I used to love the NBA growing up from the tail end of the 80s, through the 90s, and even through the 2000s. I was a Knicks fan as a kid since Cincy didn’t have a team and I loved the hard-nosed, defense-minded play of the Knicks in the 90s. I remember the Dirk-Nash-Finley Mavs being super fun to watch, and then the Seven Seconds or Less Suns with Nash, Stoudemire, Marion, etc. I loved the Knicks’ 1990s rivalries with the Bulls, Pacers and Heat.
My interest started to wane when LeBron turned his back on Cleveland to form the superteam in Miami.
Now, outside of maybe Christmas Day games and last year’s Finals, I basically waved the white flag on the NBA after the 2019 Finals when Toronto beat Golden State.
Too much of the game is just shooting threes and flopping around trying to draw fouls. James Harden might be the worst perpetrator of this style of play. There are also seemingly no rivalries anymore. And too many guys miss too many games due to rest.
Lastly and most importantly, the NBA right now has a large amount of stars who are just not likable — and those teams seem to be on TV all the time. That list includes Kyrie Irving, James Harden, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Draymond Green. They’re all great players, but have significant flaws that make me not want to be a fan.
Meanwhile, I do like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Giannis, Jimmy Butler and DeMar DeRozan, among others. But I don’t know if I’ll really ever get back to being much of an NBA fan.
It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …