Some Thoughts on the State of the League

[Reggie Miller]

I guess what follows was more or less inspired by the recent dress code controversy. Actually, I have been thinking about some of the NBA's problems for a few years now, so look out.

The old saying is that you fire the coach becuase the CBA prevents you from firing all of the players.

There is little or no communication or respect between the majority of players and the majority of ownership/management in the NBA. This is even evident when we look at the two over-hyped coaches that are generating so much buzz this preseason.

Larry Brown is a cancer. He thrives on drama, creates conflict, and then he makes sure that he is the first rat off of the ship. I saw it up close in Indiana, and it sure looks like that's what happened in Detroit. Maybe Dumars and company banked on his reputation and pulled a fast one on the public this time. I kind of doubt it, though. You have to look at that as well as a GM or owner. When this coach leaves, what shape will the franchise be in and under what terms will this coach be leaving (contract, etc.)? In recent years, it doesn't look like very many teams are taking a long view, however. It is amazing to me that Brown has become an elite coach mostly on the strength of quitting before a player or executive gets him fired.

Apparently, Jackson is some kind of a flake (just a rumor, you understand). Whether you give all of the credit to the players or whatever, the man has 9 rings, which you would think counts for something with players. The media explanation has been "Phil's act wore thin with the Lakers" or some version of same. Doesn't that implicitly say "Phil Jackson is a flake who was damn lucky to have two of the best players of all time?"

I forget the stat that was being kicked around last season, but it has gotten to the point that the average lifespan of coach is something like one year. No doubt, coaches are keenly aware of this; it would have to affect your performance somehow. At any rate, there seems to be too few coaches and executives that command the respect of the players these days.

This really highlights the central problems of the league. That is, is the problem the players' at udes or the fact that these people really don't deserve much respect? The NBA is being run very poorly, IMHO. In the face of criticism, the suits always throw the players under the bus, whether deserved or not. Either way, this is a pretty stupid idea, because you are denigrating your own product.

Most of the league's "image problems" were created by the owners and league officials. I don't think too many casual fans wrote in to David Stern with missives such as "Dear David, please have all of the owners who already waste their draft picks take it a step further and dilute the talent pool of both the NCAA and NBA by drafting kids straight out of high school that no one has ever heard of..." or "Dear Commisioner, I think 'NBA Inside Stuff' with would be a much richer experience if second-rate gangsta rap were blaring continually through the entire thirty minutes, including the commercials..."

Since the Palace Brawl, the owners and league come across as saying something like "Golly gee fans, we wish we could bring you some REAL basketball, instead of this playground crap, but our hands are tied..." At best this is hypocritical. The lunatics may be running the asylum now, but someone had to hand the keys over to them.

Maybe I am just a bitter old man who doesn't know the real meaning of Christmas (or whatever), but the real problem is that the NBA became a hype junkie. When I was a kid in the '70s, the NBA was very conservative and frankly, boring. The ABA was threatening to the league, because despite it's many faws, it was interesting. Ultimately, the NBA adopted the "don't beat 'em, join 'em" approach and co-opted the ABA's best teams. This worked short term, and the ABA had introduced the idea of selling the league.

At first, the hype machine worked fairly well, because there was some substance there. The NBA wasn't hooked yet, and Bird and Magic felt pretty good. No one was getting hurt, right? When Bird and Magic weren't strong enough any more, fate again intervened in the form of Jordan and the Bulls' two championship runs. It was a great time for the league. The NBA stayed high 24-7. They could dream up any outrageous hype they wanted; Jordan would deliver. However, like all addicts, the NBA had to hit bottom. Jordan was gone, and it wasn't fun any more. Now the hype is necessary just to keep going from day to day, and there isn't that much substance there.

The NBA has several built-in problems that need to be addressed. First, basketball is historically a "second sport." Remember, basketball only exists because Naismith wanted something to do when you couldn't go outside a play a "real" sport. Almost a century later, that's not the problem. The problem is that pro basketball didn't come into national prominence until the baseball and football seasons were more or less fixed. Basketball, as any tv viewer can tell you, is a pain. Networks won't run basketball against major football telecasts. In theory, basketball picks up when baseball ends, but in terms of ratings, it starts when football ends. This is a vicious cycle, because you can't win over new fans if there aren't enough nationally televised games. (I shouldn't complain; I try to follow the NHL.)

