The NBA has taken a rather deep breath of late.

Just as the December and January grind was easing, and, as fans’ attention had been consumed by the trade deadline, the news of Kobe Bryant’s tragic death broke.

To lose a legend of the league right in the middle of the NBA season - following  the (also untimely) passing of former commissioner, David Stern - was both a surreal and confronting reality for the sports world, and was duly followed by an unprecedented outpouring of emotion.

This past weekend’s All-Star festivities in Chicago helped lift the NBA’s collective mood and doubled as a tribute to Bryant’s legacy. To assemble so many of the league’s best and brightest in a singular venue worked as a welcome respite for a league still deep in grief.

While the loss of Bryant will forever cloud the 2019-20 season, there is still so much to play for right now, with a championship yet to be won and a plethora of awards to be decided.

Let’s take a look at the most seductive subplots over what’s left of this regular NBA season.

NBA Futures: Championship Probabilities Updated Daily

Championship Rankings: LA Clippers Still #1 At The All Star Break

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PLAYOFF SEEDINGS

This season’s playoff races, and the composition of each conference, are like nothing we’ve seen in recent seasons.

In the West, just 5.5 games are presently separating the current #1 seed Los Angeles Lakers and the Utah Jazz in fourth. The Houston Rockets - one of the busiest franchises at the trade deadline - are just a further two games back in fifth.

While the eight-playoff positions in the West appear now to be set in stone, positioning within remains intense. The Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies are all now looking to qualify for the post-season, however, each will be desperate to avoid the eighth seed and a potential first-up assignment against the likes of the Los Angeles Lakers.

In contrast, the Eastern Conference is a much more scattered affair. While the barnstorming Milwaukee Bucks look certain to claim the number one seed, there’s an intense fight beneath them to solidify the key positions below.

Presently, Atlantic Division foes, Toronto and Boston, are occupying those spots and will be desperate to remain there so as to avoid the Bucks for as long as possible throughout the playoffs. Both Miami and Philadelphia, however, are breathing down their necks, with each possessing two of the softest remaining schedules from here on in.

THE MVP RACE

For a second season in row, this award looks headed to the well-deserving arms of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Indeed, the ‘Greek Freak’ has elevated his game to another level this season, once again the driving force behind an exceptional Milwaukee Bucks regular season that’s poised to smash through the 60-win mark. Antetokounmpo has improved in most statistical categories again this campaign, even elevating his three-point shooting percentage from 25.6% to 31.3% in the process.

If Antetokounmpo was to falter down the stretch, if his game was to somehow inexplicably unravel, who might be best positioned to vault into MVP contention? Well, a certain LeBron James - in his 17^th season no less - might just be next in line. The living legend is once again mesmerising the league, once again transforming his game in the process to that of a facilitator. In fact, James is presently leading the NBA in assists, averaging 10.8 assists per night (along with 25 points!), leading this Lakers renaissance aided greatly by the arrival of Anthony Davis.

Dallas’ Luka Doncic has also emerged as a dark horse MVP candidate in just his second season. The Slovenian sensation appears intent on ending the Mavs three-season playoff drought, single-handedly putting the Mavs on his back, boasting a 37.3% usage rate (second only to Antetokounmpo) and averaging 28.9 points.

Houston’s James Harden would also feel he’s worthy of a second MVP honour, averaging a league-leading 35.3 ppg, which not only has his Rockets on course for an eighth straight playoff appearance, but has Harden set to claim his third consecutive scoring title - a feat only Kevin Durant and a certain Michael Jordan have achieved over the last 40 years.

THE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

This race is as fascinating as we’ve seen in years.

When New Orleans’s Zion Williamson was ruled out for the first portion of the season with a knee injury, the award was seemingly destined to be a dull affair, perhaps lacking in genuine star quality.

Enter Ja Morant.

Memphis’s star point guard has been a revelation this season, leading a team who cobbled together just 55 wins over the previous two campaigns to the cusp of an unexpected return to the playoffs. At just 20 years of age, Morant leads the Grizzlies in points (17.6) and assists (7.1) with his breakneck game and aggressiveness earning him a team-high 4.4 free throw attempts per night.

Just as Morant was being fitted for his well-deserved Rookie of the Year crown, Williamson has returned from injury for the Pelicans and with the kind of bang that’s reignited the debate as to who is this year’s standout rookie.

In just ten games, Williamson has electrified the league, helping himself to 22 points per night, while doing so with exquisite efficiency, hitting his shots at 57.6% from the field. Like Morant, Zion’s game is based on extreme athletic explosion and is a huge reason behind the startling 10.2 free throws (per 36 minutes) he’s earned, which is a number bettered by only Antetokoumpo (12.1) and Harden (11.7).

Again, Zion’s outrageous production is accompanied by just a ten-game sample size, with legitimate questions remaining as to whether there’s enough volume in his numbers to warrant a genuine ROY challenge to Morant, given his first half layoff.

While that’s a question best left to the voters, in the meantime we can marvel at these two incredibly talented rookies who’ve dragged their franchises back into the limelight- and who’ll both hopefully keep them there for years to come.

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