NBA Media Day 2015-16: The Good, the Bad and the Interesting

The 2015-16 NBA season is quickly approaching, and media day serves as one of the landmark events before basketball is really, truly back. As players show up in new jerseys and take to podiums around the country, the sport rejoices. 

Of course, not everything said and done makes sense. 

There are plenty of platitudes. Countless players are apparently in the best shape of their lives, having cut weight or added pounds of muscle, every roster is improved and, whether legitimate or not, optimism reigns supreme.

With so many roster members, coaches and front-office workers presented to the media, memorable quotes and moments tend to emerge. 

Some fill basketball fans with warm and fuzzy feelings. Others are definitively negative. 

Others still are, well, interesting. We'll go with that. 

The Good

More than basketball is back. So too are plenty of players who were severely injured when we last heard from them. 

Paul George has returned—technically, he did in limited action at the end of last season—and has high hopes for the Indiana Pacers:

Kevin Durant felt like he was never gone, but he'll officially rejoin Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka at the beginning of the 2015-16 campaign:

And though we've heard this one before, new Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg claims that Derrick Rose has his explosiveness back:

As for LeBron James, he was never severely injured, but he wore down during his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, leading to a two-week break in the middle of the season. Now, he feels fresher than ever...except not really:

It's always good to have a little humor at media day, and there was plenty of it.

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, for example, was in midseason form. Whether refusing to acknowledge Tony Parker's performances at EuroBasket or making Jared Greenberg of NBATV have his worst nightmares come true, he was the same old curmudgeonly coach we've all come to know and love:

Karl-Anthony Towns even announced he was retiring from the NBA, though he was obviously just joking, much to the relief of Minnesota Timberwolves fans. 

But there were also some cathartic moments, ones in which two sides who have struggled to agree actually appeared to work out their differences.

Markieff Morris' disgruntled nature has been no secret throughout this offseason. Ever since the Phoenix Suns traded away his twin brother, he's made it clear that he has no love left for this organization, even demanding a trade. 

None of that animosity was on display during media day. Quite the opposite, in fact. It's tough to feel too bad when you're staring at the start of the 2015-16 season, which is essentially a blank slate.

But perhaps the best news of all is pretty simple. Metta World Peace is back, and the NBA—always in need of his entertaining quips—is better for it:

The Bad

Given the state of the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks in recent years, it's only natural that we start in the Big Apple. Legendary as Phil Jackson may be in the basketball community, two players who jumped from the Knicks to the Nets this offseason took some thinly veiled shots at him. 

As reported by Tom Lorenzo of Nets Daily, Andrea Bargnani refused to respond to any of his former boss' offseason comments: 

The comments we're referring to? Back in August, the executive called Bargnani a "big tease" and went on to say the following, per Mitch Abramson of the New York Daily News:

"

When he was injured he refused to do simple non-contact activities like dummy our offense in practice. He seemed to be a malingerer and this had a bad effect on the team, and also on the way the Knicks fans reacted to him. When he was on the court, he had a hard time staying intense, didn’t hustle back in offense-to-defense transition, wasn’t active enough in defending screen-rolls.

"

Shane Larkin didn't opt for silence, though: 

That's not where the negativity ended in New York, and we're not just talking about Carmelo Anthony's inexplicable opening remarks about incoming rookie Kristaps Porzingis, his desire to avoid expectations for the Knicks or Nets head coach Lionel Hollins and his potentially sarcastic distaste for analytics. 

How's that for a tepid endorsement? 

There are so many other things Joe Johnson could've said about his city and team. "It's not that bad here," isn't going to get fans excited, which is kind of the entire point of media day. Then again, the Nets aren't exactly an exciting team, so this may sadly be an appropriate description of the franchise's current state. 

Obviously, the Cleveland Cavaliers are in much better shape, but there was still something noticeable missing on Monday morning. Well, someone. Not something. 

Tristan Thompson still hasn't come to terms with last year's Eastern Conference champions, leaving a rather glaring hole on the roster. Everyone present seemed to feel nothing but confidence that the two sides would eventually get a deal worked out, but it's not a good look to be missing such a key player at media day. 

On the flip side, the Cavs should be happy Dion Waiters is gone, and new Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan might have something to say to his 2-guard after hearing about these comments:

Someone please tell Waiters that "defense wins championships" is a phrase he should probably take to heart if he hopes to live up to expectations during a contract season. 

The...Interesting

We have to start with the Indiana Pacers, who showed off some rather interesting looks to the world. 

First was George Hill, who revealed he isn't planning on ditching the blonde dome at any point in the near future: 

But if you think that's bizarre, I'd love to hear what adjectives you'd use to describe these costumes that Joe Young, Hill and Paul George threw on during their photoshoots: 

The obvious inquiry here is whether George or Furkan Aldemir made the better Batman. And yes, that's a question that we would only ask on media day.

It's tough to knock Aldemir after the voice impression.

But he wasn't the only one who got into a superhero costume, as Jon Leuer donned a cape while walking to his photoshoot with the Phoenix Suns: 

The cape still didn't help him move as smoothly as DeJuan Blair, who is trimmed down and ready to play the 5 for the Washington Wizards.

There's no word from the NBA yet about whether he'll be allowed to hover during actual games. 

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the answer is no, but media day is always strange enough that we can start believing in the impossible. And if he's denied, he can just pull a Meyers Leonard and start screaming: 

If anything sums up how we feel about the start of the NBA calendar drawing ever closer, that would be it. 

After all, the always-crazy and ever-bizarre media day is the beginning of the end to every offseason.