NBA season resumes: LeBron James-Zion Williamson match-up highly-anticipated

After the NBA league of Governors approved the resumption of the 2019-2020 season by July 31, LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers and Zion Williamson's New Orleans Pelicans are expected to face-off against each other, giving NBA fans something exciting to look forward to.

According to the approved format, all 22 teams will play eight "seeding games" selected from the remaining games of their now cancelled regular-season schedule. At the end of the seeding games, the team's regular season and seeding games record combined will determine the final regular season win-loss record for the disrupted 2019-2020 season.

The top seven teams will automatically clinch their playoff spots, while the 8th spot per conference will be determined by a twice-to-beat play-in tournament if the team on the ninth place is four or fewer games behind the eighth-placed team.

The playoffs and NBA finals would proceed in the traditional best-of-seven format.

According to CBS Sports, LeBron James and the Lakers are practically guaranteed the top spot in the Western Conference unless they lose 7 or more of their seeding games. However, James' performance this season is worthy of an MVP award. He is currently averaging 25.7 points, 8 rebounds, and 10.6 assists a game with 49.8% shooting in the field. Those are great numbers for a 35-year-old player. While there are other "senior" superstar players such as Vince Carter (43) and Carmelo Anthony (36) still playing this season, they are not even a shadow of their former selves. It's a different story for James.

Zion Williamson on the other hand, is a rookie this season. The 19-year old from Duke University missed the early parts of the season due to an injury and only debuted last January 22. He scored 22 points and grabbed 7 rebounds while playing for only 18 minutes. The feat included scoring 17 consecutive points in the last 3:08 minutes of the game against the San Antonio Spurs. He went on to become the first teenager in NBA history to score 20+points in 10 consecutive games leading the Pelicans back into playoff contention.

The Lakers-Pelicans match-up is a preview of the old versus the new. While MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo would have been a better scale to test the young rookie considering their paint dominance style of play, unfortunately, he is in the Eastern Conference. While James and the Lakers' inside man, Anthony Davis, beat Williamson's Pelicans the last time they met, Williamson scored a career-high 35 points against the duo.