This week the news spread all over the world (wide web) like a wildfire. The NBA Lockout is over! Players and officials have found an agreement and will settle their differences. We will see a short season (66 games) and it will start with an amazing triple-header on X-Mas day, December 25th. So hey, let’s celebrate. Basketballfans all over around the globe. The NBA’s back. Wooohoo wait a minute…
back in time - a ball, a hoop, a game
Merry X-Mas everybody
First I have to say that I am happy that we’ll be able to see some NBA action this season. For various reasons. One of them is that I’m happy to see my homie Dirk Nowitzki getting his Championship Ring in front of the eyes of ‘The King’ and his army the Miami Heat (Game number one this season: Mavs vs. Heat). Furthermore I am happy that Dirk (and some other older superstars) don’t have to play in shitty (sorry) leagues and ruin their game in order to fit in the European or Chinese style. And wouldn’t it be kinda sad to see the NBA Champion (again: and other superstars) playing for Bayreuth, Bamberg, Marbella or Chiangzu? So yeah, glad the NBA will be back. And man…on Christmas. Perfect. As good as it gets. Don’t you think?
However the ‘I want to see my stars and some entertainment around x-mas’ is not the only reason why I am happy to have the NBA back. Before talking about this though I think I have to get some clearance out there since some of you might already think why I consider it necessary to talk about a simple ‘ballgame’. Furthermore – those who know me better – know that I’ve been playing Volleyball for more than 15 years now and that I’ve been a coach for as longs as ten years. So why the obsession with Basketball and the NBA? Well…
Back in time – A ball, a hoop, a game – Magic.
Let me take you back a little. It was 1992. Little, stout, Sascha is just enjoying the freedom of his first ever cable tv and comes across, besides Baywatch and MTV, a in Germany totally unknown sport channel which showed the 1992 NBA season. As well live (in the middle of the night) as replays during the day time. This was the first time I saw somebody moving this little orange ball with the greatest of ease while defying gravity, logic and all other laws of nature. This somebody was, of course, Michael Jordan. I clearly remember that I couldn’t stop watching his games, replays of old games and highlights over and over again. It was this fascination that made me understand that sport is so much more and it was the motivation that came out of these moments that made me try so many sports and having fun with most of them. Most importantly though it made me clear that, if you work hard enough, you can achieve everything. Afterwards I went on to become a huge NBA fan witnessing the Bulls era and, of course, the incredible REAL DREAM TEAM in Barcelona 1992. But it all started with His Airness on cable tv.
Almost 20 years later, Volleyball is still my number one sport and always will be, I still find myself quite often out on the Basketball court. Even here, in the outskirts of Thailand I go out on a lonely sunday afternoon, grab one of those not really round orange balls and try to beat Steve Kerr’s incredible 3-pointer performance or MJ’s hangtime (with a lot of imagination it works).
Screwed
However there is always a downside to an upside. The upside: We will see Basketball. The downside: We all know how less this game means to the 430 (the amount of players in the players union) people who are playing it on a professional level. Why that? Well…they are the reason the lockout happened!
‘Wait wait wait’ I hear you say. Shouldn’t we blame the bad team owners who want to save too much money on the account of the poor players? Poor players…it’s actually fascinating that my usually very smart auto-correct tool here in WordPress doesn’t mark this as ‘grammatical error’. Poor players. In one sentence. Next to each other…a physical impossibility.
Don’t get me wrong though. I totally understand one players’ argument. The argument ‘If we say yes to everything the team owners say, they will cut off everything and won’t pay us anymore’. I understand this point and can say it is totally val bullshit. No players, no game. It’s as easy as that. And in a time where you all earn MILLIONS of dollars you are not being able to say ‘ok, I’ll only take 10 instead of 12 million’ really sucks. It sucks even more knowing that you all know that most of the teams are in the red.DEEP DEEP DEEP in the red. But what do I, the poor poor, player care?
See, that’s what’s pissing me off and that’s what is the downside. I will be happy seeing some decent Basketball action on the screen but I am deeply disappointed and depressed to see that most of the guys playing there don’t give a shit about anything else except themselves and their growing wallet.
So yeah NBA, bring on the X-Mas triple-header. I’ll grab a cold coke, some chips and send insults straight to Lebron’s face on my screen – Nevertheless this won’t be like before. The ‘heroes’ have shown their ugly faces and are now nothing more than modern times gladiators.
I might stay a Basketball enthusiast but I will never be a real fan again.
