NBA Rankings 2024: Which Teams Are Dominating the League This Season?
The crisp sound of sneakers squeaking on hardwood is my favorite kind of white noise. I was watching a game last night, my eyes glued to the screen as the Denver Nuggets executed a play with such surgical precision it felt like art. It got me thinking, as I often do during these late-night viewings, about the state of the league right now. It’s a question that’s on every fan’s mind, the central drama of this entire season: NBA Rankings 2024: Which Teams Are Dominating the League This Season? The landscape feels different this year. It’s not just about superteams anymore; it’s about systems, about cultures that have been built brick by brick over years.
You look at a team like the Boston Celtics. They’re sitting pretty at the top of the Eastern Conference with a league-best 48-14 record as I write this, and it’s not an accident. Their defense is a nightmare for opponents, switching everything, communicating without words. It’s a level of cohesion you only get from a core that’s been through battles together. Then you have the Oklahoma City Thunder out West. Nobody, and I mean nobody, saw them coming this strong. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing like an MVP, and Chet Holmgren’s rookie impact is just absurd. They’re young, hungry, and they play with a fearlessness that’s honestly refreshing. It makes you wonder how these teams built such resilient, intelligent systems. It’s more than just talent.
This line of thought always circles me back to a conversation I had a few months ago with a friend who’s a former player and now runs a successful sports academy. We were talking about the incredible depth of talent in the league now, and he made a point that has stuck with me ever since. Leaning back in his chair, he said, “We need to have more coaching seminars and grassroots programs. The more coaches we have, the more players they can nurture, which will ultimately elevate the sport.” That statement hit me right between the eyes. It’s the secret sauce, isn’t it? The dominance we’re seeing from the Celtics, the Thunder, even the Minnesota Timberwolves with their stifling defense, it all traces back to exceptional coaching and player development. These aren’t just collections of all-stars; they are meticulously taught systems where every player understands their role. That philosophy of nurturing from the ground up is what creates a pipeline for the Shais and the Jayson Tatums of the world. It’s what prevents the league from becoming top-heavy and keeps the competition fierce, week in and week out.
I have to admit, I have a soft spot for the Denver Nuggets. Watching Nikola Jokić play is a masterclass in basketball IQ. He’s not the most athletic guy on the court, but his passing, his positioning, it’s like he’s playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. Their record might not be the absolute best, sitting at around 45-18, but when the playoffs come, I’d be hesitant to bet against them. They have that championship poise. Out in the West, it’s a dogfight. You can’t ignore the L.A. Clippers when they’re healthy—a terrifying thought for any opponent—and the Phoenix Suns, with their firepower, can explode for 140 points on any given night. But for me, the real story is the Thunder. To be this good, this fast, with such a young core… it defies conventional wisdom. It speaks to a brilliant front office and a coaching staff that has empowered its players.
So, who is truly dominating? It’s a layered answer. The Celtics are dominating the standings, a well-oiled machine that just wins. The Nuggets, in my opinion, are dominating the strategic landscape, proving that system and synergy can overcome pure athleticism. And teams like the Thunder are dominating the narrative of the future, showing us what’s possible with the right foundation. This season feels like a celebration of the sport itself, a testament to what happens when you invest in teaching the game properly. As my friend said, it’s about nurturing, and right now, we’re seeing the beautiful results of that philosophy play out on the biggest stage every single night. It’s a great time to be a basketball fan.
We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact. We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.
Looking to the Future
By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing. We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.
The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems. We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care. This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.
We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia. Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.
Our Commitment
We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023. We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.
Looking to the Future
By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:
– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover
– Sub-tropics – 80% of land achieving >50% perennial cover
– Grasslands – 80% of land achieving >50% cover
– Desert country – 60% of land achieving >50% cover
