The Ol' Fantasy Curse

So the NBA season tips off tonight, with the Celtics-Heat, Mavericks-Lakers and last (and definitely least...) Wizards-Cavaliers game.

NBA has always been the last of the four major US sports that I follow, becoming a Celtics fan by proximity then staying interested because of players like Ray Allen and Keyon Dooling.  But this season, with the NHL season looking bleak, I decided to try my hand in fantasy basketball.  Fantasy sports and me go together like the Sharks and the Jets, but its still fun.

Sometimes.

For years now, I am convinced that I am a star player's reckoning.  In 2005, I chose David Akers second round (yeah, I know) and he broke his leg during a kickoff.  The two years on either side of Jacoby Ellsbury's near-MVP season I picked him high, only to have him fold up like a paper bag.  Last year in hockey, my top two goalies were Ryan Miller and Kari Lehtonen.  A concussion and a serious groin injury sidelined them for too long to hold onto, and I suffered five straight losses.

This year, I thought, new sport, new results?  Good one.  Top pick: Kevin Love -- out for six weeks.  Second round pick: Dirk Nowitzki -- out six to eight weeks.  Third round pick: James Harden -- traded to the Rockets.

I mean if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.  While my recent picks have been dead wrong, I'll try my hand tonight, going with the Heat, Lakers and Wizards as the winners.  Hopefully the whole Allen-Celtics fiasco doesn't get blown out of proportion tonight, but it'll sure be awkward during the ring ceremony...

UPDATE: Steve Nash was taken out of the Lakers' second game Wednesday night with a leg bruise.  Hopefully it is nothing serious, but either way, my fifth round pick joins the ranks of the DL.