21 Reasons Why You Need To Get NBA League Pass

Spurs stuff sprinkled in at 5, 7, 11, and 15.

21 reasons why you need to get NBA League Pass
By Austin Burton
Dime

This may sound bad coming from somebody in my profession, but by the time the NBA Finals rolls around, I’m just about tired of basketball. Having watched multiple NBA games every single day for the previous eight months and writing a column about it every single night (weekends and holidays, too), I’m always secretly hoping whoever wins Game 1 of the Finals can complete a nice, boring sweep so I can watch track and baseball the rest of the summer.

Then around mid-August, I’m ready for the NBA again and ready for my NBA League Pass renewal. That’s when the prospect of watching every pro game goes from “I have to” back to its rightful “I get to.”

At risk of sounding like a shill for David Stern, you NEED to get League Pass. If you’re a rookie, the first time you get it, it’s like undressing a woman for the first time: There’s so much tantalizing material laid out in front of you, it’s tough to decide where to start. Whether you go with what’s familiar (your local team), what’s safe (the Lakers, Celtics, etc.) or something new and risky (Grizzlies, Bobcats, etc.) is on you. But you can’t lose either way.

It’s easy for me to advise you to drop $199 on League Pass when mine gets reimbursed, but if you can afford it, do it. Here are 21 reasons why:

1. Kevin Durant — Before the age of the Internet and developments like League Pass, KD could’ve went through a Mitch Richmond-like career, secretly getting a ton of buckets while not enough people got to enjoy the experience.

2. Kevin Martin — Finally you can answer the question we’ve all had looking at box scores: How does that guy keep getting 30 a game?

3. Joe Johnson — The fact that so many readers think J.J. isn’t in the same class as Brandon Roy tells me that more people need to watch Joe play on a regular basis.

4. Dirk Nowitzki’s clutch ability — He’s more clutch than he gets credit for. You may have seen him miss game-winners, lose a playoff series he should’ve won, or disappear a few times in the fourth quarter. You probably missed a lot of the game-icing free throws, the daggers threes to kill a rally, and the fourth quarters that he’d dominated.

5. Local announcers — From the good (George Blaha in Detroit, Jerry Reynolds in Sacramento) to the bad (Tommy Heinsohn in Boston, Sean Elliott in San Antonio) to the fine (Stephanie Ready in Charlotte, Stacy Paetz in Indiana), it’s better than listening to the same ol’ national crew every week.

6. Clyde Drexler & Clyde Frazier — They deserve their own category. You’ll never hear a grown man giggle more than Drexler during a Rockets game, and Frazier’s style on the mic is equal parts poetic, pimpish and hilarious.

7. Local commercials — Like this.

8. Michael Jordan cameos — For the MJ followers who jizz in their pants whenever the G.O.A.T. is mentioned, if you watch Bobcats games on the regular, you can have a couple handfuls of Jonas Brothers moments throughout the season.

9. December 19, 2008 — From that night’s Smack: “…you live for those times when you find yourself frantically flipping between a couple contests in simultaneous crunch-time, when you’re afraid to turn away from one game but don’t wanna miss a game-winner in the other. That’s how it was Friday with Jazz/Pistons and Lakers/Heat. At one point, Pau Gasol was stepping to the line with eight seconds left and L.A. down two, at the exact same time Utah was looking to inbound from midcourt with 1.4 seconds left in OT and the score tied.” With League Pass, those kind of nights are commonplace.

10. Kobe Bryant vs. Bad Teams — Watching Kobe eviscerate defenses like New York, Memphis and Washington while just rationing out the intensity he’d have on full-bore against a contender can be fascinating.

11. Tim Duncan vs. Good Teams — Just like watching Duncan decide he’s going to administer an industrial-grade meat-slapping against a fellow All-Star rather than let Parker and Manu handle the lesser opponents.

12. Derrick Rose & Tyrus Thomas — You know what D-Rose can do. But Tyrus manages to consistently do amazing things on the court, even if that one Highlight of the Year is the only mark he makes on the game.

13. Milwaukee Bucks — My sleeper pick to be one of the more entertaining teams to watch next season. Again, I didn’t say they’ll be good. Just interesting.

14. Washington Wizards — The Warriors of the East. A circus act full of personalities whose on-court style is also fun to watch.

15. Point Guards — There are too many potentially great matchups on a nightly basis to limit yourself to the occasional ESPN/ABC/TNT game. On one night you could get Rose vs. Parker, Kidd vs. Nash, CP3 vs. Devin Harris, Deron vs. Monta, Rondo vs. Chauncey, and Tyreke vs. Brandon Jennings.

