The NBA Lockout is about to go off a cliff Wile E. Coyote style towards the plunge of losing regular season games and possibly an entire season. Now, with the NFL and college football seasons underway, the Association has well and truly disappeared from the national landscape. For NBA fans, the lack of optimism emanating from labor talks is downright depressing. Sure, something may get done to save the 2011-2012 season, and there are some voices surrounding the situation that are optimistic… but we’re slowly marching towards accepting the fate that will soon be upon us. So, with the NBA vanishing before our very eyes, here’s ten ways to cure your lockout blues.
10) Watch Old Basketball Movies
Blue Chips, Hoosiers, Love and Basketball, Coach Carter, Glory Road, Space Jam, Celtic Pride, Juwanna Mann. These are all cinematic sporting classics that are worth a watch no matter how many times you’ve seen them. Ok, except for Juwanna Mann. There are some hidden classics out there too like Forget Paris. I can watch Billy Crystal play a basketball referee and eject Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from his last game a million times! That’s got to be one of the vastly underrated movie scenes of all-time.
9) Euroleague Basketball
This works for soccer, doesn’t it? More and more fans are in tune with the English Premier League and Champions League, so why can’t this transition to basketball? With Deron Williams playing in Turkey and more quality ball being played overseas, why not just pick a random team to root for and go all-in? Do some research and find a club that reminds you of your favorite NBA team. Get your team’s jersey, search for games on those online streaming sites that you’re not supposed to and follow the Euroleague just as you would the NBA season. I’m going with BC Zalgiris from Lithuania with Ty Lawson and Sonny Weems and because it was also the first club of European legend Arvydas Sabonis. See how fun this could be?
8) WNBA Playoffs!
(Thinking of something nice to say, thinking of something nice to say, thinking of something nice to say.)
Let’s come back to this one.
7) Read A Book
Sadly, our culture has largely lost its appreciation for a good book. With the lockout, what better chance to get caught up on the league’s history through The Book of Basketball from Bill Simmons. Even though the self-proclaimed Sports Guy is a polarizing figure, there’s no denying the page-turning quality of his finest work. Grab Jackie MacMullen’s book on the Bird/Magic rivalry. Pick up an autobiography of a famous player. Or, even though it’s someone associated with the college game, sit down with some wisdom from John Wooden. Use the lockout to your advantage and go out and learn!
6) Join A Rec League
This could be a perfect time to go out and play basketball instead of watching basketball. Perhaps you were an almost high school legend or ran with the ball up and down the court in an elementary league. This could be your chance to live out some of those NBA fantasies on your own terms. Join a local rec league and be that guy that takes it far too seriously and dive for loose balls like you’re Brian Cardinal earning that several million dollar paycheck. Go all out with a headband, some short shorts, or high socks. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up challenging the Goodman League too. After all, it can’t go worse than this…
5) NBATV
Classic games, roundtables, news updates, and WNBA Playoff games (ah, there we go!) are just a few of the viewing options. With ESPN becoming football central from now till February, the league channel is perhaps the only place to go to get an NBA fix these days.
4) Start A Fantasy Lockout League
This may take the most creative juices, but could be the most rewarding. You can track NBA players playing overseas, but also reward fantasy points for reporters breaking lockout related stories. Someone breaks a story about the CBA using unnamed sources? 50 points! Named sources – 100 points! Extend the game to the player and league representatives as well. Note how many columns Adrian Wojnarowski can still pound out that kill LeBron James. Take LeBron’s Twitter account and rack up points for however many times it pointlessly appears on SportsCenter. Have points deducted for former players ingesting marijuana. There’s no perfect system, but a Fantasy Lockout League could provide hours of entertainment and the perfect fix to get you through these months.
3) Build Your Own David Stern Dartboard
What better way to get out your frustration over the lockout than throwing sharp, pointy objects at a cutout of this lovely face…
2) Youtube
Youtube is a treasure trove of NBA clips. There are plenty of full games available including the highest scoring game in league history (Nuggets/Pistons) and countless playoff games. Many of these games are in fact the original broadcast as it happened. You can spend hours and hours and hours watching NBA clips on Youtube. Then, there are of course great highlight plays and videos that are infinite in number. Listen to Kevin Harlan yell, “WITH NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE” ten times or so and it’ll be guaranteed to make your lockout mood a little brighter.
1) Talk To Ron Artest’s Psychiatrist
After all, it worked for him.
