You gotta root for someone.

Just take the team you hate the most and root for the opposition. [READER]( With game one of the NBA finals starting tonight, the time for hesitation is through and I must pick a team to root for. I’ve always rooted for someone in the NBA finals on the grounds that, I don’t know—you gotta root for someone. [[Illustration of Ben Joravsky]]( Most of the time it’s not a hard choice to make. Just take the team you hate the most and root for the opposition. For a time in the 80s, when the Celtics played the Lakers, I was stuck because I hated one team as much as the other. I wound up rooting for whoever was losing. In close games, I often changed allegiances after every basket. Of course, it’s a lot easier to root for the team you actually love. Alas, I only love one team in the NBA—the Chicago Bulls. And they haven’t been in the finals since 1998. If you do the math, that’s 23 years (and counting). Actually, it’s 23 years (and counting), even if you don’t do the math. Just saying. It was after that final championship in '98 that the bright minds who run the Bulls got together and said: "How about this for an idea? Let’s break up one of the most exciting and successful teams the world’s ever seen by running Michael Jordan, the greatest player ever, out of town." I still haven’t gotten over it. Even after the aforementioned 23 years (and counting). For several years, I rooted against whatever team LeBron James played for on the grounds that he broke my heart in 2010 when he chose Miami over Chicago as a free agent. Though, in retrospect, considering how the Bulls treated MJ—can you blame him? However, in 2016, I rooted for LeBron’s Cavs over the Warriors because the Warriors had broken the Bulls' regular season record that year. And if they followed up by winning the championship people would say they, not the '96 Bulls, were the greatest team of all time. Stand by your man, to quote Tammy Wynette. This year’s championship pits the Milwaukee Bucks against the Phoenix Suns. I’m at a loss—as I don’t hate or love either team or city. So after much thought, I’ve decided to root for the Bucks because Brian, my son-in-law, comes from Milwaukee. And he’s so excited about the Bucks that he wears a green Giannis Antetokounmpo jersey and a "fear the deer" cap and yells at the TV during games, saying stuff like . . . “Get the ball to Middleton!” Which is sound advice for the Bucks. In fact, if you know nothing about basketball and you’re in a bar and the game is on and you want to impress people with your knowledge of basketball, just yell at the TV: “Get the ball to Middleton!” People will think you’re the second coming of Phil Jackson. Anyway, in honor of Brian, I will say something that as a lifelong Bulls fan, I never thought I’d say . . . Go Bucks! But it’s only for the finals. Like I said, you gotta root for someone. [Ben Joravsky [signature]]( [Jamie Ludwig]( on Summer of Soul [Steve Krakow]( on James Holvay [Ben Joravsky]( on Mayor Lightfoot, the bully [Delmarie Cobb]( on Chicago politics [Rummana Hussain]( on Sha'Carri Richardson Alderwoman [Sue Sadlowski Garza]( on the city council [The Ben Joravsky Show]( [Listen to The Ben Joravsky Show]( [Pizza for Everyone!]( Charity pop-up Crust Fund Pizza drops its retro-style community cookbook that embraces the egalitarian pliability of pizza. By [Mike Sula]( [@MikeSula]( [Angel Bat Dawid finds creative kinship in Sistazz of the Nitty Gritty]( By [Hannah Edgar]( [@2ndFiddle]( [Evanston’s Jason Narducy wields a lifetime of rock power on Split Single’s new Amplificado]( By [Leor Galil]( [@imLeor]( [At the Gates’ The Nightmare of Being confronts the tragedy of being alive]( The Swedish death-metal luminaries turn philosophical on their dark new seventh album. By [Jamie Ludwig]( [@unlistenmusic]( [Issue of Jun 24 - July 7, 2021 Vol. 50, No. 20]( [Download Issue]( (PDF) 1971 Chicagoans have relied on the Reader for trusted alternative coverage of our city. The Chicago Reader is now a 501c3 nonprofit organization which means our survival is in your hands. In order to continue to be your trusted alternative voice of Chicago, we need your help. If you can donate just $5 today, we can show the world that community funded, independent journalism is the future. [DONATE TODAY!]( [View this e-mail as a web page]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2021 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616