Growing up, some of my favorite memories around sports don’t even involve me playing them. I was actually really bad at most physical activities as a kid, including basketball, which made a lot of my core memories around playing sports to be pretty negative. Watching sports, however, is a whole different story.
When I was younger, my dad and I would be glued to the television screen watching some of the most captivating basketball games. My dad and I weren’t always on the same page, and with my pops not being much of a big talker, that didn’t help us gel too well either. But when the game was on, the energy changed. My dad became his most lively self and suddenly, we had a lot to talk about. “Steve Nash is such a great passer.” “The problem with the Knicks is their defense.” “LeBron needs to win a ring already.” These were just a few of the statements my dad would fill the room with, and in a way, brought us closer together. We had something to talk about, we shared a connection with something that was outside of our differences. And that all came from simply watching people put a ball through a hoop.
My dad would also share stories of his time watching basketball when he was in his late 20s and 30s in Senegal and how, even though he was surrounded by soccer players all around him in his village, he admired basketball from afar. He loved Michael Jordan, as most adults did in the 80s, enjoyed Patrick Ewing’s rise with the Knicks, and Isiah Thomas’s Bad Boy reputation. These stories were like time capsules being passed down to me, which showed me a different side to my father who was enthralled by sports and the athletes that he studied.
Basketball and sports in general have this really weird effect on how we humans unify. For example, being from New York, one can say you’re instantly born a Knicks fan, regardless of how well they’re performing. This year, the Knicks got very, VERY far in the playoffs, further than what most might’ve expected, causing the city to erupt with excitement, partnership, and camaraderie. Think about it. The city which was named in a 2019 Business Insider study “the rudest city in America” had people coming together and sharing a moment. That’s a complete 180 and has to do with the simple fact of a team making it far in the playoffs.
Alongside the interpersonal relationships basketball garners, it also connects us to the physical products that come from the players that make them popular. In the new movie Air, Michael Jordan’s mom, Mrs. Deloris Jordan (played by Viola Davis), said to an eager Sonny Vicaro “A shoe is just a shoe until my son steps into it.” That couldn’t be more true. Players made the sneakers come to life and inspired us all to think that the shoes could make us better (and they did, of course). There was Michael Jordan and his numerous sneakers that accompanied him to both the Finals and many championship wins. There’s LeBron James and his signature Nike LeBron 9s that he wore to earn his first ring. And we can’t forget Ewing and his Ewing Athletics sneakers that he wore as he and the Knicks played for the title in 1994. These products serve as timestamps of basketball history and they also revive memories in those lucky fans and spectators that experienced those moments in person. My father still talks about my Ewing 33 HIs and how he used to have a pair that he wore a bunch.
With the Finals starting tonight, some will go into them feeling disappointed about their team not making it all the way (*wipes tears for the Knicks*). But despite not having a home team to root for, there is still an engaging game to be watched and engulfed by. I can’t think of a time when the Finals produced a boring, lackluster pairing and I doubt that this year will break that spell. The teams that fight for the championship are the toughest in the league and continue to prove themselves worthy throughout the series. So with that in mind, make some more memories with those that you love, interact with a complete stranger while watching the game, and talk about the sneakers that you see Butler and Jokić wearing. Those moments, one day, might be the thing you look back at during next year’s Finals.