The NBA is broken, we need a new league

[Stabula]

I doubt at this point this will be an unpopular opinion in the age of the Warriors and the small handful of pretender superteams that will try to emulate their faggotry. This isn't even watchable anymore even for casual fans. There needs to be a new league with old school defensive rules, no three point line, and a revolutionary way of dealing with salaries and how teams acquire players IMO.

[HarlemHeat37]

They aren't changing anything until their ratings take a hit, this isn't 2005:lol

[barbacoataco]

It is interesting to compare the NBA, NFL and MLB. I am not taking about ratings or popularity. I would like to focus on the fact that the NBA and MLB are broken in a way that the NFL isn't. In the NFL there are at least 8-10 teams that going into next year think they could make a run at a title. While the Patriots have won a lot, there have been many different teams in recent years make the Suoer Bowl. Also smaller market teams still are competitive.
MLB is just as bad as the NFL. Small market teams are constantly letting their developed talent walk away when they become free agents because they just can't afford to keep them. Multiple teams are tanking and their fans aren't going to see them. I think the key is having a real salary cap. You can't have some teams with 4x the payroll of other teams.
Still baseball is unpredictable so it's not as bad as the NBA where last season was a foregone conclusion.

[Spurs9]

https://www.ocregister.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/bbb-e.png

[tholdren]

Ironically you all still watch

[ducks]

Barry McCockiner
Barry McCockiner
@Sp0rtsTalkJo3
·
30m
DeMarcus Cousins has been on the Warriors for an hour and he already has as many Finals MVP’s with them as Steph Curry

[SpursforSix]

Ironically you all still watch

Not me. I’ve watched less and less every season. I didn’t watch any non Spurs games in the RS. For real.
Gave up the NBA package years ago.

[tholdren]

Not me. I’ve watched less and less every season. I didn’t watch any non Spurs games in the RS. For real.
Gave up the NBA package years ago.

I applaud you. I will stop once 20 goes, but continue to post until permaban. This is taking longer tha.n expected tbh

[daslicer]

With Lebron being the West at least the East will be more entertaining now.

[Gibbz]

With Lebron being the West at least the East will be more entertaining now.

For sure. I'll be watching San Antonio and Eastern basketball, then hope for a miracle in the Finals. :bobo

[HarlemHeat37]

With Lebron being the West at least the East will be more entertaining now.

Philly getting Kawhi would actually make it very compelling, a Boston-Philly matchup..too bad they don't seem to be pushing for it.

[sasaint]

I applaud you. I will stop once 20 goes, but continue to post until permaban. This is taking longer tha.n expected tbh

By that measure, you will be gone soon. I think Manu is as good as gone.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

Not me. I’ve watched less and less every season. I didn’t watch any non Spurs games in the RS. For real.
Gave up the NBA package years ago.

i haven't watched a non-Spurs game, regular season or playoffs ... maybe the last one was when lebron punked the warriors in the finals ... and then before that ... not sure

[baseline bum]

Ironically you all still watch

I watched about 15 minutes of the Finals. First time I haven't closely watched a Finals since 1985.

[Mugen]

I watched about 15 minutes of the Finals. First time I haven't watched a Finals since 1985.

Same, made the most money I've ever made from a playoff season tho

[Mugen]

I doubt at this point this will be an unpopular opinion in the age of the Warriors and the small handful of pretender superteams that will try to emulate their faggotry. This isn't even watchable anymore even for casual fans. There needs to be a new league with old school defensive rules, no three point line, and a revolutionary way of dealing with salaries and how teams acquire players IMO.

Wtf are you talking about? This is literally the golden age of the casual fan.

The harsh truth is that reptilian, people skin wearing fuck Adam Silver doesn't give a shit if diehard fans like you or me continue watching the NBA. There's no money in us, it's all about the casual fan and these superteams are the best thing that could have happened to attract 'em :lol

[Keepin' it real]

Fucking millennials destroying the NBA. They'll take the easy way out every time. Pathetic.

Just don't fuck with the NFL. That's the only league that really matters anyway.

