Introducing… The NBA Finals Revival
Reviewing the Modern History of the NBA Finals, One Game at a Time
Recently, I finally committed to getting the full NBA League Pass. Now, I have access to every game in the regular and post-season, which is pretty great. THEN, I saw that I had access to every NBA Finals game since the year 2000 (Y2K, BayBay!).
Now, growing up, I have always been a basketball fan. Born in 1984, BBall really became a point of interest for me when The Dream Team formed. Just like the rest of the world, at that time, I became enamored with these unstoppable charismatic juggernauts the moment they put on their Olympic USA basketball jerseys and posed for Sports Illustrated.
Well, that’s how I remember it… In all honesty, it was probably the McDonalds cups that brought them to my attention.
But anyway, The Dream Team became a global cultural phenomenon that changed the face of sports forever — By the way, do you think that The Dream Team knocked the WWF/E and Hulkamania off its pedestal (that, and the ’91 Wrestling Steroid Trail… But that’s a whole other story for a different writer).
After this captivating cadre of committed competitors captured the world stage, The Jordan Era really took shape in the NBA. MJ would dominate the 90’s. And as each season passed by, I entered further and further into my teenage years (Yeesh!). I became a diehard Allen Iverson fan and tried my best to replicate his swagger (a skinny, acne-faced, nervous white boy in baggy clothes… Don’t think I nailed it ).
Then by 2000, my family up and moved from Fairbanks, Alaska, to a small seaside town in Ireland called Bundoran (that’s also a whole other story).
This is where I started to lose touch with basketball and the NBA in general — We didn’t have the League Pass back then, kiddos!
So, in 2017, I finally got back into the league. I picked up the 3-game per month subscription and was instantly smitten with Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics. And after a couple of years of flirting with the league, my love for the game finally peaked this year.
I think I just needed the time to get used to the new names and dynamics. PLUS, what the hell!? They are shooting from the half-court logo now?!
So much has changed! I was still in my Larry Johnson, throws up the L for the 4-point play against the dastardly Pacers frame of how the game was played.
So that’s when I got the itch to start doing some homework. I wanted to know everything. How did we get here? What the hell is Small Ball? Is Bully Ball what I think it means? Is there such thing as Small Bully Ball?? Basically — What happened in the past 20 years while I took my eyes off of the court?
And that’s what brings me to this article. I had an idea: How about I watch every NBA Finals game since 2000.
21 years of basketball history! I can see the evolution of the game right before my eyes. And not just the sport itself, but the whole apparatus around it as well: the technology, the commentary, the fan base, etc. Then I had another idea. What if I chart my experience watching it right here on this very blog.
So that’s what we’re doing, rascals. For every NBA Finals game, starting from the year 2000, I will be back here to hurl my findings, feelings, and fancy theories. Trying to take in what it meant at the time, as well as examine how it compares to modern hoops. Oh, and I promise — No MJ vs. ‘Bron debates 😁
Also, I should probably set some other expectations right from the go. This won’t be a play-for-play recount of what happened from Whistle-to-Buzzer. And it won’t be EARTH SHATTERING Bombastic Sensational Hot Takes wrapped in clickbait either. Not there is anything wrong with that… But you can easily get that from other peeperoos on the world wide web.
No, this is a fun, energetic chronological look at the modern history of the game, from someone who fell back in love with it.
Now… Let’s go!
First up: June 7th, 2000 — NBA Finals, Game 1: Los Angeles Lakers vs Indiana Pacers