Another disadvantage of this system is that basketball doesn't have a designated time. There's so much baseball (162 games) that you can almost always find a game on with anything more than basic cable. It's "baseball on demand" without too much investment. You don't have to work to find a game. Football has grabbed all of the prime weekend time while it is in season (Friday night through Monday night). It's pretty easy to justify setting aside three hours a week for free network coverage to a wife or girlfriend (or husband/boyfriend).

Just looking at the Spurs national schedule, I will be checking out four networks in six different time slots in November/December alone. (There are two Wednesday games, but at different times.)

No one will ever be bold enough to do this, but the season and playoffs are too long and need to be cut to deliver the best quality compe ion. Only hard core fans follow the NBA in November anyway. The public perception is that the pros mail it in too many nights. Cut out the back-to-backs and there go the excuses, anyway.

This brings up another problem. NBA players no doubt face higher scrutiny than other athletes for many reasons. I have no doubt that race is a factor for some detractors of the league. Unfortunately, it's just one among many. Basketball players are exposed. They are often easily identified. (Hey, who's that seven footer that looks just like Shaq?) There are fewer NBA players than MLB, NFL, and NHL players, but the media policy is to give the sports more or less equal coverage for "off the field" stuff. Most serious sports fans can name the majority of players in the NBA, just because there are so few. When a player is mailing it in, there are only a total of nine other guys out there. People notice.

I don't know if some of the NBA's disadvantages can ever be "fixed." Football isn't likely to turn Monday night over to the NBA, for example. However, the league's band aid solutions are doomed, because the NBA has created a league that most people don't care about until the spring, if then. Collared shirts can't fix that.

[Mr. Body]

I don't know if some of the NBA's disadvantages can ever be "fixed." Football isn't likely to turn Monday night over to the NBA, for example. However, the league's band aid solutions are doomed, because the NBA has created a league that most people don't care about until the spring, if then. Collared shirts can't fix that.

When has it ever been different? Football rules until college peters out on New Year's and the pros with the Superbowl. The season is so long, it takes some time to warm up. Diehard baseball fans care about games between Opening Day and the middle of the summer. Otherwise it's waaaaay, waaaaay too much baseball. Then with divisional races it gets interesting again. Baseball has the advantage of summers free of any other notable sports.

Football has an advantage of being played once a week. You're right to point out that football is able to own Sundays - all day - and Monday nights, but that's hardly a problem with basketball. Who cares that it's played sporadically by any given team throughout the week? People can grab their tickets or find a game on their local cable; fans will know when they're playing rivals.

The league went through a bad spell because a remarkable generation of talent was retiring. They almost all joined the league in the mid-80s and were able to extend the Bird-Magic boom. These included Stockton, Malone, Barkley, Olajuwon, Ewing, Robinson, Drexler, etc. What unfortunately happened was there was a number of years when the drafts were abyssmal and the talent normally replenishing the league simply wasn't there. By the time Jordan retired, and most of the above mentioned were either retired or on their last legs, the NBA had to tout guys like Stackhouse, Carter, Jalen Rose, Juwon Howard, Allan Houston, Shawn Kemp, and other underwhelming, generally unappealing talents as the future of the league. There was a peppering of young players - Kobe, Garnett, Duncan - but they hadn't yet matured to the point of taking over the reigns.

By now, those younger talents are hitting their prime and the drafts are starting to bring in some exceptional talents again - LeBron, Wade, Stoudamire, Yao - who seem to be highly marketable. I'm not saying a golden age is upon us again. Those days were probably unique, a confluence of a new thing like cable and a sudden boom in professional sports of all kinds, but it doesn't mean the league can't be healthy and productive. The movements by the head office, like ins uting dress codes, is simply a way of working to a more marketable future. I think they're good steps... but the big issue is the talent.

[xcoriate]

Holy nice post.

Agree with pretty much all of it until you got to the baseball/football stuff where you pretty much lost me cause im not from the US. However I still could understand your contention.

Mr Body has made some great points as well, There was certianly a noticable decline in talent for a period but its seems its back on the way up with some hugely anticipated youths ready to make the jump over the next few years as well as international players entering the league. Finally much of the drop of in talent can be attributed to expansion each time the league expands the talent gets spread thinner. The NBA really needs to to cut back on this.

[Dario]

Wow, nice posts.
I kinda agree with most of the stuff, i still think the new "bussiness suits" rule is like duncan said re ed, it aint going to solve the problem this league has.
Second, i think there isnt really lack of talent compared to the 80s, but the fact, that back then those superstars werent so exposed to normal people like today with 24/7 news coverague, internet etc, you lose interest if you see same people over and over on tv. Other big thing is money, i like to play basketball, but if someone would give me 60 mill $$$, i would be thinking about new ferrari, big house, 18yr girls :P...., then maybe to play a game or two.