[CosmicCowboy]

I doubt at this point this will be an unpopular opinion in the age of the Warriors and the small handful of pretender superteams that will try to emulate their faggotry. This isn't even watchable anymore even for casual fans. There needs to be a new league with old school defensive rules, no three point line, and a revolutionary way of dealing with salaries and how teams acquire players IMO.

Lol they are never going back to hand checks. The market demands offense and scoring.

[tholdren]

Wtf are you talking about? This is literally the golden age of the casual fan.

The harsh truth is that reptilian, people skin wearing fuck Adam Silver doesn't give a shit if diehard fans like you or me continue watching the NBA. There's no money in us, it's all about the casual fan and these superteams are the best thing that could have happened to attract 'em :lol

Agree. Its what ppl find entertaining sadly. Ruined the game.

[james evans]

It’s not only that the best players in the league are teaming up, but the officials are blatantly fixing games. Is it a coincidence that the worst officiating in all of sports is the league that doesn’t allow anyone to point out the obvious cheating in interviews?

[tholdren]

Lol they are never going back to hand checks. The market demands offense and scoring.

[SpurPadre]

Fucking millennials destroying the NBA. They'll take the easy way out every time. Pathetic.

Just don't fuck with the NFL. That's the only league that really matters anyway.

Fuck the NFL, too and their far-right ideology tbh.

[sasaint]

Wtf are you talking about? This is literally the golden age of the casual fan.

The harsh truth is that reptilian, people skin wearing fuck Adam Silver doesn't give a shit if diehard fans like you or me continue watching the NBA. There's no money in us, it's all about the casual fan and these superteams are the best thing that could have happened to attract 'em :lol

Sad, sorry truth.

[callo1]

It’s not only that the best players in the league are teaming up, but the officials are blatantly fixing games. Is it a coincidence that the worst officiating in all of sports is the league that doesn’t allow anyone to point out the obvious cheating in interviews?

Truth there.

Not a Rockets fan, but man, the refs took over that game 6 of the WCF. They didn't even try to be covert in any way shape or form.

[midnightpulp]

Wtf are you talking about? This is literally the golden age of the casual fan.

The harsh truth is that reptilian, people skin wearing fuck Adam Silver doesn't give a shit if diehard fans like you or me continue watching the NBA. There's no money in us, it's all about the casual fan and these superteams are the best thing that could have happened to attract 'em :lol

I honestly think it's been that way since the Jordan era. We see it in LA. No one literally gives a shit about the Lakers (in general) if they're bad/don't have a star. I think Spurs fans in Texas were probably blind to it, though, but the league has trended toward attracting the casual for decades now. I guess it's the only viable marketing strategy in a sport built around stars. NBA fans just don't seem to have as deep of a emotional connection to their hometown teams as they do in other sports, where ironically, the hardcore fan is where the money is at, as no casual will watch 100 plus MLB games or follow a 2-14 NFL team into Hell (Browns will still draw a million fans over the season, for instance).

[Mugen]

I honestly think it's been that way since the Jordan era. We see it in LA. No one literally gives a shit about the Lakers (in general) if they're bad/don't have a star. I think Spurs fans in Texas were probably blind to it, though, but the league has trended toward attracting the casual for decades now. I guess it's the only viable marketing strategy in a sport built around stars. NBA fans just don't seem to have as deep of a emotional connection to their hometown teams as they do in other sports, where ironically, the hardcore fan is where the money is at, as no casual will watch 100 plus MLB games or follow a 2-14 NFL team into Hell (Browns will still draw a million fans over the season, for instance).

The difference with Jordan is that he was universally beloved by the casual fan, everybody wanted him to win....

With today's superteams you get casual fans tuning in to slurp them but also to see if they fail so it's a wider spectrum....

[HarlemHeat37]

The difference with Jordan is that he was universally beloved by the casual fan, everybody wanted him to win....

With today's superteams you get casual fans tuning in to slurp them but also to see if they fail so it's a wider spectrum....

The latter is important..the NBA is a social media league, watching and mocking failures and turning them into memes on twitter is an essential part of the league:lol it's the route they have chosen to appeal to the casuals..

[LakerHater]

i watched a shit load of non spurs games. but not anymore if league allows Boogie to stay on Oakland!

