There is a cobwebbed version of sports writing - basketball in particular - that once permeated the internet.
It was tangentially current events-driven though, in most cases, the news of the day simply served as a fungible gateway for “basketblogger X” to riff on whatever (almost exclusively at the time) he was stewing on at the moment.
It was freewheeling, introspective, experimental. In hindsight, it’s role was not unlike that of the ABA in the evolution of pro basketball.
If so inclined, we could more precisely pinpoint its emergence, rise, plateau, and ultimate fizzle. Frankly, though, particulars don’t much matter. The fact is that it developed organically, had a sincere moment, and has since faded in the rearview.
Whether the current discourse surrounding the NBA is better or worse today than it was during the basketblog days is - to be philanthropic - debatable. On the bright side, at least we’re still screaming incessantly about LeBron and Russell Westbrook, so… that’s fun, huh?
Please do not read this as a manifesto harking back to an idealized past that was never was. Sure, an ecosystem of basketball writing that, on the whole, offers up a greater range of voices, perspectives and nuanced opinions is, objectively, a good thing. That is, of course, provided there’s actually some range to that range, and virtually all of the voices of the day don’t belong (as mine admittedly does) to white dudes.
I’m Emile Avanessian. For more than a dozen years, I’ve tried to take exhaustively researched, feelings-driven visits to strange and under-heralded corners of the NBA and European football (soccer, if we must). This has mostly happened at my site, Hardwood Hype, though I’ve also contributed to Forum Blue & Gold, The Blizzard, The Squall, Barça Blaugranes, Sports Collectors Daily, Basketball Card Fanatic, BarçaBlog (and The Barcelona Podcast), among others.
The extent to which I really know what I’m doing here is up for some vigorous debate. At the very least, I know what the idealistic aim of this little foray is: to revive a style of basketball writing that deserves better than being buried in pixelated history. More importantly, the goal is to do this alongside talented writers (stay tuned!) whose backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and voices genuinely represent basketball fandom.
There is more to come! In the meantime, sign up so you don’t miss the start of whatever this is!
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Thanks!