attending NBA games

NBA tix are expensive, so I've never attended a game. Does ILH think that attending games is generally worth the money? Which seats are the best value? Which seats, i.e. court views, ruin the experience?

NBA games are fun, they can be overstimulating but i'd 100% check one out

if you're in the first few rows of the upper bowl or anywhere below that you're prob getting a decent view so it's mostly just what you feel like you can handle in terms of price

as for seats i'd aim for somewhere smack in the middle of the court or behind one of the baskets -- sitting in a corner can be a bit disorienting i think

Absolutely worth it, get the cheapest seats you can find to a non marquee match up and it won't be v much (not applicable to megalopoli sry)

The best part if the experience is having social license to be obnoxious with complete strangers

Also a good bet, become friends or clients of ppl with season tickets, those motherfuckers are dying to give away those sixers seats

yeah ask around best way

fwiw id def rather see one game w lower bowl seats than three w upper bowl being far away is kinda meh to me

being up high is nice if you want to watch offensive sets and things, if your eye is kinda trained to that it can be cool

but seeing nba from the lower powl is pretty incredible

one time i was so close to shaq wow

he is very big

yeah ask around best way

― lag∞n, Sunday, November 23, 2014 12:19 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ud be surprised how many people have access to tickets though work friends relatives etc, especially when ur local team is bad lol

It's only when you see the game courtside that you realize how much modern players have overgrown the court

They should expand the court at least 10 feet in both directions

And also give a lot of dead space on top of that

So PG leg doesn't happen again

yeah its so crazy how they can all fit in there and still successfully play basketball

friend of mine got Hawks-Bulls tickets right behind the basket, floor level, during Jordan's heyday, thought he'd take a girl but he got mono & so he brought me instead. I've seen quite a few other NBA games, mostly from way up high, but there's been nothing like being ten feet from Michael slamming.

Seeing Jordan courtside during his prime is probably worth getting mono over

I probably should have given it up to my friend for that, it's true

I went to my first game in many years recently, saw the magic vs nets at Barclays. dropped 90 per ticket for 100 level relatively centered and the tix came with unlimited food. Stubhub within 24 hours of a game gets you good prices as long as it's not likely to sell out. I've heard you can get some sick deals if you wait until literal last minute but that can be tricky if you don't live near the arena. E.g. for Barclays you have to print the ticket so you can't just hang by the arena with a smartphone.

ya wld think w sixers day of game secondary market u cld get a sick deal

^^ Word, but be careful if you don't check the t&c carefully you could end up walking on and playing the 2 for the sixers

tru, will not look good on ur resume

Many good points, thanks. I'm going to ask my sister and brother-in-law to see about friends with tix to Dec 27 Bulls vs. Pelis, for when I'll be in CHI. Hopefully the lack of exposure for the Pelis will help. Or maybe Bulls tix are always hot. I actually have no idea if it being 2 days after christmas is better or worse for ticket availability. I will prbly try for cheap Lakers tix for a good hate watch when back home if Bulls/Pelis game fails.

ya feel like this is the year to see davis before the mainstream catches on, wld think that chicago game wld be tuff 2 score, pelicans visit philly in january tho

damn i shd try to see davis this year

I had the idea of just hanging out at a kinkos near Barclays and trying to cop seats right before tipoff

they dont do will call thats messed

theres that office max across the street

The best part if the experience is having social license to be obnoxious with complete strangers

― resting waterface (m bison), Sunday, November 23, 2014 9:14 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is what scares me about going to a lakers game tbh

It's easy guys just live in the Barclays Center *disappears down a steam vent*

I was in an almost empty Staples center for the PAC-12 tournament ~4 years ago and the thought crossed my mind. Just waking up and secretly making soft pretzels every day.

going to a lakers game in philly wld be p glorious imo especially considering the locals well documented hatred for their homegrown kobels

