End of Season Reaction
2022 was a difficult season to watch for me. In my selfish fan’s lens, the three things I root for the most are 1.) LeBron James 2.) Portland Trail Blazers success and 3.) Golden State Warriors failure. This was the first season in 10+ years in which none of those three things hit. Regardless, the love of the game is always there which still had me tuning in irrespective of the disappointment I might have been setting myself up for.
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This all got me thinking more about what the NBA does and is for me. I was thinking about what draws me to this game year after year, in good times and bad. The conclusion I came to is that this outlet, like many other outlets/passions/people, provides an opportunity and forum to lean into the best parts of yourself. It has taught me that even when things aren’t necessarily going your way, I will always have an inherent refusal to turn my back and give up on something that’s brought me so much joy. It provides me a platform to showcase my best qualities, and helps me work on some of my lesser ones. That’s how I know the love is real; even when it hurts, I still want to watch. I still want to be there. I still want to feel it. No matter how much I try to keep myself occupied with other things, I always find my mind coming back to the game I love.
But maybe that’s just me; I’m a weirdo eternal optimist, always finding slivers of hope for a great outcome. You can ask my brother and cousin — together we’re the NBA Browntable — as I tried to convince them for 6 straight games that Jayson Tatum was about to go off during the next in the Finals and once he did, the title was going to the Celtics and that third thing I selfishly root for could be checked off. That obviously didn’t happen as we saw the Warriors lifting that trophy after the final buzzer, but the hope never faded.
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Digging deeper into the basketball of it all, let’s first start with the champs. As much as I dislike that Warriors team (credit the high volume of obnoxious Warriors fans I’ve met in my college and early professional life), the respect is there. What they’ve accomplished over the past 8 years is remarkable and there is no denying Steph’s place as an all-time great.
I will say this title is the most impressive to me. Not necessarily because of the teams they beat, but the preceding adversity of injuries and setbacks. I’m not a Klay Thompson fan, but it’s great to see him back on the court; overcoming arguably the two most devastating injuries an athlete can endure, and all the outside noise of him being done, he stuck with it and never lost faith; I respect the hell out of that. And as much as I hate to admit, this roster is built to be very good for the foreseeable future: the rise of Jordan Poole, a resurrected Andrew Wiggins, Steph maintaining elite status, Klay back and Draymond keeping pace with his backpack on, me and the rest of the Browntable are nervous.
However, the optimist in me sees a few things: the Bucks, what the Nets could do when healthy and complete, Boston getting another year of maturity and likely a piece or two in free agency, an angry Phoenix after they didn’t get their shot at the Warriors, and Miami with Pat Riley quarterbacking the seek for that last star piece. All this together has me going into next season hopeful we’ll see a different outcome in June 2023.
As far as the Blazers, I’m excited to see Dame play again and maybe we’ll hit big with this draft. Also, Phil Knight’s anticipated ownership might bring us some good luck in free agency. In any breath, it can’t be as bad as this past season.
And finally for LeBron. Irrespective of the Lakers drama, I’m just in awe of what he’s continuing to do year after year. Still playing at an extremely elite level going on 20 consecutive seasons in the league. At the core, I see him as the epitome of the combination of work ethic and hope. He doesn’t know if the cards will fall in his team’s favor next year, but that has never killed his spirit and desire to give it everything he’s got. He refuses to not put in all the work he possibly can to the game he loves, even if he might not be getting the outcome he wants; the love of the game he has and example he puts forward is contagious to life long fans like myself. Regardless of the odds or circumstances, there’s no doubt in his mind what he’s capable of and what he wants. To me, LeBron perfectly embodies the key line of one of my favorite songs: this is me trying.
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To conclude, while the playing season has come to an end for now, the NBA engine is still running with a lot of exciting things to look forward to over the next couple months. From the draft to free agency, the summer months will be great. Although, I will say it just doesn’t feel right when the games we love aren’t there to turn on every night. As someone who loves the game through all the highs and lows, I stay excited knowing that everyone will be back between the 4 lines soon enough. Of course, I can’t say for sure what’s in store for myself, but the love of the game persists and hopefully there will be renewed reason to dance around the kitchen when I write this closing post again a year from now.
