There. I said it.
I know damn well that the NBA wants me to like the Nets. They have rigged the system so that the Nets are in front of me on TNT and NBATV playing a bunch of sexy games in their jet black units with Jay-Z on the sideline.
Just a year ago these were the NEW JERSEY NETS. A franchise that would forever be associated with Keith Van Horn was the opposite of cool has re-emerged in a way that is as fake and contrived as the cast of Jersey Shores. The league has put lipstick on a pig and damn that pig looks good.
If they had landed Dwight Howard and been superstar loaded (as I expect them to be in a couple of years) the Nets would have been harder to like. I always root against the teams that are loaded with sellouts. The Nets on the other hand are lovable. I love that Deron Williams was traded BEFORE he could demand a trade so I didn't have to hear it. Williams has game. He also has that rare entertainers ability to be both workmanlike and spectacular at the same time.
The rest of the cast is lovable too. While I can't stand the weird facial expressions of Brook Lopez I do enjoy watching him play and now find myself rooting for him as the guy "they wanted to dump to pick up Howard." I hope he wins titles every year while Howard watches bitterly with the Lakers.
Joe Johnson has been one of the most overpaid players in the game for going on 8 years now but for some reason I consider him an underdog and find myself rooting for him to show all those people who don't think he is a winner how he took the lowly Atlanta Hawks to the playoffs in recent years.
And to top it all off nobody is easier for me to root for in this league than Reggie Evans. His dirty tricks may make him the butt of a few jokes but he is a guy who leaves it all out on the floor, is willing to do anything (except perhaps practice jump shots) to win a game and ALWAYS has this crafty little smile on his face that makes you feel like he knows how cool it is to be playing in Brooklyn.
I wish I could resist the leagues brainwashing but I cannot. I'm a fan. I love the Nets and they are my team until the Sonics come back.