L Sacramento Kings 94-118
I mean…
But then….
And I…
For a moment it was so hard to watch that I wished it would be over…but that would mean it would be over.
And then it was.
When the expected happens it still takes me by surprise. Finding myself calculating, if they can close the lead to 12 at the end of the quarter, if they can close the lead to 15 by 7 minutes left, and then making impossible calculations as time slipped away, dreaming of miracles that will have to wait for next year, miracles that will happen to other teams this year, not mine.
But for real…the Warriors only made it ONE game farther than the Wizards?!?!?!?!
I mean…at the start of the season, would you have believed that the members of the 2023 Warriors team who were in the playoffs in 2024 would be Dante Divincenzo (sure, that’s believable), Ty Jerome and Ryan Rollins?
All the demons were on full display in this game with Sacramento. The Steph Curry bad pass turnovers, the Thompson slightly rushed shots resulting in 0 points, the Podz driving the lane with nowhere to go, Wiggins and Kuminga being slightly off, Chris Paul slowing down a game that needs to be faster and both Steph and Dray having turnovers where they stepped out of bounds. It was a litany, a recap, a reminder of all the reasons that they were the 10th team in the first place, a team much more talented than last year’s version, much deeper, much healthier but in a stronger conference with too many self-imposed uphill climbs.
And then watching as the Suns, the Lakers and the Kings lost easily soon after - the same teams that we could not defeat. It only made it more clear. There are really good teams in the West but they are the Thunder, the Wolves and the Nuggets. And the way those teams are playing now - Golden State has never once looked as good this season as those teams look now. Reality is a bummer.
October is a long way away. There will be new people on the Warriors next year and favorites will be gone. There’s no way this team will keep all four of Klay, Wiggins, Moody and Kuminga. I’m thinking only two of them will return but I have no idea which two, and I don’t like any part of that situation but at the same time, losing this way? Losing this way is a feeling I don’t want.
It feels so much more loser-y than last year. The Warriors only made it through the first round but at least we were in the battle. It feels so empty. All my time, now available. All the space in my head, no need to fill it with journalist commentaries or post game interviews or scheduling my week around games. All of it gone a month too early.
Losing this early feels like the whole thing never happened.
But these past two weeks have introduced me to two new concepts:
1) watching basketball for the fun of it.
With only light rooting interests in the entire rest of the playoffs, I can watch or not watch a game for as long as I like. No need to watch the end of blowouts. I can take a nap anytime I want. Or answer the phone anytime I want. Or watch something else (like Season 4 of Insecure, again). I don’t have to go back and watch the 1:37 I missed while getting a snack. Or I can wait until the 4th quarter to watch. It’s a totally different experience.
2) not paying attention to basketball at all.
I have no interest in this - I still like ball - but it IS a possibility that didn’t exist before.
As for the playoffs, I had forgotten how different it is. It is truly a different season. Everyone plays harder, it’s way more physical and small mistakes carry huge impact. I don’t know who will win, though it’s hard to imagine anyone beating Denver or Boston. The team who is the most fun to watch is Oklahoma City. They are young, they are fun, they are energetic, they are bonded, they are talented, (and yes, one of their starting five was accused of statutory rape and the case was dropped when the young woman refused to come forward so while I enjoy watching OKC, I’m rooting for him to play horribly and also in a particularly embarrassing and humiliating way and that all the karmic justice comes his way in a non-carceral but repairing all harm kind of way and until that day, may a thousand minor inconveniences comes his way at every moment). OKC does all their post game interviews as a group - they’ve done this all season and several times they have blown off the national media to do the first interview with their local station.
And maybe by now you are incredibly tired of hearing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren sing “What a Pro Wants” as off-tune Aguileras, but remember that even that was endearing at first.
And even though the Eastern Conference teams are in general much less fun to watch than the West, have you not been entertained by the Knicks?
They are putting on a show for everyone and show no signs of slowing down. Donte DiVincenzo continues to thrive and Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart are each killers in their own way. At first glance, there is nothing about any of these three that speaks to how talented they are right now - they don’t look extraordinary and yet they keep sinking game-winning shots. The three were teammates at Villanova and Brunson and Hart have a podcast called Roommates. The podcast is silly and goofy and watching players gently tease each other is my favorite part of team culture.
I haven’t even started on Jamal Murray and his two casual game winning shots and the renaissance of the Timberwolves - there are so many great stories and great basketball to follow, just none of it is mine.
This is from Hanif Abdurraqib’s IG post from April 22nd’s back to back games of the Knicks beating the 76ers at the buzzer followed by the Nuggets beating the Lakers at the buzzer.
I’m preparing for my next obsession - I watched the WNBA draft for the first time ever and I’m ready for the WNBA season - The Fever with Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark and the Sky with Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardosa and all the UConn players to follow on all their many teams. And of course, the Aces - though is rooting for the best team really rooting? Doesn’t rooting imply some sort of sacrifice? Some sort of suffering? Isn’t that what being a fan means?
Many more WNBA games are nationally televised than before but you kinda have to work for it because they are on so many different stations, including Amazon Prime. But, the WNBA League Pass is $35 for the entire season, or $20 if you are a student. Don’t you wanna say you were watching the season the WNBA exploded?
Here’s a refresher on last year’s champions - it’s a 60 minute documentary.
The Timeout Books: (books I read during the timeouts and halftimes)
I’m going to do something unprecedented and comment on a book I haven’t finished reading.
To this point, The Timeout Books have been presented without commentary - some I’ve thought were amazing, some made me cry or think or love more and some were just ok. They aren’t recommendations - they are factual - “this is what I read during games”. Also, I don’t believe in broadly recommending books because it’s such a personal thing - a book should be for you specifically not for everyone in general.
I will break all my rules for “There’s Always This Year” by Hanif Abdurraqib.
I have only begun to read this book and I’m not reading it during the timeouts because it’s too gorgeous for that. I drink it in one page at a time and then I hope the bookmark falls out when the book falls off my bed in my sleep so that I won’t know where I left off and I’ll have to start over again. It might take me a lifetime to read it or maybe I will simply always be finishing and re-starting it. Hanif’s writing is a constant gift.
So, I’m not telling you to get this book but I am wondering why you haven’t bought it already (and I suspect the audiobook is even better). It’s not really about basketball but if you have a cursory knowledge of LeBron or playing pickup games or loving the Fab Five or of that hopeful feeling when the ball is at the top of its arc and you hold the deep knowledge that it is definitely going in while also knowing that it might not and you know that that feeling, that fact, is exactly like life or at least life at its life-iest, that duality that the surest miracle is on its way and not on its way in every moment…well, if you have known any part of that, then this book might speak to you a little more.
A Game At A Time Playlist (the songs that pop in my head while writing this)