Preseason NBA basketball is swell and all, but it’s not really the NBA. As the Wizards and Lakers showed us last night, preseason action is a lot like the varsity and junior varsity squaring off, and when two actual NBA teams play, we all worry about an injury in a meaningless game.
But that’s not the thrust of this post or the above video. It’s meant to celebrate the game and the league we all love. And, holy crap, do we love basketball. But why do we all play? We could wax poetic about why the DIME team does, but that would take more time than we have.
But in the clip the NBA put together they’ve got a nice collage of all that makes the game great.
There are Zach LaVine’s thunderous dunks, the Ice Bucket Challenge, wheelchair basketball (with a pretty slick over-the-head pass), Kevin Durant’s 66-point explosion at Rucker Park, someone who looks like our grandmother (RIP) shooting hoops, Larry and Magic DAP, Yao Ming as a basketball tutor, a pretty Jerry West baseline jumper, Kawhi Leonard diving on the hardwood in the first round against the Clippers, an underrated Chris Bosh video bomb (no, not the 2K one), Reed’s MSG entrance before Game 7, Reggie Miller slicing the throat of the Knicks, Luol Deng making a kid’s day, Jason Collins in the Gay Pride Parade, Becky Hammon shouting instructions in summer league, Sim Bhullar on draft day, and stars who reach the top of the mountain.
Basketball is so many things to so many people. So what if this is corny. Why do you play? Why do you watch? What do you love the most about the game?
(NBA)