Xp stubhub is secondary market. No idea if regular tix are available will call

yeah but w the internet u cld set up willcall no prob

The one disappointment to me other than the teams being kinda boring was that the crowd was pretty sleepy so it kind of felt like watching really good 3d tv instead of love. But early season game against meh team, plus I don't think the nets have developed a very strong fan culture at this point

also isnt there sone sort of official league sanctioned second market iirc

I have a feeling they don't want people doing what I'm talking about, ie waiting til five mins before game to snipe tix

nets r a team v hard to get excited about

theres always the old fashioned scalping too

My wife wants us to take her dad and little brother to the Bulls/Pelis game as a Christmas present so we are doing this. I just hope Rose can play. This will be everyone's first NBA game so we're pretty pumped. I took the advice that it's worth spending more $$ to try and be toward center along one of the court dimensions. We are a bit far away from the court still because ahhhh Bulls tix are so damn expensive (and mostly not for sale).

https://chairnerd.global.ssl.fastly.net/maps/plot/v136-406-4/350x350/chicago-bulls-united-center-section-218-location.png

those are dece seats shd be pretty sweet

I had half-season tix at the Rose garden a few years back at almost the exact same spot and you won't be disappointed there. Excellent seats all around.

that is not far from the court really, great seats if you got them for under $150 or so

Bulls' fans haven driven up prices to game in Phoenix to 2x normal, fucking hell

http://www.stubhub.com/phoenix-suns-tickets/phoenix-suns-phoenix-us-airways-center-1-30-2015-9107682/?ticket_id=1128593493&quantity=null

That is good to hear, Clay. I paid over $150 because it is a Christmas gift, and I don't want to disappoint anybody by holding out longer to the buy the tix.

to be clear $150 for those is "wow I hate you for getting such a good deal" territory anyway (somehow I once scored $90 for row behind courtside, still on court level, I can die happy). Have fun! Lower deck and to a lesser extent that club level have a tendency to sit on their hands 99% of the time, hope that's not the case for your game. Before the game I recommend to go up to the 300 level and take a peak at the view from up there, so then you could appreciate how nice those 200 level seats are. Concession and bathroom lines are considerably shorter at 200 level too.

ah, I see. Yeah, I'm hoping to check out the United Center beforehand since it's my first time. I might try to get lucky w/ tix when the Bulls visit the staples center at the end of January. The stakes will be lower for that one.

Any tips for getting tix for cheap other than stubhub

at least around here you can get some pretty cheap nosebleeds if you just approach scalpers outside the arena right before / after tip-off. they just start dumping em off for a few bucks.

My friend wants good cheap tix for when the cavs visit :-/

tuff ticket

*punches wall*

I'm in Milwaukee and there are always scalpers. They can usually be talked down a fair amount. We once got 6 rows from the floor for $45 apiece. Obviously this shouldn't be a shock but it was pretty funny to see that the players who look short on TV are still taller than just about everyone you know.

man I really wanna see this Bulls team when they come to Phoenix but now shittiest ticket is going for 3x an avg game's on Stubhub (cheapest available is $92 for upper level, 14th row, corner). Who is paying these prices? Fuck that.

bulls must have fans everywhere left over from jordan days

That's insane

paid ~2x for today's game

have they always sold liquor at nba games? i got seriously lit on jack n cokes at the Wiz/Hawks game a month ago.

i live like 1.5 miles walking from the AAC in dallas and still only make it to a couple games per yr BC the tickets can get p steep. saw Lakers mavs earlier this season which was great from the nosebleeds being basically surrounded by some loud Lakers fans. Mavs won by 30 and we had many opportunities to trash talk Kobe.

i saw Bron with the cavs down here a few years back and he ran a clinic on us. We got blown the fuck out but it was a ton of fun to see him at the start of his prime

attending NBA games is pretty awesome. The United Center is so huge but also possesses the feel of a Midwest high school gym as you get to hear the fan reactions. Butler and Rose were incredi-bull (so many horribly formed 'bull' puns from the CHI marketing throughout), but seeing Davis live was a real highlight. He seemed to come out of nowhere with some of these blocks. Like the drive was happening at a certain fast speed, but then Davis just used some otherworldly hyperspeed for one half second to extend and swat it. Though it was also fun to see Aaron Brooks and Butler make some circus layups on him. The two best nuggets from attending the game are: 1. The Bulls do a scoreboard bit during timeouts called "deep thoughts by joakim noah" that rips off Jack Handey. It probably makes people who hate Noah so irate. 2. Some dopey fella sitting court-side was heckling Austin Rivers all game, and Rivers would stare him down after he made any shots. It was like a funny-or-die reenactment of the classic Reggie Miller vs. Spike Lee moments.

