Growing up as a kid, I didn’t have the appreciation for basketball that I have today. In terms of the youth sports I played, basketball was the only sport that I tried and never took a liking to. I never had that bond with basketball that I did with something like hockey or football. This lack of As a displaced Boston fan, I enjoyed the hell out of the Big Three era, but never concerned myself with watching them day-to-day, nor was I knowledgeable of strategies, line ups, or statistics important to the game of basketball. Regular season basketball just didn’t draw my attention like most sports did. I just loved watching Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo play when I could watch them on National TV. As a New Yorker surrounded by Knicks fans, I remember the Summer of LeBron and the excitement around the consolation prize named Amare Stoudemire New York signed in his place. I remember the Carmelo trade (vaguely) and lived through the short-lived Linsanity. There are some distinct memories sprinkled throughout all this (like how I’ll never forget being all in on Ricky Rubio at 5th overall to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2009 despite the fact that that night’s draft was the first time I had ever heard his name), but these moments are few and far between. That is, until 2014.

The Golden State Warriors run back in the ’14-’15 season was some of the most fun basketball I had ever watched. I had begun to follow basketball slightly more closely the season prior. The tandem of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson out on the court together was something I as a very casual fan had never seen before. I was always interested in watching the powerful, emphatic dunks thrown down by LeBron and peak Blake Griffin. Curry made me appreciate the beauty in the finesse side of the game. His ability to handle the basketball was so agile yet smooth. Every dribble had intention, and he knew just how he was going to break down his defender and create open space at the drop of a hat. The stroke to his three-point shot was so pure; it blew my mind how he could hit from anywhere on the court. Draymond Green scratched my itch for big, boisterous bruisers. Plus, his ability to guard top level NBA talent made me understand what it took at a basic level to be an NBA defender. At its core, it was a team led by young guys just playing fun basketball. It was just really exciting to watch. Watching the Warriors helped me watch more Celtics games. The team had recently acquired Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder in trades, and I was a fan of their young new rookie, Marcus Smart.

That year’s playoffs were the first where I watched every round in full since the ’11-’12 Celtics’ last run with the Big Three. I watched Boston get swept in the first round by Cleveland and put all my energy into an anti-Cavs playoff run. I became a Chicago fan four six games, then a Hawks fan for four, but my ill wishes weren’t going to stop LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers from running into the NBA Finals out of the East. Watching those NBA Finals just felt different, though. LeBron James is a man who’s quickly risen to the top of Boston’s Hated Athlete list. While there’s no denying his talent and athleticism, that starts to get pushed to the side when your team faces him every year during the playoffs (with mixed results). Here, however, he looked vulnerable. Despite injuries during the series, we had seen LeBron take games into his own hands and win them by sheer will many times. This Warriors team just felt too fun, too pure, too good to lose to LeBron. They seemed like the ideal basketball success story: a bad team that builds through the draft to find its core, then builds a supporting cast of veterans around them to eventually rise to success. Watching them hoist the trophy got me excited about basketball for the first time in a while.

That next summer I further dipped my toe into the waters of being a true basketball head. During the summer, I’d read speculative pieces on free agency destinations. I watched Kentucky and Duke basketball highlights in preparation for the Karl Anthony Towns/Jahlil Okafor draft. That season, I sought out more Celtics games and began watching more basketball in general. I’d find myself defaulting to watching 10PM Western Conference matchups on a Wednesday night instead of binging Netflix or playing video games. And I watched more Warriors, who were in the midst of their historic 73-9 season. Those playoffs saw Boston bow out to the first round again, which threw my Boston bias right out the window. The playoffs ended with the same narratives as the season prior: Toronto couldn’t get past LeBron, the Clippers couldn’t make it past the second round, and the Warriors were still as fun and lethal as they had been in years past. The stage was set for an exciting rematch between Golden State and Cleveland, and goddamn did it live up to the hype. Game 7 of the Finals was phenomenal, between The Block by LeBron and The Shot by Kyrie. It was the level of dominance you’ve come to expect from James, but it emerged in new form when he saw his team down 3-1 to the 73-9 Golden State Warriors.

That summer was Kevin Durant’s free agency season, and we all know how that ended. The team that just set a record for most games won signed arguably the best player in the league not named LeBron James. Every talking head with an audience and a microphone had their 2016 Finals predictions locked in by July 5th: the consensus decision was that the Warriors and Cavaliers would see their third Finals matchup in as many years.

Just after the Warriors acquisition broke, the think pieces came out. “Is Kevin Durant to the Warriors Bad For Basketball?” “The Golden State Warriors Just Killed Basketball.” “There’s No Longer A Reason to Watch the NBA When the Finals are a Foregone Conclusion.” Everybody was getting their hot takes off, but to a degree, some of them were right. There were stretches where Golden State played what could only be called perfect basketball. There were scores in transition where the ball didn’t touch the floor. Klay Thompson scored 60 points while dribbling the ball eleven times. It didn’t seem like this team could be stopped. So I bought into the idea that this finals was just going to be a rehash of the last two, and I no longer concerned myself with watching the Warriors or the Cavaliers. I looked at the other 28 teams in the league for new story lines, player development, and so forth. And THAT’S when basketball got fun.

