Twelve miles from Union, Ore., up in the mountains above Catherine Creek and in cougar territory, one of the state’s most dedicated NBA fans sits with her eyes glued to the television screen.
Hidden in a nook of Eastern Oregon is the log cabin home of a woman who watches the Playoffs religiously.
She can’t stand when the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili flops like he just got killed. She’s pulling for two of her favorites – the Suns and Pistons – but prefers to follow three or four players on each team. She is infinitely curious about NBA players’ tattoos and is intrigued by the strategy of the game and the men who play it.
Sixty-eight-year-old Judy Perkins’ enthusiasm and knowledge can fill even the biggest NBA fan with basketball fervor.
The graduate of Union High School and Eastern Oregon State College could never get into football.
“You can’t see their faces,” she said.
And to a certain extent, she humors her husband Dale’s sporting interests.
“We watched De La Hoya/Mayweather,” she said.
But Perkins, who gets NBA League Pass, will take basketball any day of the week. The great-grandmother, whose cousin is former Beaver and NBA player Mel Counts and whose sister attended Oregon, especially can’t get enough of the postseason. During the first round, Perkins flips channels from one battle to the next.
“You are lucky if you get to watch two ball games at once,” she said.
One season, she nearly watched every playoff game. By the time the Finals were over, she thought she might be a little tired of basketball.
But then a new season came and she was ready for more.
Though all very successful people, her kids – Tracy, 50, Chris, 48, Greg, 47 and Lezlie, 45 – have failed to understand what’s so great about a ball and a bunch of games. They roll their eyes when Perkins tries to explain her love of the game.
There may still be hope, though. She has three great-grandsons who have yet to be exposed to the NBA; unfortunately, she said, it seems her five grandchildren have not developed an interest in the league to match hers.
“They just don’t know why I watch,” Perkins said with a laugh. “I don’t get a lot of support.”
Perkins is going to watch and talk basketball, though, no matter where she is or whom she’s with.
She and her husband – who have been married for 26 years – spent part of their winter away from home last year in California while visiting a son who is a pilot. She would walk right over to the airport and sit in the pilot’s lounge to get her fix – no matter who was playing. She’s still kicking herself for missing a few games, though.
“Next time we will take our dish,” she joked.
Perkins, who worked at the Center for Human Development before owning an outpatient treatment program and later retiring, opts to use a generator and battery packs over electricity at the house. She and Mel have a telephone and – of course – satellite television. When it’s game time, Mel said he watches some games with her because, well, he has to.
Perkins stopped and chatted with a group of strangers in Las Vegas last year that she overheard talking about the Playoffs. Her family could only look on in agony while the squad of fans delighted in each other’s company for 10 minutes.
Though she isn’t quite sure who will win the Championship this year, Perkins, a well-educated and articulate woman, has an opinion on several teams and players.
She likes the Pistons.
“I like Rasheed Wallace. He is such a loose cannon … Their teamwork makes them, but I am really sad that Ben Wallace is not there any more. I just think how he must feel to play against his old team.”
She feels sorry for Kobe.
“I of course followed the Lakers but, that too, is frustrating. I can’t imagine what Kobe must think when he just can’t carry the team alone.”
And LeBron James?
“He is a nice young man.”
Judy Perkins may only be one of a handful of Union residents who watch the NBA – for that matter, she is one of only a handful of residents; Union only has around 2,000 people. But she’s also part of an NBA community that could learn a thing or two about what it means to be a fan.