How to cope when you’re feeling salty about your NBA team’s losing streak
Photo credit: Domantas Sabonis/Instagram, San Antonio Spurs/Twitter, Stephen Curry/Instagram, LaMelo Ball/Instagram
That playoffs are when it gets really exciting for NBA fans! Unfortunately, not all 30 NBA teams are invited to the party as only 16 spots are up for grabs in both conferences. Plus, the league made the playoffs even more challenging over the last two seasons with the introduction of the playoff play-in tourney.
READ: All bets are off! An NBA play-in tournament preview
As we all know, it was the Lakers, Grizzlies, Celtics, and Wizards who eventually made it through.
So, if your team got eliminated from the big dance, chances are you are experiencing major FOMO right now.
Ang mas malala pa doon ay inaasar ka pa rin hanggang ngayon ng mga ka-tropa mo whose team actually made it to the playoffs. Tamang sore winner lang!
So, what now? You’re probably wondering what to do since your team is out of the game.
Kaya mo pa rin mag-enjoy nang hindi nauuwi sa suntukan. Let’s look at four ways you can cope if you’re on the losing team.
Root for another team to win against your rival
As the ancient proverb goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” If you want to take your saltiness to a whole new level of pettiness, this is the play to make. Here’s the perfect meme to sum up what we’re talking about:
Photo credit: NBA Memes/Facebook
This is all for fun though and shouldn’t be taken seriously. Don’t be so consumed by your thirst for revenge that you end up acting like a clown.
Think of this as an opportunity to gain a better appreciation for another team apart from your favorite one. You might end up really rooting for them to go far long after they have defeated your rival team.
Then again, if that team you love to hate somehow goes far, you can just cheer for their next opponents. Ang saya di ba?
Paano kapag sila ang nanalo? Oh well, iyak-tawa na lang!
Follow another league
We know, there’s no league that you’d rather watch than the NBA right now. Ball is life nga, diba?
However, it might be tough to watch the rest of the NBA playoffs knowing that your team wasn’t good enough to contend. Why not watch another basketball league?
There’s a ton of options to choose from right now. If you want something local, PBA teams are now allowed to practice and may be returning to the court sooner than you think.
READ: Black, Guiao, and Cone weigh in on PBA bubble season 2
The National Basketball League (NBL) will also begin its season at the end of the month so we can also root for our kababayan Kai Sotto.
READ: Kaiju brings his skills to Australia and plays for the Adelaide 36ers
You should also check out how fierce the competition gets with the female ballers as the WNBA recently began its season.
Watch a completely different sport
If watching basketball is giving you major war flashbacks then try watching another sport instead.
We’ve got the Olympics coming up, so why not cheer for Filipino athletes looking to secure a ticket to Tokyo?
READ: Diaz determined to be in best shape for Olympics
American football may be out of the question since the new NFL season will begin in September. How about combat sports? That’s good too, right? There’s a UFC event almost every weekend while there are also some mega fights in boxing scheduled as well.
READ: Why the upcoming McGregor vs. Poirier match was almost cancelled
ALSO READ: Pinoy fighter Folayang lost against Aoki but is determined to bounce back
Accept it and move on
You have to suck it up and accept that your team wasn’t good enough this year. Your team not making it to the playoffs is not the end of the world, even though it does feel that way right now.
Hey, there’s always next season. If not, there’s going to be more seasons after that. There’s plenty of basketball to be played and you can just pray to the basketball gods to bless your team next year.
With that said, did your team make it to the playoffs this year? If not, how are you coping so far?