16. Garbage time — You get guys like Gerald Green, James White, Will Bynum and J.J. Hickson on the court with nothing serious at stake, and it’s highlights galore.

17. Midseason Grizzlies games — When there are more nachos in the building than paying customers. You can hear the beer man soliciting, the players talking sh*t on the court, and O.J. Mayo’s agent making plans to get to another market ASAP.

18. Random celebrities — You can see Jack, Spike and Tiger all the time now. League Pass is good for those out-of-nowhere Lil’ Wayne and Hulk Hogan sightings. You may even get a Vanilla Ice halftime show.

19. Atlanta crowds — County jail or the NYC subway is the only other place you’ll see a dude who looks like Steve Carell sitting next to a dude who looks like Lil’ Boosie. And at Hawks’ games, they’re both having a good time.

20. L.A. Clippers — Whether they’re good or terrible, the Clips always entertain. Last year it was like a contest to see how many different ways a team can lose a game, and between that you got to watch Eric Gordon begin building an All-Star career while Baron Davis acted like Coach Tupac had threatened him before the season.

21. The Old Guys — You may not even realize it now, but you’re gonna miss watching guys like Grant Hill, Shaq and Kidd when they’re gone. When all you’ve got left is memories and YouTube, you’ll regret not catching more actual games.

LOL Elliott

Everyone rips on Elliott. I admit he is a homer, but he isn't terrible.

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Originally Posted by Taking it to the Hole

Everyone rips on Elliott. I admit he is a homer, but he isn't terrible.

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Yah, if Elliott is bad, then Drexler is the absolutely worst announcer in the history of sports.

Sean Elliott relishes in being a Spurs homer. You can tell....:lol

Elliott >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 75% of the rest of the announcers out there... lame...

Right when I saw him mention local commercials I had an idea it'd be an HEB commercial :rollin

If you are any kind of hardcore fan, League Pass is a must. It's easily worth the money.

Hell, go mow some lawns or something between now and the end of Oct.

Houston's announcers are, by far, the worst. Ever.

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4. Dirk Nowitzki’s clutch ability — He’s more clutch than he gets credit for. You may have seen him miss game-winners, lose a playoff series he should’ve won, or disappear a few times in the fourth quarter. You probably missed a lot of the game-icing free throws, the daggers threes to kill a rally, and the fourth quarters that he’d dominated.

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Dirk....Manu....Dirk....Manu.........

Im so amped up for the season already....

Yeah, aside from his homerism, Elliott gives knowledgable and funny commentary. And I love his homerism.

Plus, if you buy it early, you get it for $169. League Pass Online is only $99. If you can find someone to split it, then even cheaper.

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Originally Posted by benefactor

Dirk....Manu....Dirk....Manu.........

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lol dude ... ur obsessed .. let it go ...

I have to get league pass every year. I have to.

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

I have to get league pass every year. I have to.

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Me too. I watch every game, I don't know how I'd get by on just the handful that are on national TV.

Dude, I think Sean is one of the best out there. If he pulled that shit on national TV, I'd agree, but he likes his team, he's funny, he doesn't just bash other teams (especially with old tired lines). He's a homer in that he wants to see them do well, but I've seen him bag on players and point out the ways in which they got away with shit over and over. It's not like, say, the Rockets announcers who are amazed that anyone on their team ever committed a foul (they are soooo bad).

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

I have to get league pass every year. I have to.

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Yeah, me too. Not living in SA basically limits me to the national games. I do enjoy purely for basketball reasons though.

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Originally Posted by anonoftheinternets

lol dude ... ur obsessed .. let it go ...

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Shhh. Be vewy vewy qwiet. I'm hunting homers.

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Originally Posted by duncan228

me too. I watch every game, i don't know how i'd get by on just the handful that are on national tv.

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link?

I don't just get it for Spurs although that plays a large role (I never miss a game). I love watching basketball in general. I don't really watch TV much except for when basketball is on. I will stay up all night watching games.

i wouldent have time to watch alot of games

WTF!

After that dumbass Elliott comment I stopped reading.

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Originally Posted by Sisk

Right when I saw him mention local commercials I had an idea it'd be an HEB commercial :rollin

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Me too.:rollin

:bang

Goddam blackout rules in AUSTIN!

I just moved into an apartment complex that exclusively offers Verizon FIOS. AFAIK, they don't offer League Pass at all. Anyone know if I'm mistaken or if they plan on offering it some time in the near future?

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Originally Posted by Phila_Chamberlain

Reason 2 I don't own League Pass. Austin is just inside the "San Antonio Market". Being 90 miles down the road from San Antonio keeps me from picking up the local broadcast 82 times a year and also keeps me from watching the Spurs on League Pass. I get annoyed that my family in Philly can watch Spurs games but I can't.

