Kevin Durant wall paper from basketwallpapers.com (click on pick for link)

Written by

Jude Bautista

Greg Findley, an American river guide visiting us here in Manila, asked me if I knew where the New England area was because his girlfriend was from there. I said, “The bunch of states in the northeast coast, that’s where the Pilgrims landed and first settled.” And then he asked, “How come you know so much about U.S. geography?” My response was quick and easy it was because of the NBA teams that represented the different cities. And after that it was the NCAA teams too which had colleges and Universities from different states. He laughed and shook his head in amazement at how basketball is almost like a religion for Filipinos.

Like many Filipino kids I was aware of Dr. J’s Philadelphia Sixers, Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics and Magic Johnson’s L.A. Lakers way before I even knew what geography was. And I have to admit today as a grown up, that before the Seattle Supersonics folded and became the Oklahoma City Thunder, I was unaware that there was an Oklahoma City. The state is more prominent and the Oklahoma Sooners are also on the basketball map but not the city. Last season when they pushed the L.A. Lakers (who became champs) to a seven game series in the first round people took notice of  OKC. As of writing, they are in a heated battle against the Memphis Grizzlies tied at 2-2.

Kevin Durant wall paper from basketwallpapers.com (click on pick for link)

Kevin Durant’s re-signing with OKC for a maximum 5 year, 86 million dollar contract hardly attracted headlines. Both the city and the humble demeanor of Durant were factors for this. Le Bron James and Carmelo Anthony’s blockbuster team changes on the other hand were the subject of speculation. In fact, a whole ESPN special was produced just to announce Le Bron’s decision to play for Miami.

Memphis is another one of those cities and is known for Elvis ‘ Graceland. But it’s not a media center the way New York and Washington are. Dallas is a fairly bigger city than both. The Mavs are in a fierce series against the Lakers. Absolutely no one would have predicted the Mavs going up 3-0 in the second round. The similarity between OKC, MEM and DAL is that none of them have won a championship. For these three cities the prestige of an NBA championship would be an incredible windfall in popularity, tourism and even more basketball fans.

Memphis Grizzlies Wall paper from nba.com (click on pick for link)

There’s no doubt that Oklahoma is an expansion team, Memphis and Dallas have been around longer. Expansion means covering new ground for the biggest professional basketball league (arguably in the world). The Lakers have a 16 championships. Ask almost any casual fan they know that Kobe Bryant has five rings, Magic Johnson also won 5. Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain won a couple more. The Celtics have even more at 17. Larry has 3 rings, Bill Russell has a ring for each of his ten fingers!

For this season Kobe is trying to duplicate Michael Jordan’s 2–threepeat achievement. That’s three championships in a row…twice. In marketing terms, the basketball Mecca(s) of L.A. and Boston are already saturated. L.A. actually has TWO NBA squads. If  OKC, MEM and DAL wins it all, the league will definitely expand it’s fan base in these places AND states.  I’m sure of it,  in spite of Texas having 2 other NBA teams in Houston and San Antonio.

Dirk Nowitzki wallpaper from flashscreen.com (click on pick for link)

Maybe 2011 is the season where we are witnessing a transition of power from those two storied and legendary teams to the ‘younger’ squads. We cannot and should not forget the Eastern conference. The Chicago Bulls is hoping for another Jordan era with their latest MVP: Derrick Rose. Miami is up 2-0 against Boston. Both Miami and Chicago have a higher chance of winning it all than the three zero championship squads. And even though the Lakers and the Celtics are behind we can’t count them out yet. For me, it just makes this season all the more exciting and memorable if a Cinderella team wins the crown. That would make them truly a ‘new’ champion.