I don’t like the NBA that much.
Ever since Michael Jordan and Co. started to depart toward the end of the 90s, I lost interest. However, I haven’t lost interest in the sport itself but call me old fashion. It just doesn’t seem the same to me now.
Granted, I was still in junior high at the height of excitement when Jordan, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Scottie Pippen and Patrick Ewing, to name a few, dazzled us every night on the floor. It was great basketball to watch and basketball, at the time, was a close second behind baseball to being my favorite sport.
But since Kobe Bryant made the Lakers relevant last decade with Phil Jackson and Shaq, I haven’t been as fond of the NBA. Instead, I followed college basketball more intently because it felt more exciting, especially around March. It didn’t hurt having Nevada make some noise in the country by reaching the Sweet 16 in 2004 to begin a stretch of four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
But recently, a pseudo-local NBA team has been slowly grabbing my attention.
Golden State, which plays its home games across from the Raiders’ stadium, turned in the best record in the NBA this season and will host a first-round series of the playoffs beginning Saturday. Golden State hosts New Orleans in a best-of-7 series and will try to win a championship for the first time since 1975.
Golden State turned in an impressive regular season, winning a franchise-best 67 games and lost only twice at home in 41 contests. Wow. But just as impressive, this team never lost more than three games in a month and only one other team has accomplished that feat.
The Warriors are an exciting group to watch and it begins with Stephen Curry, the college star from Davidson who helped redefine the meaning of a true upset. The 28-year-old is the NBA’s version of American Sniper as he’s lethal from anywhere behind the 3-point line. He’s that good.
While the team, under ex-Bulls 3-point sniper Steve Kerr, begins and ends with Curry, there’s much more to this Bay Area club.
Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut dominate the paint as each are in the team’s top two for blocking and rebounding. And while Curry averages almost 24 points per game, his counterpart, Klay Thompson, is right behind him with just under 22.
It will be an exciting month to watch the NBA playoffs unfold with many storied teams in the hunt for basketball’s top prize. Will it be the seasoned Spurs as they take on the Clippers? Will Atlanta continue its hot regular-season success into the postseason as the Hawks entertain Brooklyn? Or will Lebron be able to finally give Cleveland a championship its longed for in any sport?
The NBA playoffs pale in comparison to March Madness but when you have a local team to root for with Golden State, it gives the postseason an extra pump of adrenaline, especially when the Warriors were the NBA’s best in the regular season.
Will the Bay Area have another championship parade this year?
We’ll know soon.
Thomas Ranson can be contacted at lvnsports@yahoo.com.