Basketball Jones

True confession time: after leading the May sesshin at the zendo all day Saturday (6 am to 9 pm), I unwound a little at home by watching the second half of the Celtics-Bulls game.

Hey, it was Game 7 of one of the most competitive playoff series in NBA history. The Celtics won, this time without going into overtime, 109-99.

It was a tough, gruelling series, with neither team ever backing down. But the odd thing is that over the course of the seven games, although I remain a loyal Celtics fan, I came to like these Bulls. They played with heart and determination, and displayed a lot of talent. I was glad that the Celtics ultimately prevailed and, frankly, had seen enough of the Bulls for this year, but I would have been glad to cheer for them if the series had bone the other way and ended with a Chicago victory instead of one for Boston.

I wasn't sure the two teams felt the same way. This had been a very physical series, with some hard fouls and players thrown to the floor and into the scorer's table. Players walked off the court bleeding, and returned to the game with chipped teeth and stitches on their brows, on their nose, and on their lips. In Game 7, the refs tried to keep control by calling almost any physical contact a foul, but the intensity was clearly still there, with Chicago pulling to within 3 points with 5:44 left to play. So after the final whistle blew and the two teams approached each other on the court, I feared the worst.

But to my delight, instead of fighting they embraced each other in what appeared to be more than just a mere display of sportsmanship but a genuine respect for each other. Rivals who had fouled each other hard during the previous week congratulated each other for playing such an intense series, and there was no gloating, no bragging and no resentment.

That's what you like to see after a full day of zazen: two teams rejoicing in their achievement, with no acts of one-sided self-congratulation.