The NBA is back and the 2019-20 season tipped off on Tuesday night.

It's an intriguing campaign with Los Angeles taking centre stage more than ever. LA Clippers' off-season recruitment has made them one of the early favourites to go all the way. And within the same stadium and city, Los Angeles Lakers have brought in Anthony Davis to a roster already including a veteran LeBron James. Both sides went head-to-head in the opening night's match-ups, with Clippers winning 112-102.

The Ringer's John Gonzalez joined us on Off The Ball to preview the new season and touched on the LA-centric nature of the build-up.

"If you're talking about the centre of the NBA universe right now, it's unquestionably Los Angeles," he said.

Biggest Stars

"You have some of the biggest stars playing in the same city. But they're also in the very same building where their locker rooms are just down the hall from each other. So that makes it interesting."

For James, the challenge is to take Lakers back where they feel they belong - not just back to the playoffs but much further than that!

"He's paired with Anthony Davis, who's not only his friend but one of the best players in the NBA and they have the same agent and they orchestrated this thing," he said.

"So this really has to go right for him and I think he desperately wants it to. And it was only one game [against Clippers] but that's not a great start. It's certainly not the way he wanted to begin the season."

Gonzalez also touches on some of the other contenders including where the Golden State Warriors are at now.

You can watch the full NBA season preview above via our YouTube channel.