Why do we love basketball? There’s plenty of sports out there, why this one? What makes this game so special?
Who wants all the predictions to be right? What would the point be of watching the games if all that has been said before hand comes true? I want to have some measure of suspense.
It’s why we watch the games. We want to see what’s going to happen. We, as the audience, need to see the result unfold before our eyes.
We’ve seen Jerry West’s half court shot. That’s a memory that’ll never leave the halls of NBA history, but what it was originally was a surprise.
What about the picture on the top of the page? The Mavericks were massive favorites to not only defeat the lowly 8th seeded Warriors, but to possibly win it all. How did that work out?
Everyone has seen the shot a thousand times, but how many people would’ve bet on the Bulls knocking off a higher ranked Cleveland team in 1989?
Did anyone expect LeBron James to give one of the greatest playoff performances ever in the minutes leading up to the game five showdown with the Pistons? I know I didn’t see that explosion coming.
What about Kobe Bryant’s 81 point game? Even though he had scored 63 points in a game against Dallas earlier in that season, I don’t think anyone expected to see an 80 point game in the world of post-Wilt.
As much as any reason for why we love basketball is that there are very few certainties. On any given night any team can beat any other team. The talent level is that high, and the game of basketball lends itself to those possibilities
Basketball is rarely a game of force. The sport is more about finesse and accuracy. Given that a lot of what goes into a team playing well is mental, that creates openings in every game we watch.
Your team is down by twenty points? They can always come back in basketball.
Any player can catch fire on any given night, and for that one night, become unstoppable.
It’s about desire, focus and having a lot of luck. No team has ever won an NBA championship without having had a great deal of luck on their side at one time or another.
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