Jordan Pardo
Staff Writer
On Wednesday at lunch, one of the greatest clubs for sports fans was started at Milken. The NBA Debate Club is full of die-hard basketball fans discussing topics in the NBA world. The club chairs, Ethan Zimmerman ‘19 and Alan Lalazarian ‘19, created the club to discuss topics going on in basketball.” The group is designed to have multiple opinions on topics and discuss them properly and in a well-mannered fashion. Instead of a class full of screaming basketball fans, the NBA Debate Club lets every fan share their opinion without disruption. The process starts when Zimmerman ‘19 and Lalazarian ‘19 bring up a topic in the NBA while faculty adviser Mr. Robert Painter helps the chairmen hold the room together. One by one, fans get in front of the room and contribute to the debate. All opinions are welcomed. Zimmerman ‘19 talked about the goals of his club with The Roar and the interesting things that will be discussed going forward.
How did you come up with the idea to create this club?
Basketball has always been a passion of mine and I love to debate with my friends. While we were on Tiferet, we would constantly be checking on our fantasy teams and keeping up with the NBA. We wanted to be able to share our passion of debate when we got home, so we decided to create a fun club that involved basketball and also values everyone’s opinions.
What is the most interesting thing you will be debating this year?
It’s hard to say which topic is the coolest for me because I love basketball so much. That being said, one of the more interesting debates will be when we debate the top 20 players of all time. There are so many different lists and it is hard to try and rank the 20 best players ever. We have to consider all factors while we are debating and the list will be really cool. Another debate I love is when someone brings up a fantasy trade. It is always hard to know if someone has gotten the better side of the trade because we are predicting what will happen in the future. I always struggle with making trades, but it helps when others are giving me good advice.
What is the goal of the club?
The goal of our club is to be able to talk about basketball with everyone and have fun. We want to have good discussions that make people really think about their opinions. We also want to help people out with their fantasy teams and help them win their league. Our main goal, however, is to continue this club next year and make it part of Milken forever.
Why should people join your club?
If you want to have fun and enjoy talking about basketball, this is the club for you. We want everyone who is passionate about basketball to join because everyone has great opinions and will contribute to the club. We also want people to make friends while talking about basketball. The NBA is fun to debate about and it is cool to make friends in the process. This club is for people to take a break from school work and talk about basketball. We want people to not be afraid to share their opinions and come to discuss hot takes in the NBA. We invite everyone at Milken to join the NBA debate club.