“Fake” is probably a bit harsh, but let’s call this the most, um, surreal stretch of the laborious NBA calendar.
Key players are nearing 2,000 minutes on the season unless they’ve missed considerable time with injuries, but either way, almost nobody is completely healthy. And after six months of travel and competition, minds are wandering, either looking toward the playoffs or Cancún.
But these are first-world problems in the NBA landscape, worries provided by luxury of a stable contract. What makes March-to-April surreal is, respectfully, Malachi Flynn 50-pieces, or teams dressing seven or eight players on a given night, half of them complete unknowns to even the most terminal League Pass viewers.