NBA League Pass Broadband

NBA League Pass is a great product, whether you're going the anti-cable route, or subscribing through your cable provider.  That's actually how I first experienced it.  When I had Dish Network, and Pitt basketball was good, and Lebron James played in Cleveland, and the NHL was between lock-outs, and I was engaged to be married, I had a variety of sports options to watch in the Winter on regular cable.  

You would get Pitt in conference play plus the Penguins' star studded lineup twice a week.  You had NBA on TNT every Thursday night, plus NBA on ESPN Wednesdays and/or Fridays.  Once football ends you get NBA on ABC every Sunday.  Locally, we had about a dozen Cavs games on FoxSportsNet Pittsburgh -- which was a huge bonus. They were like my local NBA team.  I even went up to the Quicken Loans Arena for Game 6 of the 2008 Eastern Conference Semi-finals against Boston -- which was awesome.  NBA playoff games are intense.  Between the Pens, Pitt, and the Cavs, I had one of my favorite local teams playing at least 3 or 4 nights a week.  Plus I had a couple nights of prime NBA action on TNT and ESPN.

Things change, though. My fiance dumped me. They stopped carrying Cavs games on FoxSportsNet Pittsburgh.  College basketball becomes less and less watchable on a yearly basis. And really, how many hockey games  can you watch?  I didn't even have HD at the time, and standard def hockey is just blurry ice skating.  College basketball is unwatchable until tournament time.  All the while, the NBA had like 12 to 15 really good teams, which is remarkable.  All 8 playoff teams in the Western Conference in 2008-09 had a winning percentage of at least .585.  The Association was -- and still is -- stocked with star players.

For the first week of the season (and I think they still do this every year) they offered NBA League Pass for a free trial.  You can get it through your cable TV or streaming online -- or both.  I tried both for a week that first year and fell in love with it.  Enjoying the access to every game on the NBA schedule, including the top match-ups on regular cable on TNT and ESPN -- combined with hockey being boring, college basketball sucking, and FSN Pittsburgh not carrying the Cavs anymore -- led to my initial decision to subscribe that first year, which may have been 2007-08, but I'm not sure.

Last year, after I officially cancelled my cable, I subscribed to NBA League Pass Broadband Choice.  For about a hundred bucks a season (mine was prorated for about half the price since I joined around midseason) I got every game for my choice of 5 teams.  You get full DVR control over the game and a full archive.  So you can watch a game live or go back later that night or the next day and watch any game.  I found that when I would wake up early and have trouble getting back to sleep, I would watch a game.  Or I would work on my computer with a game in the background. A lot of times I would put a game on and skip ahead to the 4th quarter (which is marked for you, so it's easy to get there with one click).  On any give night last year I would watch the 4th quarter of the Heat game, the Clipper game, and the Thunder game.  

I also wanted to make a sleeper pick with my 5 teams.  I had chosen four favorites, one of which was a bust. I had the Heat, Clippers, Thunder, and Bulls (bad choice). Then I went with the Timberwolves. Remember, it was halfway through the season.  Kevin Love was an MVP candidate, Rubio was a top 3 rookie of the year, and Nikola Pekovic had shown he was more than just a big body.  Rick Adelman had made them a legitimate team again... almost.  So they were a great choice.  It made sense to pick an up-and-coming team, a team that hadn't made the playoffs in years, a great story to follow.  

I didn't realize I would become such a huge fan.  They were such a fun team to watch.  And mind you, when I say "watch," a lot of times I just have the TV on in the background -- especially when we're talking about watching basketball games almost every night -- so a game is on in the background while I'm working on the computer, doing something around the house, playing on my iPod, or a million other things.  But seriously I am now a huge Minnesota Timberwolves fan.  I look forward to watching them -- because they have now become an actual rooting interest for me -- more than any of my other 4 teams.

This year I went with the Heat and Thunder again.  I chose the Lakers over the Clippers.  I kept Minnesota of course.  And that left 1 choice.  I considered the Knicks and the Nets the most.  Then I let the season start and held that final spot open.  I was leaning toward the Nets before the season, then towards the Knicks, but the other day I finally went in a different direction and took Memphis.  They are kind of like what the Timberwolves wish they could be -- what they aspire to become.  And Memphis really hasn't proven anything yet, but they will this year.  So I think they'll become a rooting interest as well.  

The Lakers have had so much drama this year that I've enjoyed their games.  Minnesota got Love back after injury, plus they added Kirilenko, making them a great watch and potentially formidable team once Rubio returns to full speed.  The Heat and Thunder are still probably the best teams in the league and I enjoy having the option to see their games whenever I want.  I get full DVR capability and I can even watch 4 games at once if I so choose.

I highly recommend the product!