As an early birthday present this year, my wonderful wife is getting us cable TV for the next few months so we (okay, mostly I) can watch the NBA playoffs. How awesome is she?
And an awesome playoffs these look like they'll be. After a vastly entertaining regular season with the Decision, Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook taking the next step, the Spurs coming back from the old folks' home, tons of player movement at the trade deadline, and several legit contenders getting on track, I'm really looking forward to the next few rounds of hoops before Junior Lin comes along for his own basketball indoctrination.
Most other people are making their picks NCAA tournament-style for the playoffs, but I'm just going to rank my rooting interests, along with reasons why. The top few are teams I'll enjoy rooting for on some level, and the last few teams I'll actively be rooting against.
1) Spurs - I just realized I've been a Spurs fan for over 20 years, since David Robinson joined the team in 1989. I know that they've already got 4 titles, but against all odds I'd like to see Duncan get that 5th against the toughest competition of his postseason career, matching Kobe and putting him firmly in the top 10 players of all time (he's probably borderline right now).
2) Thunder - A byproduct of being a Spurs fan is a soft spot for small market teams who build organizations and teams "the right way", and Spurs alum Sam Presti smartly did that with OKC (albeit with a ton of luck tossed in). I'm honestly not a huge fan of Westbrook (shoot-first PGs tend to remind me, in a bad way, of the Marbury-Francis-Iverson days of the early 00's) but Durant and the Ibaka-Perkins front line are fun to watch. As the Spurs further decline, I'll probably pick up OKC as a regular rooting interest over the next decade (since the Warriors aren't going anywhere) to see what they do against Miami and Chicago.
3) and 4) Magic/Mavericks - If my top two can't take it all, I'd like to see some players that I respect win it. Dallas has Dirk and Kidd, and Orlando will probably lose Dwight Howard in a few years unless they pull off a miracle before he hits free agency.
5) Hornets - Similarly, I'd rather see CP3 stay and build a contender in Louisiana rather than taking his talents elsewhere. Probably not going to happen this season and a longshot for it to ever happen.
6) Nuggets - A team spurned by its star and with a coach who survived cancer. How can you not root for an underdog like that? Not a fan of K-Mart and Birdman though.
7) Blazers - Franchise was hit by horrendously bad luck (Oden, Roy)... would like to see something good happen for them.
8) Bulls - Good young team that plays defense. I dislike most of the other teams in the Eastern Conference, so I'll often be rooting for Chicago by default. One reason they aren't higher on this list is because they already have 6 titles.
9) to 13) Everyone else - Don't really care about the other teams that much...
14) Heat - Humility is an important quality to learn. Really don't want to see them validate their pre-season championship party without going through some failure first.
15) and 16) Lakers and Celtics - Both organizations have n-teen titles and appeal to me as a basketball nerd, but not as a fan. I'll be honest, I'll root against the Lakers primarily because I'm envious (why can't the Warriors build a team like that?) and I'll root against the Celtics because they have quite a few jerks.
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