My dad and I are on a mission to see a game at all 30 NBA arenas. We started our journey in April 2013, when we took a trip up to New York so we could attend a Brooklyn Nets game at Barclays Center and a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.

The only rule on our journey is an arena doesn’t count unless an NBA game takes place. We made the rule in 2017 while in Minneapolis, Minn. We traveled to the Twin Cities in early March to see the Timberwolves face off with the Portland Trail Blazers. Prior to the scheduled March 6, 2017, showdown, the Target Center had just hosted Disney On Ice for the previous five days, so the ice was still underneath the court, and with the temperature outside being in the mid-60s, condensation made the floor too slippery to play on that night. Unfortunately for us, we had flown into Minneapolis specifically to see the T-Wolves. Now, we will have to return to Minnesota in the future to cross the Target Center off the list.

As a part of the journey, I do not want to see my Cleveland Cavaliers on the road (though it’s happened twice, once in Detroit and once in Utah) because I want to be able to root for the home team and get a true taste of what the atmosphere at that arena is like. I feel like if I go into the opposing arena supporting the Cavs, I won’t get the full experience in the arena because I’ll be more focused on rooting for the Cavs.

Since we began working on this goal, a few teams have moved into new arenas. While we’ll have to go back to see them in their new arenas, the teams still count because we saw them play in their old arena. For example, we saw the Milwaukee Bucks host the New York Knicks at the Bradley Center on Mar. 8, 2017, a game in which the Bucks won 104-93. Milwaukee has since moved to the Fiserv Forum, but they are still on the list.

In terms of physical aesthetics, my favorite arena was the Kaseya Center, home of the Miami Heat. The interior felt very modern and sleek, it almost looked like the inside of a spaceship. The seating bowl consists of red and yellow seats to match the colors of the Heat. The jumbotron feels very Miami-like in that it has four screens with a Miami-style art piece in the middle.

My favorite arena based on the atmosphere was the Air Canada Centre (now called Scotiabank Arena), home of the Toronto Raptors. Throughout the entire game, Raptors vs Utah Jazz on March 2, 2016 (a game the Raptors won 104-94), the crowd was chanting “Let’s Go Raptors!” and making all types of noise throughout the game.

Thus far, my most important game was at the Wells Fargo Center when the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the Charlotte Hornets on Mar. 2, 2018, a game in which the 76ers won 110-99, because of what I was attempting to do that night during the Sixers introductions. Heading into that game, I hadn’t been able to stay in my seat during player introductions because of the pyrotechnics that are used.

Going into that 76ers game, I made the decision I was going to stay in my seat and watch the Sixers intro even though I knew they were going to use fire towers. As the clock was approaching zero, the usual nerves that I had before player introductions weren’t there. I felt very calm, cool, and collected, so much so that I filmed their intro.

After seeing the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center on Oct. 27, a game they lost to the Orlando Magic 102-97, we have seven more teams to go:

• Denver Nuggets
• Oklahoma City Thunder
• New Orleans Pelicans
• Memphis Grizzlies
• Atlanta Hawks
• Boston Celtics
• Minnesota Timberwolves

We’re hoping to complete the journey within the next decade.