Joy & All That

It felt good to feel good about the NBA finals. It felt good to see so many people I know and like and love having a fantastic time. It felt good to see my old city explode with elation, time and time again.

But man, was I confused in my happiness. Like…I am 45.5 years old. Never in my lifetime…til now. Thankfully my buddy Kevin Sciretta, born and raised in NYC, also transplanted to Chicago, was ready to receive texts like this one.

I was Very Online throughout the finals and I had to take Instagram off my phone the morning after Game 5 (that’s me above, hyped and exhausted with an iced espresso.) I barely slept that night. It’s wild to see a team that has just been part of the fabric of your upbringing finally win it all when you’ve not seen that in your lifetime. I’m not even a huge basketball guy, but when you grow up in a family that loves sports you do inherit teams in a de facto way. Maybe you go to Mass four times a year but you’re still Catholic, know what I mean?

I have a lot of memories of falling asleep to the squeak of sneakers on the court on the TV. Basketball is way more exciting than golf, which is the best game to nap to. Baseball is second. Football is third. Basketball is last because, like hockey, it moves fast and it’s inherently exciting. (I have never fallen asleep to a hockey game and cannot imagine it.)

When I was growing up in New Jersey, the Knicks were inescapable - and inescapably disappointing. We had the Nets too, but we never seemed to expect huge things of them, and when I was a young adult they announced plans to move to Brooklyn (I mean, I did the same thing, can’t exactly blame ‘em for wanting to find a fresh new joint and more money, though I find it gross that the Bears claim to be on the verge of moving to Hammond, IN - but that’s another story in my new adopted home city.)

Alright, I gotta do more work and read my editor’s notes on the first few chapters of my next book. Thanks for helping me warm up.

I hope you’re well today. I think Spike Lee, the longtime de facto mayor of my old neighborhood, probably is. And that makes me happy, personally! I’ll always love New York and I always want great things for that great city.

Let the record show: I’ll always love New Jersey more. And where was Jalen Brunson born? That’s right, NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY.

(I did eventually fall asleep on Sunday, thank goodness.)

Best wishes,

Sara

My writing and other work

Venmo for a one-time tip

CLASS! with Chad the Bird and Sara Benincasa on 6/18/26

An earlier version of this post was shared first on Patreon.