Drama today… A comparative look at 70s TV & the NBA.

Definitely inspired by both Pyle of List‘s excellent Kill Buss creation, and the very funny ‘The Spurs Don’t Exactly Rock’ from Rumors and Rants…

I grew up in the 70s. As a kid, I endured flared purple pants with matching jacket… paisley… bell-bottom jeans… velure tops… questionable hair… not-so-high platform soles… and literally square miles of polyester. And the TV shows. Really, really bad TV. Cheesey. But so cheesey it was kinda fun. The Brady Bunch, Bewitched, Colombo & Number 96 (I wish… I was too young – but here’s a taste of Australia’s *best* from the 70s).

I think all of it has indelibly marked me… but I’m recovering (with qualified help, but that’s another story).

But reading some of the stuff on blogs recently got me thinking… if the NBA teams were TV Shows, what TV show would they be?

Here are a few of the really apparent ones that leapt out at me…

Los Angeles Lakers – Days of our Lives… Unfortunately (or fortunately – depending on where your allegiance lies) that’s what LA’s become. Drama abounds galore, and what does it all signify? Ultimately, nothing… and yet we’re drawn in. You can walk away, ignore it for 2 years – then come back & get back up-to-date within minutes. Story’s the same, only the faces have changed. And given Kobe’s latest hue & cry – a diva who’s become too big for his own stage…

Cleveland Cavaliers – For a while there (ie. around the end of the vs Detroit series) I had them down as ‘I dream of Genie’, or even Bewitched – I know they cast a spell on me (I thought that they might actually give the Spurs a game)… now I just have them as ‘Gilligan’s Island’. Role players around a central guy who (at the moment, with the finals oh-so-fresh in my mind) seems a bit inept. Yes, I just jumped off the bandwagon (until next season anyway).

The reigning champions, the Spurs. Gotta be the Addams Family. C’mon, can’t you just see Timmy saying “You rang?”!!! Manu “Gomez” Ginobli, Greg “Uncle Fester” Popovich, and Tony “Thing” Parker??? It’s even in black & white, just like San Antonio!!

And… the Addams Family got pretty damn boring to watch in the last years too.

The Phoenixs Suns – in my humble opinion the best team (yeah… I KNOW they didn’t win the Western Conference Finals) in the NBA. So, what other TV show could they be but

Think about it… a leader who is a master of disguise (-ing the pass), with a penchant for danger – are we talking George Peppard or Steve “Hannibal” Nash? A muscle-bound side-kick? Quick, someone give Amare a bad mo-hawk! Who can’t see Amare “Bad Attitude” Stoudemire saying “I pity the foo’ who goes out tryin’ a’ take over da world NBA!”

 

Lastly, Miami…

Do I need say more?