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We think of the passage of NBA time in seasons, for obvious reasons. There's connection, a continuum. It's how we remember things that happen, in the course of a season of play. But there's some benefit to looking back at a calendar year, January 1 to December 31, and what we've learned in that process. After all, many say the "unofficial start" to the NBA season is Christmas, with the new year starting soon after. 

So here are the lessons we learned about the NBA in the year 2017. 

Warriors winning title was inevitable

As we began 2017, the Warriors were in a rocky point with their upgraded super-team. They'd lost to most of the other premier Western Conference teams, and just lost to the Cavaliers on Christmas. Maybe, just maybe, this super-team was mortal just like the 2016 team that looked invincible was. 

As it turns out, in a word, nope. 

Golden State righted itself over the next few months. Kevin Durant suffered an injury which let Stephen Curry be Stephen Curry again, and when Kevin Durant returned, the team had found a balance between their two MVPs. The result was a terrifying burst through the playoffs, as the Warriors swept the Western Conference playoffs. Portland offered no resistance. Utah put up a noble effort but still couldn't get a game. The Spurs led by 20 ... and then Kawhi Leonard went down with an injury when Zaza Pachulia stuck his foot out, and that was that. 

The result was a loss of playoff revenue so steep that it actually hurt the cap situation of teams trying to find room to compete with the Warriors. The Finals were supposed to be the last hope, the last chance, and there were those who foolishly kept telling you not to count out LeBron James. Well, I've covered five LeBron Finals, and I'm here to tell you: he knew. He spoke about Golden State with a tone of "What can I do? They won 73 games, I beat them, they added Kevin Durant." The Cavaliers managed to make things close with a chance to win in Game 3 before Kevin Durant's cold-blooded, series-ending dagger. In the end, the Cavaliers got their requisite single face-saving game, but the end result was ... anticlimactic. 

It was therapeutic for Warriors fans after enduring the agony of the worst collapse in Finals history the year before, but even then, the whole thing felt like "yup, this is what's supposed to happen." There was very little drama, very little debate, and in the end, the result everyone was sure of happened. That doesn't generate a lot of conversation or interest. It just kind of is what it is. 

The Warriors are one of the best teams in NBA history, and you can put their championship run up against any team in NBA history for the best playoff performance ever. But there's also a legitimate question of what this means for the sport. If the best or second-best player of all time stands no chance against this team, what does it mean for the sport's competitiveness? It hasn't been a problem so far, thanks to an extremely wild offseason, but the question remains: what happens to a competitive sports league when it's not truly competitive at the highest level?

LeBron is invulnerable to age and mileage

In 2017, his 14th season in the league, LeBron James averaged a career high in assists and rebounds. In the first two months of 2017-18, he's averaging a career high in 3-point percentage, but that's been talked about and dissected; it's been written about extensively. 

Except, now, he's averaging a career-high in assists. And shooting a career-high on 2-point shots (63 percent). And a career-high 78.5 percent from the free-throw line. And he's 0.4 rebounds away from a career high in those, too. He's literally having his best statistical season in every regard except raw points per game. 

Only Kobe Bryant had played in more games by age 32, and did so with fewer minutes, and that's just including regular-season games.

James is proof of a trend we've seen, from Tim Duncan to Manu Ginobili to Vince Carter. Conditioning, health science and nutrition are paving the way for athletes to remain in their prime, and then serviceable, for way longer than before. James is realistically still going to be the best player on his team when he's 36, and that's straight up bonkers. 

Every point we think we've reached where James cannot be better than he has been, he then blows past it like a poor center switched onto him. What will be discussed most is his all-encompassing skill, but this is also a testament to the work that James puts in. You can mock all those Instagram videos he puts up, but those are the real reason he's still able to do this; James has never cheated the game, not a day in his life, and the result is incomparable performance night in and night out. 

The most exciting part of the NBA season is the offseason

I went to Moab for a quick vacation. No big deal, just four days with the family in between the draft and the start of free agency, which is always crazy. "Nothing will happen," I told my wife. "That's a quiet zone." 

Chris Paul got traded to the freaking Houston Rockets. 

I took a trip to Virginia to see some friends. Just a weekend trip to see an old college friend and have our kids play together. It was the end of July and most GMs were off on their own vacations. "Nothing will happen," I told my wife. All the fireworks are over. 

Kyrie Irving's trade demand broke. 

I went for a day -- one single day, less than 24 hours -- to Salt Lake City for a wedding. "Nothing will happen," I told my wife. "It's been wild, but we're done until at least training camp.

Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

This summer rewrote every cliche about how crazy NBA offseasons are. I would say we'll never see anything like it again, but it would be the fourth or fifth time I've said that in the last 10 years. It did, however, take it to a new level. Every scribe, podcaster, radio host and TV personality who spends time covering the league has their own story about where they were and what they were trying to do when the news of some huge deal went down. In total, 66 players with at least one All-Star appearance changed teams in the span of three months between June and September. 

Paul George, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Gordon Hayward (remember the Fourth of July debacle over his announcement?), Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, Paul Millsap, J.J. Redick, Eric Bledsoe, Dwight Howard ... the list goes on and on of players who switched uniforms since last year. 

The result has been increased ratings this regular season. Everything has been flipped. The offseason is thrilling, "stay on your phone every second checking what's happening" drama. The regular season is fascinating and competitive, with superstar matchups and explosive performances every night. The playoffs? Ho-hum, the Warriors win again. What's interesting is that this might be an actually better growth strategy for the league. A dynamite dynasty to attract the casual viewers who only want to see greatness, a super-compelling offseason and intriguing regular season to keep the die-hards engaged. It flips the standard models on their heads, but it also makes the best use of the NBA's ever-expanding digital presence. 

If nothing else, it's clear that when it comes to the summer, the NBA season doesn't really ever stop. It just switches gears. 

Did I mention that LeBron James is a free agent this summer?


We also learned ...

There's plenty more to figure out in the coming months, plenty more to speculate about, plenty more to enjoy. Here's wishing all of our readers a safe and enjoyable holiday season, and a happy new basketball year.