Well, several somethings.

You don’t get to hear the national anthem. Often that’s no loss. But when Davis Gaines (of Phantom of the Opera fame) does it … and just nails it with a voice both supple and powerful … that’s a treat.

And this whole pregame thing the Lakers have been doing with the enormous black curtains hanging from the overhead scoreboard, and the arena going dark as highlights are projected onto the black curtains while “I Love L.A.” plays … that’s pretty cool, too, and something they don’t show on network TV.

Oops. There went the sheets. Kobe’s face about 100 feet high on that thing … and the noise behind the pictures, the music … I can feel the bass vibrating through the floor.

Kobe back on screen, and fans are chanting MVP!

The slogan here is “Now is the time”. Not exactly a novel thought, but it gets the fans going.

And it’s fun, too, to hear Lawrence Tanter do the intros. TV just doesn’t show that anymore. “The other guard, No. 24, in his 12th year from Lower Merion High School, Kobe Bryant!”

TV would rather show commercials. But some of this stuff is fun. Maybe the main reason you still pay real money to come to a game in person.