Fuck Yea[h] NBA

I own a television set made some time in the 1980’s. It was a gift from my grandfather, and as such, I am loathe to get rid of it—even as it refuses to adapt to anything resembling a modern convenience.

My lady friend recognized I’d be without a connection to my beloved NBA this season—aside from the sometimes streaming games I steal, and got me a gift of a Choice NBA Broadband package (if you want to know what love is—this is a good place to start—because she’s intimately aware of how much this will distract me from relationship primers, but got it for me anyway because she knew it was something I could use and wanted). This package allows me to select 5 teams to follow throughout the season.

Sure, I am a frequent visitor at local bars in my Brooklyn neighborhood, but those bars would just as soon serve PBR at $4 a can than put a television set with an NBA package in their homey bar. The Williamburg market is short on sports fans—unless you count retro jerseys as some sort of indication of fandom. I don’t.  

So, I spent a large part of Christmas Day vacillating among the 30 teams in the league that make up my choices. I selected 4 teams to follow pretty quickly:

• New York Knicks. They are my hometown team, and they are the team I cheer the hardest for, so this was an easy pick even though they would be playing on the MSG network throughout the season. It doesn’t matter because my television is a dinosaur: it’s unable to even house an antennae to pick up local channels.
• Oklahoma City Thunder. I don’t think I need to wax poetic about this team and it’s humble star any more than I already have.
• Miami Heat. To say watching this team is a secret foible would be to admit they’re domination and stacked starting lineup is somehow the antithesis of good basketball. It’s not; it’s the reason to watch every one of the Heat’s games. Watching for writing and analytical purposes and because they are a helluva a lot of fun too, but primarily because they’re the most talented team in the league even if they’re a big shoddy in 4th quarters.
• Los Angeles Clippers. Well, “Lob City” didn’t exactly start last night (that one Blake dunk was fun), but Chris Paul, if he can stay healthy, makes them the best team in LA—sorry Kobe. 

So, that’s where we’re at, and I now I need to pick a fifth team to round out my NBA Broadband access, and I’m turning to you, the readers, to tell me who I should add. Here are some teams I’ve contemplated selecting throughout the morning:

• Chicago—if only to send Kristin Joakim Noah jpegs, but primarily because they’re one of the best teams in the East and watching the maturation of Derrick Rose, the year after he won the league’s MVP, would be nice.
• Boston Celtics, to appease my pops, but I’m not sure I can handle 82 games of Kevin Garnett posturing. 
• Indiana Pacers, I know this is weird, but I have family from Indiana and Larry Bird made some smart moves this off-season. David West, Darren Collison, Danny Granger and Dahntay Jones means I’d most likely exceed my quota for D-heavy names, but they’re going to be good. I’m serious.
• Minnesota Timberwolves. I like Ricky Rubio’s game and Kevin Love’s even more so. Michael Beasley fascinates me, but that’s probably the hash I’m smoking talking. The problem? Kahn will find  way to ruin it, and I hate the thought of watching him fuck up their rotation with his meddling. Rick Adelman should wield a heavy stick, which keeps them in the running.
• Memphis Grizzlies. I almost said, fuck it, and locked them in with my fifth and final spot before writing this, and I still might do that because I fuckin’ LOVE <3 Z-Bo. Everything about him fascinates me—not the least of which is an offensive game that resides on the court more than the air. His jumper is a set shot! He doesn’t jump! Anyway, with Z-Bo and Marc, they’re a good team and entertaining to watch and write about.
• The Lakers. They still have Kobe, and he isn’t going to let them quit on this season. Plus, the image of Mike Brown trying to corral Kobe is like a never-ending Christmas gift. 
• The Dallas Mavericks. They’re the defending champs, and once Dirk Nowitzki gets into playing shape, and Lamar adapts to his change of environment, they’ll be among the best teams in the West. 
• The San Antonio Spurs still have Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich, Manu Ginolbli and Tony Parker and they did finish with the best record in the West last year.

So those are the remaining contenders. Not it’s up to you to decide for me, so I don’t continue to second guess myself. Who would you go with?