11 games in (12 for some) of the 2019/20 NBA season and it’s heartening, at last, to see some welcome names back at the top of the standings…
Boston Celtics lead the Eastern Conference with a 9-1 record (unbeaten at home) and the Los Angeles Lakers lead the West with a 9-2 record (with only a single loss each at home and on the road). The Lakers are followed by the Rockets and the Jazz… the appearance of all 4 teams at the top takes me back to the years when I believed the NBA was worth following – where the plays weren’t overshadowed by the egos, the players weren’t blinded in the quest for eye-watering salaries and the refs actually called stuff rather than practically presenting players with a passport for their travels or ball carries (when the dribbling hand appears below the “equator” of the ball on a dribble).
Only the (current) poor show of form from teams like Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons have somewhat sullied my romantic nostalgia.
I don’t take any pleasure in seeing any team go from hero to zero but it’s interesting to watch the dynamics and team persona of someone like Golden State who went from turning down trips to the White House to a 2-10 current performance through unfortunate injuries to key players and the loss of others during the off-season. It’s times like these that show the true measure of a team and, more importantly, those players on the court and on the bench who owe it to the rest of us to put in 110% effort, at BOTH ends of the court, to keep the spirit of the sport I love alive.
I shall watch with interest in the hope that we may see another Celtics/Lakers final at last… and that the great sport of basketball will rise again from the ashes of what has been, in my opinion, a long cold period of mediocrity, narcissim and prima-dona-ism.
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