This is RAD...FANTASTIC!

My first recollection of NBA basketball is a Lakers/Celtics game, must've been on network TV, CBS most likely, since we didn't have cable until 1990 in our home. A guy from the neighborhood was watching me while my family was out somewhere and he HAD TO WATCH THIS BASKETBALL GAME! I was intrigued by the fascination by both my sitter, and the TV sounds blaring. I didn't understand it, I was 6 or 7-years-old, but I was conscious of it. What a time for basketball! High socks and short shorts. We welcomed the leagues biggest stars ever that decade, and prepped for an international media coverage explosion in the decade to come. Something a bit innocent about those 80's games though. Sometimes I DO wish I could go back, if only for a moment, to see fat Frank Layden on the Utah Jazz bench, an HIV-free Magic throwing no-looks live, and a young Michael Jordan, with a slight layer of hair and the exuberance of a pre-championship scoring machine. Pro basketball is now found on four major networks and can be seen in its entirety on satellite and cable specialty packages. A little of the mystery has left her. We hear about every meal and scandal the players and coaches are having on a daily basis, instead of having to wait each couple weeks for the Sports Illustrated to clue us in. I'm not complaining, the NBA is an entertaining, fascinating show still. I just don't know which is "better", THEN or NOW.