To date, these NBA Playoffs have been a morass of nothingness. I watched the OKC-Houston series. Then I watched several games of the Houston-San Antonio series and several games from the Boston-Washington series. Otherwise, nothing has garnered my interest as an ardent NBA fan of over fifty years.
There’s no reason to watch. There’s nothing there worth watching until it’s LeBron vs. Nike’s West Coast All-Star Team in the Finals. I’ll watch those games just to see if the addition of Durant to the West Coast Nike All-Stars is enough to get Durant the championship he so much craves.
That should be a compelling series. But here’s the thing, we all knew this back on July 4th, 2016. So, in essence the fans of the other twenty-eight teams basically wasted their money and time going through a marathon 82 game regular season and three rounds of the NBA Playoffs.
In an age of relative parity in the other major sports, there is no competitive drama whatsoever in the NBA. None.
Think about the other sports. The Atlanta Falcons just made a Super Bowl and would have won it if not for an epic comeback by Tom Brady’s Patriots. The Chicago Cubs won a World Series. And if you’re a hockey fan like I am, you realize the Nashville Predators need only one more win against the Anaheim Ducks to get to the Stanley Cup Finals.
In other words, fans around in the other sports leagues have some skin in the game. Fans of the other twenty-eight NBA teams have no skin in the game currently unless you’re either a fan of the Cavs or Warriors.
In the past, we knew it was a given LeBron’s team would be in the Finals. But until Durant’s defection to Golden State there was always legitimate competitive drama in the Western Conference Playoffs. Some of the best basketball was actually played in the West leading into the Finals. But not now.
Here’s the thing, I’m completely over Durant leaving Oklahoma City. But as an overall fan of the NBA this is the part which pissed me off the most. The fact that by Durant joining the Warriors instead of say the Spurs, the Celtics, the Wizards, or even the Clippers we as fans now have nothing from a team standpoint worth watching unless you’re Durant’s mother or one of his handlers.
By contrast, the NHL is having an incredible post season. Defending champion Pittsburgh defeated the Washington Capitals in an epic seven game series in the East Semi-Finals. In both conferences, the four teams left standing, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Nashville, and Anaheim all have a chance at winning the Cup. The games have been excellent and it’s what I’ve been following as a sports fan. In fact, the Penguins and Senators have a huge Game 5 later today which I’ll be watching. By contrast, why would I watch either of the NBA Conference Finals?
Kevin Durant made some remark last night about how if you don’t like one-sided boring non-competitive games–then don’t watch.
Hey, Kevin, you’re precisely correct.
I stopped watching. It was a waste of time.