Hello again, everyone…feels good to be back to a free-write. These last couple of weeks have been pretty eventful. I guess I’ll use this blog as a little vent session to make up for it.
In my first blog, I gave a brief history of the NBA Lockout and how it has affected my life. Well, something pretty awful happened. NBA commissioner David Stern announced the cancellation of the first two weeks of the NBA season. There hasn’t really much else to say about that.
However, something pretty awesome happened. Both the NBA TV and MSG networks have been playing classic NBA games from the early ‘90s (since it is considered illegal to play any games that contain any NBA players that are currently playing in the league because the lockout disallows it).
There are a few ways of reacting to this. While, on one hand, I am saddened that training camp hasn’t begun on time and the first two weeks are cancelled, I am happy to see that these networks are playing classic games from a time period that ultimately made me a fan. The gritty-ness that these players displayed (before absurd player and TV contracts came into play) reminded me of why I became an obsessed fan.
During this time, the league displayed players who placed commitment above all. Their physical and mental makeup was designed around a team concept rather than any individual accolades. These players would never pull a Lebron James and decide to join the “enemy.” They remained committed to their cities, striving to give that city a time to remember through sports.
Leaving your respective cities, unless you were traded, was basically unheard of. Players based their contracts around the success of their team, relating their contracts to other players on their team because they ultimately wanted to win in the city that they played in. Were they still making millions of dollars? Of course! This is America, where famous people rule just about everything. These players, though, gave their fans a different feel.
So, while the league continues this absurd lockout, I’ve found a way to get my basketball fix. I hope that, through this process, today’s players realize just how awesome that time was for basketball fans. Maybe they can learn a thing or two.
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