Sometime around the mid 80's, I fell in love with basketball. It all started with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles rivalry. My father pulled for Larry Bird and the Celtics, while I cheered on the Showtime Lakers.
Byron Scott was my favorite player and the guy I tried to emulate on the court. I can't even begin to fathom how many hours I spent shooting baseline jumpers from outside the three point line.
Did I choose the Lakers because they were good? Sadly... yes. I've never been proud of that. But I stuck with them when they started losing in the early to mid 90's.
It took a couple years to find a new favorite player after the Lakers released Scott, but Eddie Jones eventually ascended and claimed the throne. I was hoping he'd be a Laker for life, but that wasn't to be. In 1999, he was traded to the Charlotte Hornets.
Finding a new favorite player wasn't difficult, since that's about the same time when Kobe was beginning to blossom into one of the best players in the league.
Throughout most of the 2000's, I continued my Laker fandom. But then it hit me like an elbow from The Worm to the nose. The game of basketball started changing. Dream teams were being built. The Lakers traded for Gasol. Boston traded for Allen and Garnett. LeBron and Bosh signed with Miami.
My solution? Start cheering for the underdogs. I started to root more openly for the Golden State Warriors, who were my 2nd favorite team.
They're local, their tickets were always pretty affordable, and with guys like Monta Ellis and Steph Curry, they were fun to watch and collect.
But as luck would have it... they started winning too, which was the straw that broke the camel's back. I decided to focus on everything and anything outside of basketball. Honestly the decision was a lot easier than anticipated. And for the most part, I didn't regret my decision.
Well... until recently.
After watching some amazing college basketball, I have decided to start collecting basketball cards again. My focus will be on my favorite teams... the Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
I haven't figured out who my favorite, favorite team is, but I'll let you know after I see who wins the NBA Title.
Happy April Fool's Day and sayonara!
7 comments:
Great post-if you are going to pick your team, picking one of those great teams is right on, I mean does anyone collect the Hawks? Any one?
Great post. It is always fun to look back at what we've collected and even more fun to start down a new road in collecting. I'm a Hawks and Trail Blazers guys. Good luck.
I'm an Atlanta Hawks guys. Nique of course is tops on my list, Dan Roundfield, Jon Koncak (go figure), Stacey Augmon and Al Horford are just a few of my faves.
I guess I also got into basketball around the same time for the same reason. I was on your Dad's side. I just loved the way the Celtics passed the ball. Then came the Bulls glory years. That being said I wasn't collecting any cards during those years including basketball. Since the Derrick Rose playoff injuries I've lost interest. There are a lot of cool basketball cards out there. I love that last Bryon Scott.
Well played.
If you are really getting back into my favorite sport, I will be glad to send you some stuff.
B Man & Bulldog - I'll cheer for the Hawks as soon as they bring back my boy... Spud.
Hackenbush - Damn... I hated the Celtics in the 80's... and the Bulls in the 90's. Although... it was hard not to admire #23.
Cardboard Jones - Never had any hate for the Blazers. I'm a fan of the West Coast teams, so if I was to ever become a fan again. I'd cheer for your team if they were going against an Eastern Conference team.
SumoMenkoMan - Domo
Billy - Now that I'm getting more into MLS, it's not likely. But thanks for the offer.
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