Thoughts From The Man Cave

I need a favorite NBA team to curse at. So I’m asking for you guys to help me out.

I’ve always liked the NBA. Hell, it was probably the first sport I liked thanks to Michael Jordan. Like every kid who grew up in the 90′s, I was a Chicago Bulls fan because of Jordan and once he retired I stopped caring about the NBA.

Now, thanks to modern technology that puts the NBA on television pretty much every night and the fact that I have three TVs in the Man Cave and something needs to be on every TV every second of the day, I’ve grown to like the NBA again. It’s also helped that NBA 2K12 is the best sports game on the market today.

Here’s my problem though: I don’t have a favorite NBA team. I watch all these games on TV but don’t have a rooting interest in any of them. I either cheer for the best story or take the cynical approach and hope the best story fails. I’m thinking of getting addicted to gambling and betting on every televised game so I’ll be invested in them, but I’m too poor to develop a strong gambling habit.

So who should I cheer for? Here are the teams that I like and feel I can get behind:

The Chicago Bulls – As mentioned, I was a Bulls fan in the 90′s. The only NBA jersey I have is a #23 Michael Jordan jersey. Granted I bought it when I was like 8 and it obviously doesn’t fit me anymore, but it’s got to count for something, right? Should I go back to the Bulls even though I left them and the NBA when Jordan left or would that be too much like bandwagon jumping since they’re now good again and have the best point guard in the league?

The Phoenix Suns – Steve Nash has been one of my favorite players in the league for years now because of his style. When I was younger and had dreams of playing in the NBA, before I realized that I was too small, white, and not athletically gifted, I always envisioned myself of a Nash-like player because I always liked getting my teammates involved and passing first. The problem here is that Nash is 38. He only has a couple of years left in the league and those years probably won’t be spent in Phoenix.

The New York Knicks – I like Mike D’Antoni and his system. Granted his system hasn’t worked until Jeremy Lin came along, but even before Linsanity, I found myself checking up on the Knicks because of D’Antoni’s style that turned Phoenix into one of the most exciting teams in recent memory. If I become a Knicks fan now though, it’ll look like I’m just jumping on the Lin bandwagon. At least I have a good reason to jump on the Lin bandwagon since I can write it off as showing support to my fellow Jeremy.

The Oklahoma City Thunder – Kevin Durant is my favorite player in the league right now. He’s a great player, exciting to watch, and most importantly, he has a great personality and understands the business side of the game. If I bought a NBA jersey tomorrow, it’d be a Durant jersey. Once again though, I worry about bandwagon jumping. Even though I’ve been a Durant fan since Texas, the Thunder are one of the best teams in the league right now and I don’t want to be labeled as just being a fan because they’re good. I also don’t want Seattle hating me.

The Charlotte Bobcats – Obviously no one would accuse me of jumping on the bandwagon here. In fact, I could probably get some pity points. So why the Bobcats? Well, Michael Jordan owns the team, so at least that attachment will continue to be there even though he’s more or less run the team into the ground, and because I live in North Carolina so the Bobcats are my hometown team. Do I really want to put myself through that though? When I watch NBA games I’d like to actually be involved with them and not know that the game is over when the referee throws the ball up in the air.

So those are my top five choices and now I’m looking for help to decide on which team I should get behind. Or feel free to tell me that I shouldn’t invest my time in any team because it’s too painful and I’ll probably develop a drug habit, which means I’ll have to take up a gambling in order to pay for my drugs.