The story of an Indian NBA fan

Let me set the scene, it's midnight, you're at a pub talking to your mate and you're doing what everyone does when you're at a pub, complain! Complaining about the lights, complaining about the music, your job and everything else in the world; until your friend stops you in the middle of your rant "Why do you have wake up in 4 hours, it's the weekend?" he says. But the Celtics are playing the Raptors and you wouldn't miss that for the world.

So, you go home, tired, lazy but you haven't forgotten about the game. "I'll watch the highlights," the voice in your head says, "I can even watch the recap, I got plenty of time tomorrow." But then, you'll know the result and that's no fun. “I could try to be Ted Mosby when he is trying to not find out the result of the Superbowl, but I don't have that much faith in myself.”

So, here you are, lying in bed, putting alarms for the early morning like you have a flight to catch; 3:45, 3:50, 4:00, 4:02, 4:10, 4:15, maybe some alarm will wake you up. The strategy of champions, I must say. The first alarm rings "Oh, you got plenty of time," the devil on your shoulder says, so you dismiss the alarm until it's 4:17 and you wake up like you're The Undertaker in the middle of a fight and stumble across to the TV like a Zombie.

(There are times I wonder if my dog thinks I'm crazy as I stumble across the room in search for a remote in the dark. I'm the crazy one? You lick your own self, but I'm the crazy one! Good on you, doggo!)

Then you finally turn the TV on and you've missed half of the first quarter, but it's okay. Until it's halftime, and you're just staring at the screen, you see the sun come up and you start to contemplate about life, as you see old people powerwalking as you're standing in the balcony wondering about life, I mean, somewhat about life, but mostly "why the Celtics are such a mess this season? Their roster is insane and Brad Stevens is a brilliant coach, they should have figured it out by now. Is it the case of having too many good players? " Oh, wait weren't you trying to be an introspective toad? You should get back to that.

But well, halftime is over and the match is back on. It extends to the OT as you continue to immerse into the couch, until it finally ends. "The Raptors seem legit!" "Will Kawhi actually stay in Toronto?". You try to subdue the thoughts because it's time to go back to sleep but the next match is about to start and it's a Saturday, you can sleep later. So, this continues, your flatmates start to get up and do productive things with their day, one is going to the gym, the other one has a cooking class at 11. It's alright though "Basketball is productive" you think.

It's finally 11, you have watched three games on the bounce and you're finally ready to go back to bed until you get a call from your friends who are planning to go for brunch and ask if you would wanna join? "I haven't slept guys, you go ahead". You put your phone on silent, watch an episode of The Starters on Youtube and go to sleep. "This is why I have no friends, cuz I'm a Baller," you think.

The weekdays are a nightmare of their own though, You watch a match, struggle to get ready for work, reach late and then still hear everyone complain about how you're low on energy or groggy the whole day. "You should really take your sleeping schedule a lot more seriously, you should get at least 8 hours of sleep," they say, "What's so important that you have to do?" You nod in agreement because you have no energy to argue; while you have ‘I wish’ by Skee-Lo playing in your head (I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller!)

But it's all worth it at the end of the day, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Well, unless you're the Brooklyn Nets trying to trade with the Celtics in 2014. I would consider that!