...Y fuckn play?

[timtonymanu]

Wtf are you talking about? This is literally the golden age of the casual fan.

The harsh truth is that reptilian, people skin wearing fuck Adam Silver doesn't give a shit if diehard fans like you or me continue watching the NBA. There's no money in us, it's all about the casual fan and these superteams are the best thing that could have happened to attract 'em :lol

Pretty much. I guess we should just be glad Spurs were able to ring in this decade cause it’s gonna be dark times ahead.

[midnightpulp]

The latter is important..the NBA is a social media league, watching and mocking failures and turning them into memes on twitter is an essential part of the league:lol it's the route they have chosen to appeal to the casuals..

Yep. If it's definitely marketed toward younger people. Always has been. I remember in my day, they marketed toward kids/teens with things like mascot slam dunk contests, NBA Inside Stuff with the "cool and hip" Ahmad Rashad, Space Jam, videogames (Chaos in the Windy City, Shaq Fu :lol), and this was the decade where we first started to see hip-hop culture blend into NBA culture. One problem is that you'll alienate older people from the fanbase. I (along with many here, I'm sure) have grown out of being marketed toward like that. I don't care about twitter beefs, soap opera level storylines, which rapper is name dropping which player, which player is on a stream playing Fornite, etc, etc. I would've loved that shit when I was 12, but it's at the point where it's overshadowing the game itself. I understand the strategy, though. "Get em while they're young and you get them for life!" They forget the young grow up.

[james evans]

Not me. I’ve watched less and less every season. I didn’t watch any non Spurs games in the RS. For real.
Gave up the NBA package years ago.
I just watch spurs games. I don’t give a damn about anything else.

[TVI]

1013948318605602817

[Mugen]

Pretty much. I guess we should just be glad Spurs were able to ring in this decade cause it’s gonna be dark times ahead.

Spurs had a historic run bruh, we'll never see anything like it again tbh. Not much you can do about Kawhi being one of the biggest bitches in sports history :lol

[midnightpulp]

Spurs had a historic run bruh, we'll never see anything like it again tbh. Not much you can do about Kawhi being one of the biggest bitches in sports history :lol

:tu

And my dislike of :lol today's NBA doesn't have to do with the Spurs decline. I'm sure lurkers are thinking we're just a collective group of sour grapes, but the league has become more social media than sport, in combination with a boring on court product (chuck 3, repeat) and disproportionate superstar power (if a team doesn't have a top 5 player on the roster, zero chance at contending, and now all these top 5 players want to be on the same teams).

[HarlemHeat37]

Definitely never going to see anything like it again..

In 20 years, kids will be looking through basketball-refefence or any NBA history pages and wondering how a team from San Antonio won so many titles and contended every year, tbh:lol

Anybody can win championships in LA, there's nothing impressive about that..

[Chillen]

This Cousins signing has my enthusiasm for this upcoming NBA season now very low. Warriors will have a starting lineup of 5 all-stars, it's just a complete joke at this point. LeBron to Lakers looked promising for 1 day but even if they added Kawhi it's not enough to beat that Warriors team.

So in order to compete with Warriors you need a team with 5 NBA all-stars as your starting lineup.

Warriors have ruined the fun of the NBA completely.

1 team has 5 NBA all-stars on it's roster.

It's just a joke at this point tbh.

[Ron Swanson]

1013948318605602817

:lmao

https://media3.giphy.com/media/bY7V88PQtoAWk/giphy.gif

[midnightpulp]

Definitely never going to see anything like it again..

In 20 years, kids will be looking through basketball-refefence or any NBA history pages and wondering how a team from San Antonio won so many titles and contended every year, tbh:lol

Anybody can win championships in LA, there's nothing impressive about that..

Yeah, from now on small markets will basically act as the farm teams for big market/marquee franchises (Bay Area isn't necessarily a huge market, but I wonder if the Warriors have truly turned into a marquee franchise or if their relevance and desirability as a destination only lasts as long as Curry, Durant, etc play there). Sadly, the Spurs were never a marquee franchise, despite being the most successful club in sports :(

The dilemma is, though, players should be able to play where they want, so I'm against any kind of crackdown on limiting player freedom. Maybe, as we've talked about before, basketball needs to evolve as a sport and become less star centric (never happen, obviously). The fate of a club shouldn't hinge on a single talent, ideally.

