This is definitely the first major step. I think that doing this while also trying to acquaint oneself with increasingly sophisticated basketball terminology will enable more thoughtful viewing (as well as discussion).

Drives, screens, hand-offs, cuts, and other movement options are good examples of need-to-recognize terms. There are also of course unique types of passes, dribble moves, shots, and the ilk that make up the building blocks of basketball from which plays are formed and possessions therefore are defined; and if you only watch the ball, most of these things will be invisible!

I also find that it’s sometimes enjoyable to watch a particular player if I feel like they are more valuable than their role would suggest statistically, such as a catch and shoot player having an outsized impact on winning. You’ll often find that these players, away from the ball, are very clever in finding space on the perimeter or utilizing the threat of cuts/shooting to stretch defensive attention thin. But now I’m just gushing about basketball; it’s a beautiful game.