Brian Windhorst is playing chess, while everyone else is playing checkers.
It’s been nearly three years since Windhorst staked his claim to his place in internet meme culture with his speculation regarding the Utah Jazz’s offseason dealings. Why would they do that? Well, perhaps that same logic can be applied to Windhorst’s NBA Finals travel strategy.
He makes hotel reservations in numerous cities around the country for early June. Now, why would he do that?
Allow him to explain.
“This is how I vote with my mouse. I decide that a team has a chance to win the title when I book hotel reservations in that city,” Windhorst said on Pardon My Take when Dan ‘Big Cat’ Katz asked him how many teams would it not shock him to win the title this year. “Because here’s the thing, as you know, most hotel reservations you can cancel. So, there’s no penalty for making a hotel reservation. And, No. 1, I want to get into a certain hotel, and what happens in the playoffs is you never know when… all of a sudden, 5,000 people want to come into town for a game.
“Sometimes hotels sell out. Sometimes they quadruple their prices. But they don’t pay attention. They don’t seem to know that their basketball teams are good. And the Finals schedule is out, like in the fall. So, I booked a certain hotel that I want in Boston. I booked it in October for the Finals. And I booked the Boston hotel for the whole Finals, whether they’re at home or wherever they’re at, because they’re going to probably be there. I booked it out.”
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In December or January, he booked Oklahoma City.
“Booked that out,” he quipped. “Booked that sucker.”
So Windy has Boston. And he has Oklahoma City.
“Then, the Cavs. You know, they started 15-0, but some teams start hot,” he says. “The Cavs went on this winning streak in January and they went through this stretch, every time they played a team, the other team would come into the postgame and be like, ‘Holy sh*t.’ Giannis did it. Michael Malone did it. J.J. Redick was like, ‘Do you know what you gotta do to beat these guys?’ There was this stretch where they went on one of their winning streaks. It was uncanny. Every game, a coach would come in or a player would come in and be like, ‘This team is good.’ I was like, ‘Alright, Cleveland on the list.’ Booked.”
Cleveland. Check.
So, how many more has Brian Windhorst booked? That’s what everyone wants to know.
“I have Los Angeles booked, but did I book for Inglewood, where the Clippers play? Or did I book for downtown? That’s the question. Wouldn’t you like to know,” he quipped. “I booked downtown because our studio is here. I just wanted to mess around. I booked LA, because there’s a world where I can see the Clippers and Lakers doing it. I would favor the Clippers to do it more than the Lakers, but the Lakers draw, of all the draws you can have, the Lakers draw is probably the favorable.
“Because not that I’m looking down at the Wolves, in fact, the Wolves are staying at the same hotel I’m at now; I just saw them on my way over here, and so, I’m not saying anything bad about them… I might see them at the Starbucks, and there may be words. I’m not looking for that. I’m not looking for that heat.”
Windy is no Jordan Schultz.
“And I booked Denver before Michael Malone got fired,” he adds. “I should’ve re-evaluated that, because I just have so much respect for Nikola [Jokić].”
That’s his list: Boston, OKC, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Denver.
While others are guessing, Windhorst is planning — and when the dust settles, he’ll be the one who was ready for every twist and turn of the NBA playoffs.
