Do we even care what happens on the court anymore, or is it all about the fantasy world of what could be, not what is?

SCOTT JACOBS

In our current age of instant gratification, we can’t keep our focus on the present for a second anymore: at least that’s the case in the NBA, the fantasy stock market, where the best players from small market teams are getting shipped out left and right as the apocalypse that is a looming NBA lockout seeps closer and closer into the picture.

Today it was Deron Williams, on the same day that Carmelo Anthony was officially introduced as a Knick, getting shipped across the river to New Jersey in a move that shocked the living crap out of me.  But then I sat back, and despite the fact that there were no warning signs, no 24 hour trade rumor mill spitting out his name, not even a murmur of his departure from the Jazz, it all made sense.  In one of those, ‘I get it, I just wish it wasn’t the reality’ kind of ways.

And 10 seconds after the trade was completed, our focus shifted from shock to shucks.  Well, can New Jersey resign the guy now that they’ve got him?

Jeez, no one can enjoy anything anymore.  Except the Knicks that is, who will try to take their defensive-less crusade and turn it into a powerhouse.  Scratch that.  Actually, Knicks fans are already talking 2012, when a third star such as Chris Paul or Dwight Howard may become available and choose to create a New York tri-nasty.

Sports is driven by fantasy.  Otherwise why would anyone have watched the Clippers all these years?  We watch and follow teams because in our heart of hearts we believe that they’ll eventually win, and reward our hope and faith with w’s.

So it’s not a bad thing that sometimes we live in the future.  Hope is fun.  Hope sells.  Hope makes it that much easier to get out of bed each and every morning.  Hope helped get Barack Obama elected.

But if we’re always living in the future, how can we learn to enjoy the present?  In a sports world littered by impending lockouts and tumultuous times for so many teams in so many big leagues, would it kill us to live in the present for more than five seconds?

For two years everything centered around LeBron, Wade, and Chris Bosh.  And then they all signed with Miami.  Amare re-upped in New York.  Boozer went to Chicago.  The NBA landscape was changed forever.  And then, in spite of one of the most anticipated NBA seasons ever, all the talk shifted – to the Carmelo’s and Chris Pauls of the world, who had made their intentions known that they too wanted to be elsewhere.

And therein started the Carmelo sweepstakes: months of rumors, proposed trades, haggling, and all that jazz (sorry Utah, no pun intended), which quickly took everyone’s focus off the present and stuck it squarely in 2012, when some pundits predict, the world will end.

But if it doesn’t, Chris Paul may end up with the Knicks.  Or the Nets if they can’t resign Williams.  It’s all anyone’s talking about lately.

And although the NBA contenders are clear and well established at this point, and this coming post-season will be one of the more highly anticipated in years, writers, media, and fans alike are already clamoring about two offseason from now: the fantasy world.

The expression says “eyes on the prize,” but it should be changed to “eyes in the sky.”

The NBA is turning into a fantasy league, where hope springs eternal, unless you’re a small market team.  But when that lockout comes, and it’s on its way folks, it’s going to leave a re-invented league: one with potentially franchise tags, and some sort of micro-equality for teams playing on un-leveled fields (you know the Utahs, Denvers, and New Orleans’ of the NBA world).  There may not even be NBA basketball in 2011,  yet, it’s 2012 we’re talking about.

How about we enjoy this season?  This moment.  These games.  This year’s playoffs.

And for godsakes, just live in the present.

Photo: Getty

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