Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that takes just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech, business, and politics.

I'm Dan Pramak. On today's show, something pretty terrifying from the world of health care and a new heavyweight fight between business titans Carl Icahn and Michael Dell.

But first, basketball. The NBA tips off its new season tonight in Boston, where the Celtics will face the Philadelphia 76ers.

And to borrow a business term, the leak seems to be at an inflection point.

Specifically, there's lots of rumblings, including among sports agents, about how the NBA is poised to become America's new pastime,

as baseball continues to struggle, and the NFL

deals with controversies ranging from players kneeling to getting traumatic brain injuries.

Now, according to Forbes, every NBA team is now valued at over $1 billion for the first time

ever. It is the only major sports outfit in North America to operate a women's league,

and it's also fully embraced both e-sports and the prospect of sports betting, not only in casinos and race tracks,

but potentially inside of NBA arenas themselves. Plus, no other league has players quite so

active on social media or in the broader content space as the NBA does, whether that's

things like LeBron James's burgeoning

digital media empire or Kyrie Irving as Uncle Drew in movie theaters. In fact, the NBA's biggest

question mark right now isn't the business. It's on the court itself, where the league's been

dominated for the past two years by a super team in Golden State and where some of its largest markets,

including New York, are expected to

once again be terrible. But if the NBA can keep its product alluring, then we might begin

talking about it like we talked about the NFL last decade, or Major League Baseball in the

1960s and 1970s. In 15 seconds, we'll go deeper on this with Wickrow Speck, co-owner of the Boston Celtics.

But first,

this. Axios chief technology correspondent, Enah Freed, shares breaking news and analysis on the most

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