This is not because Qixi has arrived, and a kind sister is willing to spend the holiday with me, the champion of maternal singleness for more than 20 years. It's not because an old man suddenly becomes benevolent and likes to give, crazily giving benefits and acting as a true hero in the usual chat and pressure group. But the 2023 Men's Basketball World Cup will officially kick off in a few days. In my usually inactive team, there have been frequent discussions these days about the performance of the Chinese men's basketball team in this World Cup warm-up match.
I think most fans and friends have added one or two of these group chats, which are mainly used to discuss basketball related topics. Most of the members inside are classmates who played basketball together during your junior and high school years, as well as players who randomly formed teams on the court. You gather because you love basketball. Whenever there is a shortage of players on the court, shout in the group and someone will immediately ride a bike for a few kilometers to accompany you and sweat the whole afternoon.
But with the passage of time, everyone now has their own work and family, and some even go to other cities to live. The opportunities to make an appointment to play football are decreasing, and only after the opening of the NBA league every year do there occasionally appear a few voices discussing the game in the group.
By comparison, I should be relatively lucky - thanks to my role as a game editor, I started bringing some basketball loving friends in the group a few years ago to interact with sports games such as the "NBA 2K" series and "Street Basketball". Over time, in addition to basketball and game topics, some people in the group began to organize online games irregularly, which can be considered as a way to make up for the regret of not being able to play together frequently in reality.
This is probably also a microcosm of the daily entertainment of many basketball enthusiasts in China at present. In addition to real-life matches on the field, exchanging skills with friends in the virtual world has also made many fans enjoy it tirelessly. Although everyone curses the "NBA 2K" series every year as unproductive new year products and "streetball" online games that balance and pull the crotch, new new new year products are still bought every year, and the gold from the game will also flow out of players' wallets.