[Arcadian]

Might as well just cancel the 18-19 season. This could be one of the most trivial seasons in NBA history. Waste of everyone's time.

As for the idea of superteams being entertaining, that's what the all-star game is for. What's more entertaining is an epic playoff battle where every game in the series is close.

[midnightpulp]

Might as well just cancel the 18-19 season.

As for the idea of superteams being entertaining, that's what the all-star game is for. What's more entertaining is an epic playoff battle where every game in the series is close.

The casuals don't seem to care. The NBA Finals ratings were still very strong despite an uncompetitive sweep. Today's NBA fan basically tunes in for Curry, Durant, Lebron highlights and to find exploitable meme material to share on twitter (Lebron wincing at JR Smith).

[toki9]

Not me. I’ve watched less and less every season. I didn’t watch any non Spurs games in the RS. For real.
Gave up the NBA package years ago.

Same here. This was the first season where I didn't watch a single game (including Spurs games) in its entirety. In fact, I'm pretty sure I didn't watch any single quarter in its entirety. Still interested enough to watch highlights and read stories about the team, but that was it. I've been a Spurs fan since mid-80's, but just haven't had much interest in the NBA for the past few years. Not sure what it is exactly, but the players seem to have become more and more detached from the sport in search of becoming entertainment stars--which, I realize, is an odd thing to say rather so inarticulately. Or perhaps it's just simply that I've grown too old to really understand these modern players.

[Stabula]

Casuals want what you tell them to want. Business men know this otherwise there would be no such thing as advertising.

[cutewizard]

I doubt at this point this will be an unpopular opinion in the age of the Warriors and the small handful of pretender superteams that will try to emulate their faggotry. This isn't even watchable anymore even for casual fans. There needs to be a new league with old school defensive rules, no three point line, and a revolutionary way of dealing with salaries and how teams acquire players IMO.

Agree.....

[cutewizard]

Same here. This was the first season where I didn't watch a single game (including Spurs games) in its entirety. In fact, I'm pretty sure I didn't watch any single quarter in its entirety. Still interested enough to watch highlights and read stories about the team, but that was it. I've been a Spurs fan since mid-80's, but just haven't had much interest in the NBA for the past few years. Not sure what it is exactly, but the players seem to have become more and more detached from the sport in search of becoming entertainment stars--which, I realize, is an odd thing to say rather so inarticulately. Or perhaps it's just simply that I've grown too old to really understand these modern players.


:bobo

[cutewizard]

This Cousins signing has my enthusiasm for this upcoming NBA season now very low. Warriors will have a starting lineup of 5 all-stars, it's just a complete joke at this point. LeBron to Lakers looked promising for 1 day but even if they added Kawhi it's not enough to beat that Warriors team.

So in order to compete with Warriors you need a team with 5 NBA all-stars as your starting lineup.

Warriors have ruined the fun of the NBA completely.

1 team has 5 NBA all-stars on it's roster.

It's just a joke at this point tbh.

Agree.

[kobyz]

A brilliant frenchies, you can't do nothing about, just appreciate it!

[Lostwingman]

Time to restart the ABA.

[NickiRasgo]

Does this result to another lockout? I mean I don't think any teams will still sign any other players anymore to a lucrative contract just to compete except to retain their players to a longer contract.

[jermaine]

I think Ice Cube's Big 3 league is better than the NBA after this past season. Now that Boogie was joined GS, it's for surebetter than the NBA. The Big 3 league maybe older players, but at least it's competitive..... This shit will be the worst I've see in my life span. These young pussy starts just wanna all team up an ease their way to a ring. Whatever happened to wanting to beat the best to be the best!?!

[jermaine]

Lil Nate Robertson has shown more heart than Labron or anyone in a GS uniform this yr in the Big 3 league.

[Stabula]

I just watch spurs games. I don’t give a damn about anything else.

I don't even watch those anymore.

