It is a weird time in the calendar year to be a sports fan. Many are still coming down from the highs that were the NBA Finals, the United States Women’s Soccer Team winning the World Cup, and some other — eh — notable (Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, I am looking at you!) sporting events. That said, we have officially hit the lull stages of quality sports.
To be fair, there’s Major League Baseball… if that’s your thing. It isn’t mine. I won’t talk about how absurd it would be to act like game 90 in a 162-game season is urgent, or make any other backhanded statement on the sport — though I suppose I just did.
The dog days of this particular part of the summer do not apply to you, MLB lovers. You do you. You do your baseball thing while others — NBA, college basketball, NFL, college football, and even NHL — fans are left pondering their favorite team’s next move, or if highly sought-after prospects, rookies, etc., will save their favorite organization from the pits of hell.
None of that actually matters, though. Not when you are a sports consumer and you currently have rather limited options when it comes to what sporting events you can put on your picture-box… except for some rather grand alternatives out there for people willing to give the good life a chance.
Firstly, watch some boxing. It is a great sport. The PBC is now on nearly every sports and television network in the country, giving away some quality fights for free. Alas, this is an NBA site. I won’t go into all the gory boxing details. You, friend, will simply have to trust me on that.
Here is the deal: There’s NBA action going on right now. Like, literally, this very second (depending on when you are reading this). Granted, there’s no LeBron dunking over humans, or Delly causing a racial stir, or even Riley Curry around to anger some older, likely male media member.
That said, there are plenty of reasons to watch the NBA Summer League.
It is, mostly, the first chance for many NBA fans to see the newest rookies in action on their teams. Whether that’s seeing if Jahlil Okafor is the reincarnation of a Space Jam Monstar come to life; if Justise Winslow will end up being the steal of the century; or if Mario Hezonja will back up his cockiness with some magical play on the court for Orlando, the NBA Summer League has plenty to offer.
In all honesty, the games can often get ugly to watch. Your eyeballs may attempt to escape the insides of your craniums when some 28-year-old rookie jumps in the air with no one around, all while being guarded by four defenders. Your brain might turn to mush when that rookie hurls the ball in the general direction of the basket, only for it to land on top of someone else’s dome. Then again, that might be your kind of thing for all you know. Don’t rip “hate watching” or “train wreck viewing” until you have tried it.
But wait, there’s more!
There are honest to goodness spurts of solid hoops in the NBA Summer League. A guy — known or unknown — might get hot, slide into a jump shooting groove, and finish up his NBA Jam hot streak with a dunk over your barista from Starbucks (this is a thing that may happen).
All bad jokes aside, people have and will spend a large portion of their time complaining about a lack of quality sports on TV. Some will yearn for football, others will scream about tennis or something (what is tennis), and a few might talk about yesteryear or plans to start a family. If you, or anyone you know, fit into that category, you need to stop now — the NBA Summer League is good enough of a watch to prevent you from prematurely starting a family!
And, well, really… that is all I have. There’s no way to quantify how watching the Summer League is great with some complex formula, because it is only one man’s opinion. Sure, most of these guys won’t be on NBA rosters, so you might not want to watch.
What’s a great reason to watch? IT’S BASKETBALL ON TV!
Hooray, hoops!
That’s really what this is all about.
You’re a hoops junkie. You say you claim to want some interesting sports to watch in the summer months? Get yourself to the NBA Summer League. It’s that simple.
