time and holding all four Slam titles at once, Djokovic abruptly hit a wall that seemed more mental than physical. Djokovics results the past five months of his year, starting with his third-round flameout at Wimbledon, featured a series of upsets and occasional tantrums on the court that left him looking like a man sapped of self-belief by Sundays straight-sets loss to Murray.But it would be too easy (and unfair) to say Murray simply feasted on other peoples absences or mistakes on his way to becoming the oldest first-time No. 1 since Australias John Newcombe earned the top spot at the age of 30 in 1974. Murray is better than that.Murray is a three-time major champion, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a Davis Cup champ. He plays some of the best defense in the game, returns magnificently and runs down balls others dont bother to chase. The conviction it took him to physically build himself up from a string bean kid from Scotland who had some promise into an indefatigable athlete who can handle the kind of workloads he routinely endures at major events is a talent. The same goes for his ability to remain resolute as he tried and tried to crash the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic stranglehold on the top and finally succeeded, ending all that dismissive talk that the Big Four was really the Big Three-and-a-Half.A lesser competitor wouldve said the hell with it a long time ago.So it was a little odd Sunday to hear Murray say, I never, ever imagined [No. 1] was possible after he defeated Djokovic before a raucous crowd that cheered the Scot on and on at Londons O2 Arena.His disclaimer is hard to believe.Murray has not only navigated an era in which the three champions in front of him hoarded 43 Grand Slam titles (Federer, 17; Nadal, 14; Djokovic, 12). He also had to carry the hopes of tennis-mad Britain on his shoulders. And at times, never more so than at Wimbledon, it was hard to know whose hovering presence was more of a burden for Murray: the ghost of 1930s champion Fred Perry, the last British man to win the All-England Club title before Murray, or poor star-crossed Tim Henman, who came tantalizingly close to winning Wimbledon between 1998 and 2002 but never did.Last week, Murray even heard -- unfairly -- that there was an asterisk next to his year-closing rush to No. 1 because he hadnt beaten a top-five player between the US Open in September and ATP Finals week. And he waas right to parry back, telling reporters, I can only beat the people in front of me.dddddddddddd And I did that this week.He sandwiched career-best winning streaks of 22 and now 24 matches (and counting) around his grouchy quarterfinal loss to Kei Nishikori at the US Open. Murray finished the year with a tour-best nine titles.His June reunion with Ivan Lendl as his coach has the same transformative effect on him that their work together the first time around did. Lendl demands that Murray play with a calm that even Murray wasnt sure he could achieve.Looking forward now, Murrays ability to hang onto the No. 1 ranking sets up a fascinating dynamic for 2017. It should be one of the most interesting mens tennis seasons in years because of the uncertainty, the sentimentality in play and new faces involved.Remember, Murray wasnt the only player rising in 2016 while Federer, Nadal and Djokovic slid backward or tried to stay in the top 10. Stan Wawrinka, who beat Djokovic for the US Open title, affirmed his stature as the most dangerous floater in every Grand Slam draw.All of this was new: Milos Raonic finally showed signs of becoming a big-tournament threat, not just a big server. Argentinas Juan Martin del Potro gave fans hope that his long-running wrist problems might finally go away long enough to let him contend for majors again.Nishikori continued to run down balls and wins like the second coming of Lleyton Hewitt, and Marin Cilic remains capable of giant-killing tears, too. Dominic Thiem, the most successful of the #nextgen players the ATP is pushing, finished ranked No. 10 but was playing on fumes by August. Hopefully, he learned a lot this year about overscheduling himself.If Australian bad boy Nick Kyrgios comes back from his suspension and fines for tanking an autumn match in China with his head finally screwed on straight -- a big if -- and countryman Bernard Tomic tones down his antics, too, Murray wont be the only one troubling Federer and Nadal as they try to prove once again their days as major title contenders arent over. Even 19-year-old Alexander Zverev, the youngest player in the top 50, has the talent to break through like Thiem did this year.But all of them have to pursue Murray now. And Murray has proved he will not be easy to catch or tire of the race.He was only 22 the first time he got to No. 2 in the world.It took him seven years and 82 days to take this last step up to No. 1. Murrays title win in Paris two weeks ago ended Djokovics 122-week run at the top. Sundays win was only Murrays 11th against Djokovic in 35 career showdowns.Djokovic, who is also 29, has still not elaborated on the personal problems that he said weighed on him this fall. But he will have time to mend now, same as Federer and Nadal have.All of them should return refreshed and ready when the tuneups for the Australian Open arrive in January.But Andy Murray, so long the tortoise among the hares, finally has everyone pursuing him for a change.Sunday, he shook his head when reminded of that.Pretty special, he said. ' ' '