[BillMc]

1013948318605602817

Hopefully this means Bruce Willis will kill them in a toilet soon.

[picnroll]

I probably watched about 5 minutes/game last year. Steadily declining over last 3-4 years. Doubt I’ll watch any at all this year. Only interest would be seeing how the young players improve but what’s the point if they become really good they ‘Lloyde’s just move on to a major market.

Serious question does NHL CBA alow for true competition? I use to follow the Sabres. Maybe I’ll switch to a new sport.

[sananspursfan21]

Wtf are you talking about? This is literally the golden age of the casual fan.

The harsh truth is that reptilian, people skin wearing fuck Adam Silver doesn't give a shit if diehard fans like you or me continue watching the NBA. There's no money in us, it's all about the casual fan and these superteams are the best thing that could have happened to attract 'em :lol

Remember how bad we all hated Stern? I actually miss him.

[toki9]

I think there's just too much money in the sports now. Stephen Curry is projected to make $80 million next year between his team salary ($40) and endorsements--and that's not even include various investment upside he probably gets as soft money payoff from Joe Lacob; including that, he'll probably make over well over $100 million next year. How much can the star players possibly care about the game when they're making money like this--and it's always been a star-driven league.

[Chomag]

I only watched 1 full game of the finals and that's only because it was on at the bar I was at, but that's definitely a first for me to have watched so little of it.

[Extra Stout]

The NBA was invisible until the 1960’s, when the Boston Celtics super-team won the championship every year except 1967, when the Philadelphia 76ers super-team won instead. The Los Angeles Lakers super-team won the West nine times in twelve years, though they only won a single title in a season they went 69-13.

The small-market Milwaukee Bucks won a championship with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but after 1974 he demanded a trade and ended up on the Lakers.

Also a Knicks team that already had won a championship added Earl Monroe from a Baltimore team that was the only other contender in the East besides Boston.

In the mid-‘70s, parity reigned in the NBA. It almost collapsed from lack of fan interest.

The NBA tried to jump-start itself by forcing Julius Erving onto the Sixers, but that team couldn’t get over the hump. It took gifting a bunch of draft picks to the Lakers and stacking the Celtics to get the league going again in the 1980’s.

Those Lakers won the West nine times in twelve years, again, and the Celtics won the East five times in seven years, with the Sixers winning the other two.

Soon after came the Bulls super-team, and the NBA flourished through the ‘90s.

Once the ‘00s came, and the league was more wide-open, though not as much as the ‘70s, interest waned. It wasn’t until KeBron formed a super-team in Miami that the NBA shook off the doldrums.

And now, with the super-team to end all super-teams in Oakland, the NBA is riding high again.

This is what the casual basketball fan has always wanted.

[Mugen]

Hopefully this means Bruce Willis will kill them in a toilet soon.

:lol

[Trainwreck2100]

well if lebron falls on the Warriors side of the bracket he'll be out in the second round and then all his stans will have nobody to watch. He won't be in the Finals either so maybe now the ratings will finally take a big enough hit that they do something.

[K...]

I think they should add a franchise tag not to prevent a player from leaving but to give that team extra assets if they leave in free agency. Like getting a free lottery pick like. It's fine it think if you get seven years to watch w player then they leave to super team. The idea is that in consideration for getting better draft consideration as a treadmill team you can't lock up your best players and have a limited window.

The suck about Leonard is that he quit the last two of the Spurs control years. I would say in some it might be fair to pick him into the franchise until he plays it out.

[rjv]

honestly, the lakers piss me off much more than GS does because at least the warriors built a good chunk of their team through the draft and innovative coaching. the lakers have made terrible picks (crappy scouting) and until Walton showed up their coaching has been terrible. but, because they are the lakers they can get lebron.

[Capt Bringdown]

Getting rid of 3-pointers is a good idea. Or, just go full clown-mode and have 4-5-6...10 point shooting zones.

[BSfromTX]

How about 2 points outside the line and 3 pts inside?

