The Jersey Benchwarmer's Guide to Sports

Whether you were in New Jersey or New York this summer, there was probably a celebration for the New York Knicks going on. After winning the NBA Finals back in June, fans of the Knicks were the happiest they have ever been.  Everyone in the city and the region was seemingly happy about this. Everyone besides Brooklyn Nets fans.  For the Nets fanbase, it was torture day and night. So much so that owner Joe Tsai admitted that it was embarrassing when he spoke to NetsDaily back in August. The 2025-26 season for the Nets was a difficult one no doubt. Finishing with a 20-62 record, the Nets were surprisingly not the worst team in the Association. That honor belonged to the Washington Wizards. For the Wizards at least, they were able to select the talented AJ Dybantsa with the first overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Many Nets fans prayed that they could have landed the first pick but, it was never meant to be.  Despite being in a rebuild, despite their rivals winning the cha...

So, the New York Knicks are NBA Champions. Pain. The past two weeks for me as a Brooklyn Nets fan have been exhausting. Everyday, I’ll be on Twitter or Instagram doomscrolling and seeing stuff about the Knicks winning the championship and how it brought everyone together. Seriously, there were people I know who don’t even watch the NBA who posted about the Knicks winning the Finals.  Even at work, I can’t go one second without a bunch of managers laughing at my face because the Knicks won the title.   Then, I read about the Nets and yikes. I’ve seen everything from people calling them "irrelevant," to telling them to relocate, to telling them that no one in the area will ever choose them as their NBA team now.  I had to listen to Stephen A. Smith, Bill Simmons and Adam Schein criticize the Nets and at this point, it’s beyond annoying. When I watched Schein’s video suggesting the Nets should cease operations after not taking Darius Acuff Jr. in the NBA Draft, I was no...

The United States of America is a country full of unique backgrounds, cultures, traditions, and personalities. Each region, town, city, and state has something that they're known for. In sports, athletes will experience a culture shock one way or another. Whether it’s an international player coming to a place like Utah, or an athlete from a small town in Maine going to a city like Dallas, it happens. The beauty of sports also allows small market organizations to face those star-studded big market teams. Enjoy having a team in the New York metropolitan area? How about a team in… Green Bay, Wisconsin? No matter where a team is, the fanbase of that organization will bring passion and enthusiasm to every game. Kind of like what will transpire in this season’s NBA Finals.  This season's Finals are officially set with the New York Knicks taking on the San Antonio Spurs in a rematch of the 1999 Finals. It’s also a rematch of this season’s NBA Cup, where New York captured the Cup.  Th...

Throughout the history of sports, the concept of a “generational talent” is a special one.  Every sport has that one person who not only transcends their game, but other realms of life. Think about Lebron James for a second. The guy is a global icon in not only basketball, but meme culture, social issues, business, whatever you can think about.  Solely on the court, he’s won multiple MVPs, NBA Finals, he’s been included on so many All-NBA and All-Star teams. He is literally the all-time leading scorer of the NBA. It’s safe to say that he lived up to the billing of being the first pick of the 2003 NBA Draft and then some.  In the 2020s, sports are at an all-time high, which means more exposure for athletes who have earned that prestigious title of being generational. Literally back in 2023, the coverage around the NBA and NHL Drafts were incredible because of two players. Victor Wembanyama and Connor Bedard.  For someone who loves both leagues, seeing them meet up tha...

Being a fan of the Brooklyn Nets is truly an experience of agony and confusion and it will have you questioning whether you should be a basketball fan or not.  The Nets have been and will forever be my number one sports team. The Devils, the Ravens, Red Bull, Michigan State, and Seton Hall could all theoretically win championships, but the Nets winning the NBA Finals would top all of them.  Unfortunately, this team’s luck is disgustingly horrible and I just wonder, what did I do to deserve this? They moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn, they had that horrendous trade with the Celtics in 2013, Kevin Durant’s foot was on the line. Surely, after years of tanking, The Basketball Gods would bless this organization with the first overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, right?  Looking back at 2025, I was really hoping that the Nets would land Cooper Flagg with the first pick. Of course, the Nets got the eighth pick and selected Egor Dëmin out of BYU. I believe Dëmin will do great thi...