Today, after receiving a pair of free tickets to the Pistons/Nuggets game at the Palace, I had a few reactions.
My first one was, “Hell Yeah! Free Pistons Tickets!”
The second one was, “Have I seen Carmelo Anthony in person?” I had to think about it, but nope, I’ve never seen ‘Melo play.
The fact is, I haven’t seen a lot of the best players in the game play.
When I was younger, I went to a ton of Pistons games, and I saw most if not all of the best players of the 90’s play in person.
But when you spend a good portion of the 2000’s in college, and the rest of it fresh out of college still looking for that high paying job that the $30,000 piece of paper you just received tells you that you deserve, it becomes a little tougher financially to squeeze in a whole lot of Piston games.
Needless to say, I haven’t been to a ton of games the past few seasons. With the exception of Kobe and the Lakers one and only trip to the Palace each season (a streak that I plan on continuing until he retires), I rarely make the hour-long drive to Auburn Hills anymore.
But now that college is out of the way, it’s time to get back into the swing of things, and tonight is a great start.
And since I’ll be getting my first glimpse at ‘Melo tonight, that got me thinking, what other players do I need to see in person?
In response to my own question, I’ve come up with this. It’s a bucket list of the ten players that I want to see play in person over the next three seasons.
I stopped the list at 10 because, like I said, money doesn’t grow on trees here in Detroit, and set the limit at three seasons, because that gives me plenty of opportunities to see the Eastern conference players, and gives me insurance on the Western Conference players in case they miss their one game here due to injury or I can’t attend the game for some reason.
Without further ado, here are the 10 players that I want to see in person over the next three seasons.
Kobe Bryant – For obvious reasons
LeBron James – See above
Carmelo Anthony – Best pure scorer in the game today? We’ll find out once I see him in person.
Dwyane Wade – So much fun to watch with the ball. Never know when he’s going to do something spectacular.
Chris Paul – Such a phenomenal ball handler, and the best small player in the league today. Those guys are always extra fun to watch in person.
Kevin Durant – Could be and should be the next great NBA scorer. Definitely need to see him play in person to get a complete grasp of just how effortlessly he shoots the ball. (Unfortunately, the Thunder already visited the Palace this year, so that leaves me only two more chances cross KD off my bucket list.)
Brandon Jennings – There is something about Jennings. On TV, his game rarely blows me away, yet it seems like night after night he keeps putting up pretty good numbers. In a year or two he has potential to be a legit superstar, and I need to see him up close when that happens.
Dwight Howard – I imagine this will be like the first time I saw Shaq in person. I just want to see him play live so I can completely understand how much of a physical freak of nature he truly is.
Derrick Rose – There’s something special about watching a great point guard completely control a game in person. Derrick Rose is just a few steps away from crossing the line and becoming a great point guard. Once he does, I want to be there to marvel at how he manipulates a game.
Blake Griffin – I’m putting the number one pick on the list for now, because it’s always fun to get a close look at what could be the future. But if his injuries turn him into Greg Oden 2.0, or another number one pick in the next three seasons intrigues me more (John Wall?), I might be inclined to remove him from this list.
Those are the ten guys that I think are must-see players over the next three seasons. Is it possible to see them all, absolutely. Is it probable, not really.
But I’m crossing one of tonight, and another of later this month. It’s a good start.
Who would you put on your list?
Keywords: NBA