[poop]

Ironically you all still watch

Yep. Everyone needs to just turn this trash off already. After watching the spurs for 24yrs straight, i did not see a single game last season. The NBA is a total joke at this point

[313]

Ironically you all still watch

[BSfromTX]

I saw fewer games this last year than since before league pass (19-20 years). Not sure I would follow much anymore if not for my sons being fans

[lmbebo]

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/nba-free-agency-boogie-cousins-signing-14641210?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO&yptr=yahoo

[lmbebo]

Myself, I've watched less games of late. Partly due to family/work, partly from decreased interest in the league/game. Been pointless with the super teams.

Superteams work for the local market and maybe lay fans. Its a big FU to the fans on the outside looking in.

[Stabula]

Ironically you all still watch

I don't think we all do anymore tbh

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

It's easier said than done. The NBA is not going anywhere and there won't be any alternatives that comes close to rivaling it even if the league is fucked to oblivion as of now.

[DJR210]

I think Ice Cube's Big 3 league is better than the NBA after this past season.

:lol

[DJR210]

The Golden State All Star team is seriously better than the Eastern All Stars :lol

[cd98]

GSW just doing what every normal NBA team would do. If the Spurs had landed Durant, they'd be fine with having the same imbalance in the league.

[wildbill2u]

We may be entering the age of the "Globetrottering" of the NBA. The Globetrotters tour with a team that almost never wins. And they provide a comic entertainment that appeals to folks who aren't solid basketball fans. Their venues now include places in Texas like Cedar Park, Cypress and ....wait for it....San Antonio. They seldom play in the big cities and big audience venues anymore.

What the NBA may become is a very few teams in the metropolis cities that are packed with superstars and the rest of the league teams with not enough superstars or waning veterans who have no chance at a championship and become the victim comic relief. Some discerning fans may think we have already arrived at this state of affairs.

[Stabula]

NBA doesn't even have a fucking Eastern Conference anymore :lol

[james evans]

Yep. Everyone needs to just turn this trash off already. After watching the spurs for 24yrs straight, i did not see a single game last season. The NBA is a total joke at this point
then you're not a fan of a team if you can only watch them when they are winning. Simple as that

[paperboy77]

Bring back Slamball!

[dbestpro]

The ABA was a nice alternative to the NBA and played high caliber ball.

[daslicer]

As bad as it is the super team era will eventually come to pass. The Warriors situation is a once in life time type of deal much like the Russell Celtics. I don't see it being replicated again.

[dbestpro]

An alternative league would work now more than ever. All it takes is money. To the highest bidder goes the spoils.

[Stabula]

An alternative league would work now more than ever. All it takes is money. To the highest bidder goes the spoils.

I think so too. Even casual fans who barely understand basketball are looking at the NBA as more of a circus the past few years.

[Spurtacular]

Games tend to be interesting when you're putting money on them, tbh.

[sasaint]

The ABA was a nice alternative to the NBA and played high caliber ball.

I certainly agreed at the time. In retrospect, however, I regard the ABA as the league that gave basketball the 3-point shot.

[sasaint]

It's easier said than done. The NBA is not going anywhere and there won't be any alternatives that comes close to rivaling it even if the league is fucked to oblivion as of now.

I wonder if some enterprising network could profit from televising Euroleague.

[Russo21]

It's not even just 5 All Stars. It's 5 All NBA teamers which is a big difference. I imagine Cousins, Durant and Curry have made 1st teams, Thompson and Green would have made a 2nd or 3rd All NBA team. Cant be bothered checking but that is fucked.

[BillMc]

It's not even just 5 All Stars. It's 5 All NBA teamers which is a big difference. I imagine Cousins, Durant and Curry have made 1st teams, Thompson and Green would have made a 2nd or 3rd All NBA team. Cant be bothered checking but that is fucked.

What you need is a modern day Dennis Rodman, a professional irritant, who can bait Boogie and Donkey into imploding and hurt their team. It's your only chance.

[dbestpro]

Allowing teams to play old school defense is the only thing that can save the NBA from itself. It's like it wants to eat a diet of nothing but ice cream when what it really needs is a bloody steak.

[Stabula]

Without old school defense the NBA will continue to devolve into a Globetrotter circus side-show of mouthpiece chewing twinks chucking 3s