When the Finals are all but determined, there’s not a great concern as to how X team does against their respective conference juggernaut. By turning your attention away from Cavs-Dubs and just enjoying the league for the product being put out on the floor, you get a great appreciation for both the sport of basketball and the drama that comes with the NBA. Think of all the things that transpired last season to make this season great. You had the emergence of second-year stars like Karl Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis. We watched one of the more fun MVP races in recent memory with Russell Westbrook vs. James Harden. The NBA got its first taste of The Process with the (short) introduction to a healthy Joel Embiid. We saw Isaiah Thomas lead Boston to a 1-seed in the East and put on one of the most inspiring playoff performances in the wake of his sister Chyna’s death. Giannis Antentokounmpo began to show signs that he’s a bona fide star in the NBA. Devin Booker posted a 70-point game as a second-year player. Even in a comparatively weak rookie class, we were able to watch guys like Jaylen Brown, Brandon Ingram, Malcolm Brogden, and Tyler Ulis develop and see real NBA minutes.

With the 2017 Finals concluded and the Warriors won their second ring in three years, it had become clear that this super team was here to stay. However, there was light at the end of the tunnel: as the summer inched along, the landscape of the NBA quickly began to change. Chris Paul got dealt to the Houston Rockets to join James Harden. The Boston Celtics had a wild offseason, where they signed Gordon Hayward, acquired the Cavs’ Kyrie Irving in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, and the last Brooklyn pick, and earned themselves the #1 overall pick in the draft. The Philadelphia 76ers announced that Ben Simmons was going to finally make his long-awaited NBA debut. The OKC Thunder made moves to establish their own Big Three as Paul George and Carmelo Anthony join Russell Westbrook. That year of waiting out the Warriors-Cavs Finals and analyzing the rest of the development of the NBA wasn’t going to end this year, but it seemed as though the post-Warriors era was beginning to take shape.

In an era of Warriors dominance, it’s important to focus on the development of young players. When the Hamptons Five (God, what an awful nickname for a team’s death lineup) eventually disbands, the league will be run by the current young crop of guys. Invest your time now, and the reward will be all the sweeter down the road. If you take away the pressure of worrying about playoff berths and championship opportunities in the short-term future, it’s much easier to appreciate the development of individual players and the long-term growth of teams. Organizations like the Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers weren’t competing for the playoffs in 2017, but I was able to watch future NBA stars in Devin Booker and Joel Embiid develop their games in real time. We were able to watch late picks like Jordan Bell and Malcolm Brogden give legitimate contributions to their respective teams. This past year, there were so many fascinating young players to watch. Boston saw Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Semi Ojeleye get legitimate minutes all year while also working to develop Guerschon Yabusele. The Process introduced us to the electric Ben Simmons and a couple promising games of Markelle Fultz. Donovan Mitchell managed to land on a team supposedly gutted by the loss of Gordon Hayward and lead them to the playoffs as a rookie. Even non-playoff teams flexed their young talent. Bam Adebayo flexed his muscles down in Miami, Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma took center stage for the Lakers, Victor Oladipo saw a career resurgence in Indiana, Malik Monk had people buzzing in Charlotte all season, even the forever trash Sacramento Kings found flashes of their future heir apparent in De’Aaron Fox.

Removing the worry of championships even makes storylines more fascinating. In 2017, we saw Russell Westbrook average a triple double for a season for the first time since Oscar Robinson. As the NBA becomes more and more team-oriented, there didn’t seem like a chance that OKC could make a deep run into the playoffs while simultaneously sustaining such an individualistic play style. But when the Warriors are a lock to make the Finals, worrying about playing better team ball goes out the window. At that point as a fan, I’d much rather watch Westbrook make history than see his teammates get a few more looks during games. Even more serious storylines become fascinating when playoff concerns are thrown out the window. The 2018 season saw this bizarre feud form between Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs. The face of the Spurs, seemingly frustrated with his lack of league-wide recognition, used his injury to sit out for the season despite being cleared by the San Antonio medical staff. Normally, the thought of losing a perennial All-NBA talent from a playoff team would be a devastating blow to a team. When it’s understood that the Warriors and Rockets are going to boat race any time they meet before the Western Conference Finals, one can appreciate the Kawhi-Spurs feud in a new light. Instead, the relationship becomes a case study in how small-market teams treat their stars.

When Gordon Hayward suffered a devastating injury six minutes into his debut with the Boston Celtics, I was devastated. I was in London at the time and had stayed up until 2:30 AM local time to watch the emergence of these brand new Celtics. By 2:40 AM, that excitement turned into a great deal of doubt and dread. After watching the first half and going to bed, I woke up the next morning with a newfound excitement. I had just spent the last year waiting out the Warriors reign. After winning the #1 seed in the East and then adding eleven new players to the roster, this season transformed into an opportunity to just love basketball worry-free. I Watched the development of our young guys in Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Semi Ojeleye, and Guerschon Yabusele. I fell in love with @HebertofRiffs and Weird Celtics Twitter, just posting our way through games. Most importantly, I just enjoyed the Celtics for what they were: a fun, young team with a ton of upside. When Kyrie Irving went down, the same logic applied: this team is absolutely loaded for the future; anything we do in the playoffs this season is gravy on top. And that’s why this round of playoffs has been so fun for me. Every night, a different guy steps up to the plate and offers a significant contribution. At this point in the playoffs, I have no expectations for this playoff run. While the series between Boston and Cleveland stands at 2-1 Boston, it’s all gravy from here. The Celtics could lose out from this point and I’d be okay. I’ve had more fun than I’ve ever had watching basketball just by watching these young guys develop, and it’s all thanks to the Golden State Warriors ruining basketball.