I'm just going to get right to the point with this one. Between the NHL and NBA, the American public is being treated to the best set of playoffs by two of the most popular four sport leagues in this country; if you don't agree then you must enjoy being wrong most of the time and I don't trust you. For everything the public has had to deal with leading up to now, and what we're being treated to right now, it's incredible what we're getting.
Let's get a few things out of the way first: my NHL team, the Washington Capitals, lost in the first round, huge bummer for me. Also, I'm generally not a fan of the NBA product because it just doesn't excite me.
Ok, now that those are out of the way let's think about what we're seeing here.
The NBA is producing a product that can attract the average viewer, not because of superstars going bananalands on the court and completely stealing the show. No, most of the public favorites were eliminated in the first two rounds. LeBron James was bounced in the first round for the first time in his career. Kevin Durant was knocked out after putting on an insane performance, doing everything he could to carry the Nets past Milwaukee and coming up just short. Kawhi Leonard is still technically in the playoffs, but he's not even playing right now due to yet another knee issue.
So what we have left is the Phoenix Suns, LA Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks.... normally a set of teams that the public would immediately write off as a total snooze fest. But it's not! The games these teams are playing have been awesome, with two conference final games coming down to the wire to see who would win. There's drama, intensity, hard fouls. This may not be the basketball of the 80's I keep hearing about and seeing old clips of, but for once I feel like the four teams are fun and have good stories behind them to draw me in.
On the other side, the NHL is pumping out a high quality product as they also do. We've gotten the chance to see a team like the Tampa Bay Lightening, whom I normally hate for a variety of reasons (the primary one being that I think they have to worst jerseys in the entire league despite having one of the best choices in nicknames), absolutely shit pump the NY Islanders and then come back and lose an absolutely wild Game 6 in what could have been the final game at New York's famous arena.
On the other side we have the wildness of a Montreal Canadiens, who frankly have no business being here, absolutely giving it to the Las Vegas Golden Knights in a march Madness-esque tournament run. Nothing has gone how it was supposed to in the NHL playoffs, and it's absolutely enthralling to watch. Sure I wish Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid were still playing, but I'm getting the best of what I could ask for without them there.
These playoffs are fun, having fans back in the stands have been fun. The excitement over this is a little bit of a flash in the pan. So what? Enjoy the flash, soak it in as much as possible. Have fun and enjoy what we're getting to watch, whichever sport you choose to watch if not both. I'm going to have as much fun as I can watching it all.
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