With the NBA Finals underway, I have to do my annual picking of a team that I want to lose. It usually isn’t that difficult; this year is the same. Taking a step back to the Conference Finals, I would have much rather seen the Mavs or the Heat win it all. However, neither of those teams advanced. We’re stuck with the Celtics vs Warriors, the two teams I was hoping lost in the Conference Finals. Now, one must win it all.
Neither team brings up a lot of hate in me, which is usually the indicator who I will be rooting against. Outside of Draymond Green, I don’t really dislike their big guys, like Curry and Klay. Of course, I love their coach. Steve Kerr is the man, personally responsible for hitting one of the biggest shots in Bulls history back in the 1997 Finals. If I was picking by coaches alone, I would be rooting for the Warriors. Don’t know much about the Celtics guy, but just like with the Warriors, I don’t dislike their big guys. Tatum, Brown, even Smart… they’re OK; I don’t love them, but certainly don’t hate them. Generally, I would root against a franchise that has won as much as the Celtics; if it were a different opponent, this may have been the deciding factor. Any team that wins too much strums up the hate, but in this Finals, there are other factors to consider.
There is one guy that I do hate, other than Draymond, and that man is, Otto Porter Jr. It’s not the whole hating of ex-Bulls on the big stage; if guys came and went under normal circumstances, I would generally root for them. This isn’t the case with Otto. This guy stole the Bulls money, plain and simple. It felt like he was injured for more games than he played in; probably not, but I’d bet it’s closer than you think. Even that alone wouldn’t make me hate the dude. No, the cherry on top, were the pictures of him up in the club in Chicago; why should I hate him for that? I mean, I used to do that on the regular for a while. It’s the combination of the two of course: injury list during the day, nightclub at night. For a dude who was supposed to be injured and unable to play, this guy sure spent a lot of time out doing stuff. And now, I have to watch this dude hit treys for a potential NBA champ? Nah, that’s OK…
When you factor in the fact that the Warriors franchise and the Bulls franchise are tied at 6 with NBA titles… Who cares if the Celtics win another… they’re so far out there with the Lakers, nobody is catching them. But the Warriors… to see them move a notch ahead of the Bulls for overall championships? No fricking way.
So there you go; the love for Kerr was trumped by the hate for Otto and the desire to keep the Warriors tied with us for most titles. I’m not that complicated; I’m a pretty simple guy. Both of these deciding factors are intertwined with my team, of course. I’m not going to be devastated one way or another honestly, but for the record, I’d definitely like to see the Celtics beat the Warriors; so far so good, as the Celts grabbed a 1-0 series lead on Thursday night. Can they steal 2 in Frisco? Let me know what happens…
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