OAKLAND, Calif. -- "Stop the ball!"
When I was a young reporter, covering the Philadelphia 76ers, coach Billy Cunningham would yell that.
Reporters sat at courtside for NBA games then. They could hear a lot of disagreements between coach and players, eavesdrop on strategy, and write better, juicier stories as a result.
The money courtside seats command has banished most reporters to the far reaches of arenas now. Thursday night when Golden State routed the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opener of the NBA Finals, I was seated on a swivel chair in the third row of a dim press box high above the floor.