Eight coaching changes were made during the offseason, which isn't that unusual. What's crazy is that six teams fired their coaches that started the 2008-09 season before Christmas. Gone are Oklahoma City's P.J. Carlesimo, Washington's Eddie Jordan, Toronto's Sam Mitchell, Minnesota's Randy Wittman, Philadelphia's Maurice Cheeks and Sacramento's Reggie Theus.

5. The coaching exception

Utah's Jerry Sloan is the exception that proves that coaching with any given team in the NBA is a short-term experience. The Jazz's boss on the court has been with his club now for more than 20 years with 1,000-plus victories to show for it.

And he's not going anywhere anytime soon, either.

6. Seattle loses its Sonics

After 41 years the NBA no longer has a franchise in Seattle. Goodbye SuperSonics, hello Thunder.

Seattle retained the rights to the SuperSonics name and a new team could end up there someday. Still, it's been a bitter pill to swallow for Washington's basketball fans.

But at least Seattle didn't give up a good team. Oklahoma City inherited a young group that, quite simply, isn't very good yet despite the presence of 2008's Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant. The Thunder, through Friday, are a league-worst 3-27.

7. Ref gets more than a technical

NBA referee Tim Donaghy was convicted for his part in a gambling scandal in one of the darkest hours in league history. He began serving a 15-month sentence in September.

NBA commissioner David Stern said right from the start that Donaghy was a single "rough official" and that he believed his other referees did not take part in any insider information or point-shaving activities. A large-scale investigation seems to indicate that Donaghy was, indeed, the only referee who was involved.

8. LeBron sweepstakes head up

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James will become a free agent in 2010. Already, teams are clearing cap space in an attempt to lure him away from Cleveland.

The Knicks seem to be the most aggressive suitor. They cleared more than $27 million off their payroll for the 2010-11 season by trading Jamal Crawford to Golden State and sending Zach Randolph to the Clippers.

9. East catches up to West

The Western Conference saw all eight playoff teams win at least 50 games in 2008, partially because it beat up on the East, as usual. Western teams have won the majority of their games against the East every year since the lockout-shortened 1999 campaign.

That's not the case anymore, however. Through Friday night's games, the East has an 89-68 lead this year in head-to-head contests between the two conferences. Utah has been particularly bad against the East this season, going just 5-11 thus far. By comparison, the Jazz are 13-2 against the West.

10. Kobe's been forgiven