This Tuesday Newsletter Extravaganza details how your help is needed for the Year In Review compilation that I've been wanting to assemble since last year
This won’t have a specific date attached to it, but as a long time fan and season-ticket holder, the long-anticipated return to relevancy in Sacramento was my highlight of the year. For many years I felt roughly 8000 years old as I tried to convince my two teenage children that it used to be fun being a Kings fan. Last year’s schticky Light The Beam thrill ride had my kids fighting to see who got to come to the games with Dad. I’m sure this won’t register with many fan bases, but being a Kings fan in Sacramento is a unique experience. And for one season, at least, it was magical again.
Since we're talking calendar year...February 21, Minnesota at Dallas. The Wolves were dangerously close to yet another Wolvesy loss, clinging to a 3-point lead in the final few seconds after leading by as many as 26. This game, however, Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels put the absolute clamps on Luka and Kyrie, not even allowing a potential game-tying shot to go up.
Fast forward to November 6. The Wolves and Celtics go to overtime after the C's miss a game-winner at the end of regulation. Like that game in Dallas, the Wolves amp up the defense in the extra session, shutting down anything Boston tries en route to the win. It's those kind of lock-down performances that make me think this Wolves team is different than what we've seen for years.
Oh...and Edwards looking like a potential superstar is nice too :)
The Nuggets winning their first championship and Joker's introduction to the broader American audience as a top 5 player in the league ranks high on my book. But the ultimate place has to go to the Spurs winning the lottery and drafting Wemby.
My favorite moment of the year was the ascendancy of SGA to a place on First Team All-NBA. No one predicted he'd make that leap last season; now, he looks like he's there to stay. Just an amazingly inventive player who's worth a League Pass subscription on his own.
This won’t have a specific date attached to it, but as a long time fan and season-ticket holder, the long-anticipated return to relevancy in Sacramento was my highlight of the year. For many years I felt roughly 8000 years old as I tried to convince my two teenage children that it used to be fun being a Kings fan. Last year’s schticky Light The Beam thrill ride had my kids fighting to see who got to come to the games with Dad. I’m sure this won’t register with many fan bases, but being a Kings fan in Sacramento is a unique experience. And for one season, at least, it was magical again.
Since we're talking calendar year...February 21, Minnesota at Dallas. The Wolves were dangerously close to yet another Wolvesy loss, clinging to a 3-point lead in the final few seconds after leading by as many as 26. This game, however, Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels put the absolute clamps on Luka and Kyrie, not even allowing a potential game-tying shot to go up.
Fast forward to November 6. The Wolves and Celtics go to overtime after the C's miss a game-winner at the end of regulation. Like that game in Dallas, the Wolves amp up the defense in the extra session, shutting down anything Boston tries en route to the win. It's those kind of lock-down performances that make me think this Wolves team is different than what we've seen for years.
Oh...and Edwards looking like a potential superstar is nice too :)
The Nuggets winning their first championship and Joker's introduction to the broader American audience as a top 5 player in the league ranks high on my book. But the ultimate place has to go to the Spurs winning the lottery and drafting Wemby.
My favorite moment of the year was the ascendancy of SGA to a place on First Team All-NBA. No one predicted he'd make that leap last season; now, he looks like he's there to stay. Just an amazingly inventive player who's worth a League Pass subscription on his own.