Today marks the end of an era. The collective behind FreeDarko has decided to call it quits.
I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say that FreeDarko has changed the way we write about sports on the web. They weren’t the first basketball bloggers but they are certainly among the most influential. Bethlehem Shoals, DrLawyerIndianChief, Brown Recluse Esq, Big Baby Belafonte introduced a brand of literary irreverence not often seen in sportswriting. That’s not to say that they didn’t take basketball seriously. On the contrary, FreeDarko took basketball as seriously as the most advanced metric devotee. Their lack reverence was for basketball convention.
Touting concepts such as Liberated Fandom and the Positional Revolution, FreeDarko sometimes read like more of a manifesto than a sports blog. More than anything, though, FD was a celebration of style. It was a reminder that we need the aesthetic just as much as the utilitarian. It was an inspiration, and it will be missed.
Posted by Management 
