I'm not a big NBA fan.
    Honestly, I don't think I've sat down and watched an NBA game in its entirety since the Clinton Administration.
    But it's not because I hate the NBA. A lot of people in these parts hate the NBA with a passion.
    Some take it personally. Some would rather have you kick their dog, mess with their wife, break their family heirlooms, or pick against Wellington in a football game, than hear praises for the NBA.
    I'm not sure why there is this much enmity for the NBA in these parts, but I rarely bring the subject up in fear of getting hit.
    Part of the reason I think some people hate the NBA is it interferes with our college world. I'm sure the K-Stater in some of us, didn't really appreciate seeing Michael Beasley plucked from the Wildcats, even though we knew from day one it was a one-and-done season with him.
    KU fans probably still would like to have Brandon Rush back for one more season, and not have to worry about how many others will follow him from that national championship team.
    NBA seems to rob college basketball of all its great athletes, even though I have always maintained, by getting rid of the superstars, it makes teams like Duke, North Carolina or Kentucky more vulnerable because usually that is where the super studs would go.
    The new rule forcing high schoolers to play one year in college before splitting to the NBA helps give the NCAA a little more zest. But honestly, did we really need to have another O.J. Mayo scandal like the one out in USC?
    I'm fine with the NBA. Growing up in Colorado, I watched a ton more NBA than I ever did college basketball. I was a Denver Nuggets fan during the Larry Brown years when he was young and hadn't jumped to coach every other NBA and college basketball program in the country.
    I also loved those old Boston Celtics-Los Angeles Lakers series with Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul Jabbar. There was no rivalry like it.
    Then there was Michael Jordan. People are still looking for another Jordan. Keep looking. There isn't one.
    Jordan's final minute heroics against the Utah Jazz in the mid 90s, was one of the greatest achievements in sports — all the while he was having a temperature in the triple digits. You could tell the guy was sick — yet he was still sensational.
    I can't really tell you much about the NBA in the past 10 years. That’s not by choice. After high school and college seasons, I’ve got little “roundball-itis” in the tank. There’s also youth sports, house chores, and other things to attend to. The NBA these days is rarely on the Cueball radar screen.
    But I've been hearing L.A. and Boston are playing quite a series these days. It's good to see KU alumnus Paul Pierce tearing up the NBA. I see Phil Jackson is still his old arrogant self. I still can't stand Kobe Bryant, but that is what makes this series fun. There's someone to love and someone to hate.
    I keep wondering what Shaq is thinking these days. I'm sure he is “above” cheering against the Lakers. But you know deep down it has to be eating him up. It would me.
    The NBA is a great sport. I'm sure someday, when I don't have so many other things to do or think about, I'll fall in love with it all over again. Maybe.
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    Tracy McCue is sports editor of the Wellington Daily News. He can be reached at sports@wellingtondailynews.com.