Dear basketball,
I’m not sure when you quit being pure game and turned into pure production, but you have. From the Kardashian’s, Jack Nicholson’s and Spike Lee’s fanship of the Lakers to the biggest publicity stunt of a trade and Lebron James, the NBA is as big of a drama as ABC’s ‘The Bachelor.’ The majority of players are more worried about personal stats and salaries than playing defense or the betterment of the team.
On top of that, you have all sorts of antics going on in the college realm. All sorts of new commentating techniques, talk of nationwide courts looking like Oregon’s intriguing yet hideous one and a bunch of young adults just trying to make a name for themselves. More defense is played here than the NBA, but college has even become more of a production than pure game.
Yet, we’re still enamored with you. At the root of it, we love you and the game in its’ purest form. We love a good upset and court storming, a heartfelt success story of a should have been nobody turned somebody because of you and the excitement you facilitate. However, I think we also love the production.
Following Kevin Durant on Twitter, watching student section flash mobs and highlighting celebrity fans and player’s dating relationships adds to the hype surrounding you. In a culture that bores easily, we want to be kept on our toes. Whether it’s a positive or negative, I’m not sure yet. Either way, you’ve done a great job keeping up with trends.
Specifically, I’d like to give mad props to the NBA. I don’t even watch the NBA minus the Thunder and All-Star Weekend, but it does things well. It leads any major venue in philanthropy with ‘NBA Cares’ and does the best job of any sport of being innovative. This weekend, NBA All-Star weekend, has not disappointed. As Lebron, KD, Kobe, DWade, etc. exchange ridiculous plays tonight, I think my favorite portion of the weekend is the dunk contest. Sure, it’s all just a big production, but still really fun!
So, in honor of you and your production abilities, here are a couple dunk contest highlights (click pictures for the videos)
(Blake Griffin dunking over a car…the dunk’s not that great, but the showmanship’s stellar…I think he’s looking for a Space Jam 2 contract!)
(My favorite dunk…yes, I’m biased because I love the Thunder, but this was creative! If Ibaka would’ve gotten it on his first try and not gotten screwed on his first dunk, he may have moved on!)
I have come to realize I just really love you in any form. Sure, you’ve become quite the drama lately in the NBA and even the NCAA, but I still just love the game. Teaching basketball at K-West is a highlight of my day, and every once in awhile I get the urge to coach. Who knows what will come of that, but in the meantime, I’ll continue to appreciate you for the game and laugh at the antics.
May you continue to change with the times while remaining true to the game,
Lover of you in any form
Letters for Lindsay 