[ManuTastic]

Hard to follow the fractured English and muddy ideas here, but I do agree the season and playoffs are too long. No way the owners will lessen their ticket-selling opportunities, however.

[Rummpd]

Me thinks this writer is pretty good and also speaks "Duck Speak"

[Reggie Miller]

What's "Duck Speak?"

[strangeweather]

The best and worst thing about basketball is that it's all about the players.

With football, it's as much about the uniform -- and the strategy and the play-calling -- as it is the guys on the field. Casual fans know the quarterback and some of the players at the other "money" positions, but don't generally know much about the interior linemen, safeties, etc.

As "Reggie Miller" mentioned, there's only 10 guys out on the court at a time in basketball, and it's not easy to hide. If you don't know at least a fair bit about your team's starters, you aren't even a casual fan of your team.

So what if the NBA hypes players? Yeah, that's rough when, as Mr. Body mentioned, those players are Juwon Howard and Jalen Rose. But when it's, say, Duncan and Ginobili vs. Shaq and Wade (or other matchups featuring top-tier players), it makes sense that they would be the focus of the game, as well as any promotion of it.

[Reggie Miller]

I agree with the folks above that the overall talent in the NBA is begining to pick up again. What I really had in mind was the "Next Jordan Syndrome," which has just about killed the NBA. I never understood that entire hype pipeline. In my mind, this was always a really bad idea for a couple of compelling reasons.

1. If the "Next Jordan" is just right around the corner, then Jordan really wasn't that special, was he? So why should the casual fan even care?

2. Conversely, people will only sit still for this for so long. How many "Next Jordans" have to be unmasked as the "Next World B. Free" before casual fans start turning off the NBA all together?

I agree with the earlier post that serious fans will always find the games, even if they are on ESPN 36, and only on Leap Years. However, that's really not the NBA's problem. The problem is that the NBA is losing the casual fans, who see the league as putting on a mediocre product starring illiterate millionaires. My biggest concern is that the league is doing everything ALL WRONG to address the problem and will ultimately go down the tubes with a strategy that has been proven not to work...

[Brutalis]

Yes, Larry Brown is a dookie pants.

Yes, Phil Jackson as a coach equals a 1.44 bag of Bran Flakes.

Yes, the NBA looks like it could be ran the same by a refrigerator and an old box of baking soda.

Yes, nobody wants to watch the NBA and I don't blame them or the networks.

No, the season and playoffs are not too long. In order for our 30 teams to decide who sucks and who could almost beat the Spurs, aheh, IMO there should be 82 games at least to seperate the best from the rest. I do think however there are too many teams in the playoffs. The NBA is just too nice in that department.

Yes, race is a huge factor in popularity. I will be bold though and say that ..lots.. of white people dislike the NBA mainly for a few reasons. And generally this is just the problem with the NBA, it's a bunch of skittles coming from one bag. All in opinion..

1. From seeing it on TV it's 90% black players playing. Sadly, there are uber amounts of racists here in Arkansas, and really all over the south that simply dislike the NBA for that one reason.

2. After already not being liked by a large audience just because it doesn't "seem" racially fair, there is an image problem. And even I see it. It's the baggy, "I don't give a " at ude and look players like AI like to display once in a while. Wearing several clothes the wrong way, talking like you don't even know what college is. Not even to mention the jewlry. That's fine anywhere else, but in the professional spotlight. Players need to be more generally more respectful to theirselves moreless the millions among millions of youth watching and admiring them all year long. For once talk with some sense, dress like you have had success and act like a freaking role model.

3. If you want to market, make money, draw a huge audience and all that jazz.... try losing the "We don't give a " thuggish weed smoking court fighting jackass look then take a deep, deep breath. And tell yourselves, "I believe in myself." Then, stop feeding the market with even more pop culture gimicks and lines. You can start by cleaning up your players.



That's really it. The players of the NBA basically asked for a dress code by acting like heads each year, supporting more and more bad habits and influencing kids to be criminals. And now they all about it. At least in ugly times for the NBA and it's fans, at least looking good is a place to start!

So they were asked to dress like adults, boo ..... hoo.

If the NBA right now is a car without a starter. It's easy to fix. There is nothing racist about the NBA. They all need to act like adults and look like one, and they soon better all accept pay cuts!!!