Michael Blair: Anytime, Anywhere
I’ll preface this by saying that my family moved from California to Indiana when I was in middle school, so once in the Hoosier State, it was basically sacrilegious to not fully immerse yourself in basketball at all ages. But even if you remove an adolescence surrounded by a Spalding and watching the NBA on NBC in the mid-to-late 90’s, there are still plenty of reasons why the NBA is superior to the NHL… and let’s be real folks, it’s not even close.
Accessibility: It doesn’t matter where in the World you come from, the things needed to play basketball are so easily accessible. A basket and a round object. So simple. When you used to emulate basketball with your friends in the middle of class, what did you need? A trash can and some crumpled up paper, that’s it. You ever tried to play hockey behind your Math teacher’s back? Not happening. The bare essentials of basketball are so uncomplicated, that every kid in the World is introduced to it at some point and therefore is given the opportunity to become familiar and appreciative of it. Growing up, I honestly don’t think I was ever taught the rules of Hockey once. Maybe it’s why I still don’t get most of them.
Player Familiarity: Fans get to grow up with the athletes. After you become an enthusiast of the NBA at a young age, you not only get to watch all of the stars in the league, but you also get to watch the players in College (and even High School now) who will soon be in the NBA. As a fan, having a sense of familiarity with where a player has come from before reaching their professional years, gives you more of a relationship with them and creates a better fan experience backed by knowledge and emotion. Unless you’re a hockey geek, you really don’t become familiar with a player until they are successful in the NHL. The NBA also does the best of any professional sport in marketing their players. Between commercials, shoes and all other endorsements, the current faces AND the legends of the NBA are implanted in our minds. Ask your average sports fan to name six NHL players and then get back to me.
The Draft: I don’t know, you tell me.. would you rather watch a draft consisting of two rounds of players who you’ve regularly seen play, or a draft with seven rounds of foreign players that you’ve never heard of and names you can’t pronounce. “With the 14th pick in the sixth round of this year’s NHL draft, the Columbus Blue Jackets select Kristofv Kovnareuixshavinski” No thanks.
World Dominance: The best team ever assembled in the history of all sports was The 92′ Dream Team, which was obviously made up of some of the greatest NBA players of all time. That alone should win this category, but let’s take a look at some Olympic numbers: In Hockey, dating back to 1920, USA has received a Gold Medal in only 2 of 22 possible Olympics. Weak sauce. On the other hand, since 1936, the USA Men’s Basketball teams have won Gold Medals in 14 of 18 possible Olympics. Domination station. Game over.
Movies: While Hockey makes a valiant case with movies such as The Mighty Ducks, Miracle and Slap Shot.. it’s just not in the same class as Basketball with classics like Space Jam, White Men Can’t Jump, Hoosiers, He Got Game, Teen Wolf, Above The Rim, Blue Chips, Basketball Diaries and Love & Basketball.
Video Games: NBA Jam. Enough said.
I could go on and on about why the NBA is so abundantly more exceptional than the NHL, but our senior editor is keeping these to a limit. So I’ll just leave you with the video below. If this doesn’t give you chills than you are probably on the hockey side of this argument, and likely didn’t even make it to the end of my article. So for you NBA fans that are still here: *digital high five* and enjoy this beautiful sweet angelic music that will take you back to the best days that any sport ever saw. NBA in the 90’s.
Take us out, Roundball Rock
