Every now and then I appear on the BBC World Service, which is broadcast in about 1,800 different countries — or something just short of that number. I aways enjoy explaining the NBA to the Brits, because their knowledge of basketball still trails their knowledge of cricket by something like 1,800 percent.
In this appearance, we discussed the lack of rivalries in today’s NBA — which is astonishing to the British because teams can play each other as many as 11 times during a season, as the Pacers and Heat did last season.
But there is no rivalry between those teams … and there probably still won’t be one, although it could be building if Indiana manages to do into Miami this coming Wednesday night and knock off the Heat. In my opinion, it’d probably take a 4-0 or 3-1 season series by the Pacers just to stoke the rivalry, and then there would need to be another feisty seven-game series with some histrionics thrown in — just like Reggie Miller did in the old days when he openly admitted he “hated” the New York Knicks. Now that was a rivalry.
So was 76ers-Celtics, which is dead these days.
But these days, the NBA is devoid of them, as LeBron James recently pointed out.
Enjoy.