Celtics vs Pelicans at the garden was p incredible even from the nosebleeds. it was nice to see sully and crowder do enough damage to get the W but even if they'd lost, seeing AD bordered on a religious experience and woulda been worth it. artistic might seem like a trite term but accurate imo. any ILHers who have a chance to see him in action this season should make it a priority to do so.

glad Sufjan had a good time at the UC.
prices for Bulls/Suns in PHX fell a lil...so I caved and bought tickets for $68 ea. That weekend in Phx has this game, whatever that PGA event is where Tiger is attending, and the Super Bowl. $$$$$$ for local biz, sheesh. Supposed to be busy day ever at airport.

for a sec, thought to myself I need to get my Bulls hoodie washed but realized it'll be too warm for that and a tshirt will do :DDDDDD

tix prices falling nicely for the shitty Nets, may still get to see some good teams cheap

I bought a nice D. Rose bulls shirt to wear to the game, and US Airways lost the bag it was in on my return flight. ;_;

yeah this upcoming week will be insane in phoenix. i work right next to the waste management open and have to get a special parking pass and stuffs. I've got tix for suns/dubs on march 9!

nice! I saw them play Suns last year, would be up for it again this year if can snag a good deal.

would love to see an nba game at some point. never been.

do it!

I dreamt last night that I went to a Knicks game, worst nightmare I've had in a while. :o

lol, I was at Knicks-Warriors, got free suite tix through work. It wasn't a completely terrible game, especially considering Melo didn't even play. But Curry also wasn't particularly exciting, and he was who I wanted to see most.

Luxe experience was fun, never done that before.

so far away from the court tho

MSG box seats aren't bad

http://i.imgur.com/yA93PhD.jpg

200's in this chart

Much better than Yankee Stadium box suites, for example

http://i.imgur.com/Ct9JVWX.png

Better proportions

Suite in the 30's -- view was great actually, towards the corner, pretty close-in.

MSG box seats aren't bad

― 龜, Monday, February 9, 2015 1:31 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i mean i support the ripping off of corporations but true nba luxury is being close to the court

guess its better than being all the way up how they are in a lot of arenas but directly beneath the beginning of the upper bowl + snacks ehh

needless to say strictly for corporate dbags who get off on being treated special/dont know/care abt basketball

if ur job really cared abt u they wld invest in some better seats

Vendor fwiw, not my employer.

Think what u want but they were good seats. Thing is there are also only two rows of seats in the boxes so you're right at the front of the level.

It's the front of the 200 level.

aka directly below the upper bowl (the 300 level)

i mean the upper deck pretty much just hangs over them

http://i.imgur.com/avq2sKA.jpg

i mean theyre fine id take em for free just wanted to point out how they are the epitome of garbage corporate culture that has ruined the live game experience

well that's MSG especially, yeah, but they are not far from the top of the lower bowl and with an unobstructed view, so they're pretty good -- as good as the seats I splurged for at Barclay's. Actually the worst thing about them imo is the way they feel a little bit cut off from the bowls -- makes the game feel a lot lower energy. Or maybe that was just Knicks fans at an inevitable blowout.

yeah i mean they cut you off from the riff raff ~on purpose~

I really want to go to an NBA game in OKC or somewhere where the crowd gets ridiculously loud, tired of these blase NYC crowds

if either of the ny teams ever get good lol

I really want to go to an NBA game in OKC or somewhere where the crowd gets ridiculously loud, tired of these blase NYC crowds

of course my standing offer to take any ILH poster to a blazer game at a moments notice exists in perpetuity, one must simply come to Oregon in the winter

Don't know if I can brave that parking lot

yes obv the one problem being it must be on a day where I don't want to feel particularly cold

If I do go I will bring you your very own Canada Goose