The 2001 NBA Finals were the reason I became a Washington Wizards fan.
No, the Wizards weren’t playing in the series. Even the most casual Wizards fan would know that the team hasn’t sniffed a Finals appearance in nearly half a century.
But the memorable 76ers-Lakers clash was when I — then a 7-year-old boy from Manila — first became conscious of the Association. I walked into my parents’ room one June morning and saw my father watching one of the ‘01 Finals games on our grainy TV set.
“What’s that?” I asked my dad.