silence is the enemy: Basketballogy -- The Science of Basketball (#8): Witness Drama

So, with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement being ratified this week, NBA fever is now in full swing. In the two days since the world's premier basketball league officially got back on track, a lot of drama has already unfolded.

Hardcore NBA fans know that the action we see on the court is a culmination of all the action that happens during the offseason, where teams attempt to boost and/or revamp their roster in hopes they'd still be playing come June (the signing of free agents should have started back in July but because of the lockout, teams are allowed to upgrade their squads beginning December 9th).

Ready for the drama? We've seen Chris Paul get traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol, only to have that same trade get vetoed by Commissioner David Stern for "basketball reasons". And it doesn't stop there (the NBA has more drama than your favorite soap opera). Shane Battier tweets that he'll be joining the Miami Heat. Jason Kapono is going to sign with the Lakers. The Boston Celtics reportedly is going to re-sign Glenn Davis and trade him to Orlando for Brandon Bass. Dwight Howard is reportedly interested to join the Lakers. And probably the biggest news so far (that doesn't Chris Paul or Dwight Howard) is Portland's Brandon Roy announcing his premature retirement.

Ok, seriously. HOW CAN YOU NOT GET EXCITED WITH ALL THIS?

First of all, a true NBA fan should be excited with the very thought that the league is back after the 5-month lockout. Second. All of these developments could reshape the landscape of the league for the next couple of years. Think about it. Chris Paul and Dwight Howard could possibly land in LA, team up with his excellency Kobe Bryant and form the Lakers' version of The Big Three. As if the Lakers aren't already exciting.

Imagine life as a Portland Trailblazers fan without Brandon Roy. He helped make the Blazers relevant again in his five, six-year stay. (God speed in your future endeavors, brother. Hope your knee doesn't bum up again.)

Shane Battier boosting up an already impressive Miami Heat team? Didn't see that one coming. I personally like Shane. His defense is superb. We all know that. I'm sure LeBron is happy he doesn't have to have Shane defend him again.

As for Jason Kapono (sorry for the extensive Lakers coverage; you should know by now I'm a Laker fan), he's the piece the Lake Show badly needs: a GREAT three-point shooter. We (yes, as a fan, I'm entitled to be part of the team, hence the pronoun "we") haven't had a great shooter in the team since Sasha Vujacic became "The Machine" in 2008.

The days leading to the Christmas day opener will be full of DRAMA. The word has been used over and over again in this post because it is the only appropriate word to describe the NBA. People love drama. Especially us Filipinos. Drama is what we eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In that sense, we'll be pretty full of it even before single basketball will be dribbled in two weeks' time.

Plus the No-Brainers: We'll see Dirk Nowitzki and the defending champs Dallas Mavericks defend the title; MVP Derrick Rose looks to continue his rise to superstardom; ditto for scoring champ Kevin Durant; don't forget Blake Griffin's dunks.

NBA fever is on! Let's get this party started! Woooooh.