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PC - I'm in Austin with TWC and had League Pass last year. Although it says "blackout" sometimes on the tv guide, they actually show most of the games even when it says blackout. I think there were only about 5 games last year that I could not watch because of the "blackout". I plan to get it again this year.

Elliott is definately one of the bigger homers out of all the announcers, but he doesnt deserve to be mentioned with the guy from Boston.

I see Bruce Bowen retiring and sitting right next to Sean. Those two would be one hell of a team.

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Originally Posted by duncan228

Me too. I watch every game, I don't know how I'd get by on just the handful that are on national TV.

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Every Spurs game, or in general? If I buy it I will definitely catch all the Spurs games I can, and watch Jazz, Lakers, Suns, Cavs, Hawks, Wizards, Rockets, Hornets, Magic, and Mavs games out of either interest or scoping out the enemy.

They will show the Jan 14th Game between the Lakers and Spurs @ 7 pm Central on NBA TV today. No need for league pass.. :hat

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Originally Posted by Manufan909

Every Spurs game, or in general?

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Every Spurs game. I watch other games too, if the Spurs aren't playing I'll watch whatever is the best match-up that night.

What else is there to watch besides basketball?

well Elliott does not call the opponents dirty or call the refs out every other play like the celtic announcers. or does he???

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

What else is there to watch besides basketball?

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Wipeout. :)

My wife watches Bones, so as a good husband I watch it with her. It's actually not that bad. I've also gotten into the past couple of seasons of Hell's Kitchen.

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Originally Posted by benefactor

Wipeout. :)

My wife watches Bones, so as a good husband I watch it with her. It's actually not that bad. I've also gotten into the past couple of seasons of Hell's Kitchen.

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That Dr. Bones...hottie...

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

What else is there to watch besides basketball?

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Free porn, Family Guy, and The George Lopez Show/Law and Order SVU reruns.

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Originally Posted by Manufan909

Law and Order SVU reruns.

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I watch SVU now and then, I'm a big Christopher Meloni fan. I first saw him in OZ, been following him ever since.

You all fail and will have to repeat the grade. The correct answer was: Nothing. There is nothing else besides basketball.

Come ready to learn next year!

That's a joke... I've had LP for years.... most of the broadcast teams are horrible, and super low budget presentation. Sacramento is one of the 1st that comes to mind when I think of bad ones, and they have it listed as good. San Antonio's broadcast is very high quality.

Obviously I'm biased... but I wouldn't want to listen to anybody but Sean. He has such good insider info, he's friends with the players, he knows what he's talking about, knows the game, knows the refs, knows the organization inside and out... he's just a huge homer... that's his only flaw I can see from an unbiased view. But to me, him being a homer is a good thing, and he's not an ignorant homer. He's speaking truth, he gets on the Spurs, refs, opponents all equally when they're fuckin up. He just wants us to win, and he should.

And I used to like Dick Stockton w/ Sean, but Bill Land has definatly grown on me alot, and I'm a fan of Bill Land as well. He brings alot more energy than Stockton. "OH MAMA!!!"

I know this has been brought up before but thought I would take the opp to ask..Can someone give an idea if all Spurs home games are televised with local commentary? Anyone have an idea of how League Pass is with COX communications in Southern CA?

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Originally Posted by Chico

I know this has been brought up before but thought I would take the opp to ask..Can someone give an idea if all Spurs home games are televised with local commentary? Anyone have an idea of how League Pass is with COX communications in Southern CA?

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I'm in Southern California with Cox as my provider.

We don't get a lot of Spurs home call. It varies, but I think last season we got under 20 games with Spurs call. I wish LP would do something more fair, like have the home team's call for every game. Then we'd get Spurs call for half the season.

Cox has been fine for me. They have the early bird savings, and it's on an automatic renewel every year. They'll break the payment up over three or four months if you want to.

21 reasons ?


Just 1



Number 21

(you know, that guy from the Virgin Islands)

Thanks for the info duncan228. I tried to find the ad for LP on their site but no luck. Do you know when early bird savings start? I will probably send them an unfriendly suggestion to do something about the broadcast crew.

It will probably start mid-October.

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Originally Posted by Chico

Thanks for the info duncan228. I tried to find the ad for LP on their site but no luck. Do you know when early bird savings start? I will probably send them an unfriendly suggestion to do something about the broadcast crew.

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Here's their page on it, it's not available yet. The early bird should be next month. There's always a free preview the first week of the season, I'm not sure if you can still get the early bird then (I order it before the season tips).

http://www.cox.com/InDemand/nba.asp

SpursTalk has done nasty grams about the call to LP before, maybe if enough of us squeak again they'll listen.