Could the LA Lakers make me love the NBA again-spu

Could the LA Lakers make me love the NBA again
The lights around the O2 arena go out, the crowd roars and the music kicks in. But this isn't a rock-n-roll act that the 19,[url=http://woolrichparkaschweiz.albirank.net/][b]Woolrich Parka Schweiz[/b][/url],000 punters have come to see - it's a game of basketball.
The LA Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves are in London for a pre-season game as part of the NBA's drive to increase awareness (and ultimately higher revenues) for the already hugely popular American basketball league. With 'tip-off' moments away, the sell-out crowd is whipped into a frenzy when the name of Kobe Bryant is announced among the team roster. Bryant, arguably the most famous athlete on the planet, will be a key factor in the NBA's strategy to sell their brand to European fans. As will the rest of the show that comes with a game of basketball, and for this one-off match in SE16, the organisers have pulled out all the stops. Searchlights scan the court where they find the notorious 'Laker Girls' performing to the booming sound system while an army of A-listers have been invited to add glamour to the occasion.
As the NBA continues its quest to spread the franchise around the world,[url=http://rogervivierheelssale.webstarts.com/][b]roger vivier heels sale online store[/b][/url], a plan that will see the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors play two matches here in March,[url=http://rogervivieronlinesale.olimx.com/][b]cheap 2013 roger vivier online sale[/b][/url], they will want to attract new fans. But for this member of the audience,[url=http://peutereyoutletitaliaonline.olimx.com/][b]Peuterey Uomo[/b][/url], it's a case of reengaging in a sport that was once adored,[url=http://woolrichparkaschweiz.albirank.net/][b]http://woolrichparkaschweiz.albirank.net/[/b][/url], but has for a long time been forgotten.
I seem to remember taking a stronger interest in basketball than any other sport when I was young. At the time, Michael Jordan was the NBA's global star. I wanted his shoes,[url=http://peutereyoutletitaliaonline.olimx.com/][b]Peuterey Italia Online[/b][/url], I bought breakfast cereal that had his face on the packet and I pretended to be him when I played with my friends in the alleyway next to my house. I would wake up on a Sunday morning to watch highlights, which were tucked somewhere between Kabadi and Transworld Sport on Channel 4. I collected basketball cards. They were all lost long ago but there remains one I can still recollect in detail. It depicted Shaquille O'Neill standing beneath a UFO with a silver border and it felt like it had more weight to it than the other cards. It wasn't mine, it belonged to a friend, and apparently it was worth loads of money (although it probably wasn't) and above all I spent a lot of time wishing it was mine.
Interest in basketball spread beyond me, my friends and the alleyway next to my house. Growing enthusiasm around the UK was demonstrated when Adidas capitalised by installing branded hoops across the country, not least in my own school playground. But somewhere basketball got forgotten. Those same Adidas nets can still be found in many playgrounds but they now stand as 10ft high reminders of another time. More often than not the netting is missing, the hoop is bent or the backboard has been sprayed with graffiti. Like my own personal interest in basketball, they've been neglected. But when I heard the NBA and the Lakers were coming to London something from my childhood reawakened and I knew, as strongly as I wanted that basketball card, I had to be there.
So when the lights came back up at the O2 I was ready to reengage. Seeing the action first hand was thrilling. The game has a speed and directness that is unlike any of the mainstream sports in England. At ferocious pace the technical side of the game is not lost; the skill, control and positional sense the players demonstrated was enthralling. And as with most American sports, as anyone who's cared to take in a Super Bowl will know, there's much more on offer than just a game. Time-outs and breaks between quarters were filled, in no particular order, with inflatable dancing wolves,[url=http://duveticadoudoune.halod.com/][b]http://duveticadoudoune.halod.com/[/b][/url], three-point competitions, ballroom dancing (which seemed a little out of place) and of course, the Laker Girls. The highlight was a team of trampolining basketball players who slam-dunked the ball in increasingly insane and stunning fashion, projecting themselves 20ft into the air and putting the ball into the net with worryingly severe power.
In the end, and not quite to the script judging from a crowd predominantly clad in yellow jerseys, the Timberwolves beat the Lakers 111 to 92. To add to the Lakers' fans dismay, Bryant played just six minutes of the game due to a knee injury. Despite regular chants calling for him to return, he was not brought off the bench having been substituted in the first quarter without scoring a single point.
I found it difficult to get wound up by Bryant's lack of minutes and I wasn bothered that the Lakers had lost, I was content to have seen a game featuring two excellent NBA teams. I also enjoyed all the non-basketball entertainment. It seemed to be targeted at a young age which made me wonder if it was this side of the game that had taken me in all those years ago. In truth,[url=http://billigmonclerjackenkaufen.olimx.com/][b]Moncler Jacke Damen Outlet[/b][/url], the whole franchise appeals to kids,[url=http://giuseppezanottisneakerssale.olimx.com/][b]discount giuseppe zanotti sneakers sale with big promotion[/b][/url], what with the cartoon clad jerseys depicting the likes of bulls for Chicago and bears for the Memphis Grizzlies. That side of it may also be why I lost interest,[url=http://parajumperssalenorge.albirank.net/][b]Parajumpers Jakke Salg[/b][/url], I grew up. But as I left the O2, having enjoyed all the elements that basketball had to offer, I realised I wasn too old.
Tickets and information for the New Jersey Nets v Toronto Raptors at The O2, which will be the first-ever NBA regular-season game in Europe, can be found here.
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