Basketball Is Comfort Food

The wonderful familiarity of basketball

Basketball season just started right? No? They’ve been playing since October? Great, good to know. How many games do they play each year? 82! Wow, that’s a lot.

Spoiler to my preamble: I know these facts about the NBA, but you have to train yourself to pace through basketball season. The season is so long. You have to be a special type of person with a lot of time on your hands to watch 82 of your favorite team’s games, and then have the time to tune into the nationally relevant contests. I can’t do it, especially after going all in during football season. If sports were retirement plans, basketball is a 401k that I let accumulate over time, generally knowing where I will end up. Football season is like trying to day-trade my way to financial freedom.

I am blind to what happens on the court until Christmas, keep an eye open until March, an arm’s length until the playoffs, and then fully engage. And as luck would have it, I got sick on the same weekend that LeBron James scored his 40,000th point, and Iowa star Caitlin Clark set the all-time NCAA scoring record. Out of sympathy, my wife allowed me to sit on the couch all weekend, and I was rewarded not only with fewer childcare duties, but a comfortable seat in which to kick back and witness history.

I have impeccable timing.

But even though I missed nearly 60% of the season, I didn’t feel like I missed a beat as I watched my first action of the year. I didn’t feel like I was a stranger to players in the league: Lebron is still there, and Giannis still makes Milwaukee a contender. I expect the Celtics to be good — Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown have been doing this thing for years. And the college game provided the same feeling. Years ago, my North Carolina Tar Heels were atop the college basketball ranks. They are a one-seed in the tournament once again. I may not know every starter by name like the 2005 national championship team, but not much has changed. College basketball royalty is still royalty.

I write a lot about football and other happenings in the running world, but there is something special and familiar about basketball. The flow and sounds of each game are dependable. It knows that you were busy, and doesn’t hold a grudge at the fact that you may have not been watching. It knows the calendar always opens up in the spring, ready to deliver.

It is one of the few sports that can still feel rewarding as a casual fan. I don’t need to know the analytics of Vermont’s 3-point shooting as I watch them play Duke in the first round, although they are available. I can throw a game on TV and pay as much or as little attention as I want, and when I look up, there will be action for me to see.

The NCAA tournaments will commence and a champion will be crowned, and not long after, the NBA playoffs will start. These are the best postseasons of any sport. I remember more from watching tournament and playoff games than anything in baseball, or dare I say, football. Those postseasons all run together after a while. They also penalize you for not paying attention to how the contestants got there. Basketball doesn’t do that. It knows its assignment.