There are countless ways to consume the beautiful, poetic sport of basketball. Many of you spend your time here on Bright Side, sharing your thoughts and opinions in our game threads as the action unfolds. You read the articles our writing staff puts together, offer your feedback, and participate in the wonderful rhythm of an NBA season. Some of you watch clips on Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok. Others listen to podcasts.
However you choose to follow the sport, the experience is uniquely yours. And
with the sheer number of options available today, you can immerse yourself in the NBA to whatever degree your basketball-obsessed brain desires.
I think back to when I was growing up, when our options were considerably more limited. You had a handful of nationally televised games, Al McCoy calling Suns games on UPN 45 and the radio, and whatever else your cable package allowed you to access. If you wanted to know what happened around the league, you grabbed the newspaper the following morning, flipped to the sports section, and started dissecting box scores like some deranged basketball accountant. Ah, those were the days.
Now information is everywhere. Statistics, highlights, analysis, opinions, and every conceivable basketball rabbit hole are available within seconds. The ability to collect, organize, and redistribute that information has fundamentally changed how we experience the sport. We have more access, more perspectives, and more opportunities to engage with basketball than at any point in history.
Which brings me to something I want to say before going any further. Thank you. You have countless options when deciding where to spend your time consuming basketball content, and the fact that you choose to make Bright Side of the Sun one of those destinations means a great deal to me. It is something I genuinely appreciate.
Now, the second reason I bring all of this up, and the actual purpose of this article, is that this explosion of information has made another aspect of basketball considerably more enjoyable: Fantasy basketball.
We have an assortment of options when it comes to fantasy basketball. Traditional categories, head-to-head matchups, points leagues, and customizable scoring systems that allow you to create whatever statistical monstrosity your basketball-obsessed brain can dream up.
I’m an avid fantasy player across multiple sports. Football, baseball, basketball; if there is a way to draft players, construct a roster, and spend an unreasonable amount of time obsessing over statistical outcomes, chances are I’m interested. Fantasy basketball has always been one of my favorites, primarily because of how much NBA basketball I consume. I like to think I have a decent understanding of what is happening around the league, who is trending upward, who is struggling, and which players might be positioned to take advantage of certain situations.
Of course, at the end of the day, fantasy sports are one giant gamble, aren’t they? A calculated, strategic gamble that unfolds over an extended period of time. You evaluate players, project outcomes, construct rosters, and deploy your assets based on whatever information you can gather. Then you sit back and watch as a collection of professional athletes, completely unaware of your existence, determines whether your carefully constructed strategy was brilliant or a steaming pile of horseshit.
One of the more interesting ways I have found to play fantasy basketball is through the Sleeper app. The desktop interface is serviceable, although the experience is clearly designed around using your phone. And within Sleeper, there is a format called Lock In that adds another layer of strategy to the equation.
Here is how it works. Say you and I are playing against each other this week, and Devin Booker is on my roster. Booker has 4 games scheduled, giving me 4 opportunities to choose which performance to count toward my weekly total. In his first game, Booker puts up 32 fantasy points. Not bad. A respectable performance. Something I could comfortably live with.
I now have a decision to make. I can lock in those 32 points and secure that performance for the week, or I can roll the dice and see what happens in his next game. Maybe I like the upcoming matchup. Maybe I believe Booker is due for a 45-point fantasy explosion. Maybe I have convinced myself that I possess some supernatural ability to predict basketball outcomes. Whatever the reasoning, I can pass on that first performance and gamble on something better.
There is a catch, of course. Once Booker’s next game begins, that previous 32-point performance is gone. Vanished into the fantasy basketball abyss. I can no longer go back and select it. I have committed to whatever comes next.
Each player ultimately contributes one game’s worth of fantasy points to your weekly total. Your team’s score is the accumulation of those selected performances across your roster. It creates a fascinating little psychological exercise. When do you take the points? When do you gamble? When do you trust your instincts, and when do you accept that perhaps the basketball gods have already given you everything they intend to? I love that kind of stuff.
Now, I am not here on some goodwill mission to promote Sleeper and its Lock In format. They are not paying me to sing its praises, although if somebody over there wants to start cutting checks, I certainly know where to deposit them.
The reason I bring all of this up is considerably simpler.
Would anybody be interested in playing fantasy basketball with fellow members of the Bright Side of the Sun community this season?
I think it would be fun to put together a Bright Side fantasy basketball league. No money involved. No financial stakes. Purely bragging rights and the opportunity to spend an entire NBA season competing against people who share the same unhealthy fascination with this sport.
If there is enough interest, we will hold the draft on Sunday, October 25, at 7 PM Arizona time. You can join using the link provided, and the first 11 people to sign up will secure their spots. Plain and simple.
My only real request is that you are willing to participate throughout the season. Fantasy leagues are infinitely more enjoyable when everybody remains engaged. Set your lineups. Monitor your players. Make your Lock In selections. Pay attention to what is happening around the league. Give the competition a little effort so we can all enjoy the experience.
If we get a good group together, perhaps we can even do a weekly article discussing the league. Highlighting the best performances, questionable decisions, unfortunate gambles, and whichever poor bastard passed on a 50-point performance only to watch his player score 12 in the next game. There is plenty of potential for some entertaining nonsense. Of course, that requires people who are willing to remain active, check their rosters, and make their selections throughout the season.
So if this sounds like something you would enjoy, let me know and grab one of those available spots. If there is a high demand, I’ll expand the league to more teams.
And while we are discussing fantasy basketball, if anybody has an interest in putting together a dynasty league, something with considerably more depth, long-term roster construction, and an even greater opportunity to obsess over the future of professional basketball players, I would absolutely be interested in that as well. Why? Because I’m a sicko.
