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MY BASKETBALL SOAPBOX

I am entering the NBA draft, but I won’t be hiring an agent.

Know what that sentence tells me about myself? It tells me that I’m probably not ready for the NBA draft. It tells me that I’m entering the draft for one reason -- because I can. Mostly, it tells me that ANYONE can enter the draft, which means I may or may not be a better basketball player than your grandmother.

Then again, your grandmother is probably a better basketball player than any of the New Jersey Nets, who embarrassed anyone who’s ever cared about the game with a 56-point outing in their playoff series against Detroit. Even more frightening was the fact Pistons fans were forced to celebrate when their team almost broke 80, making Detroit the first team ever to score 78 points and win in a landslide.

NBA action, it ain’t exactly Fan-tas-tic, as most fans are beginning to find 1,000 reasons they are having a hard time watching this game. And somebody had better step out from behind all the money and marketing lies long enough to fix it. Otherwise, this die-hard and plenty of others like me are gonna switch our focus to watching Magnum reruns on the Hallmark Channel.

Why so bitter, you ask? Because I love this game. At least, I love what it is supposed to be. It is supposed to be the world’s best basketball players forming 29 teams and demonstrating what it takes to be great on the court. But as everyone from noted basketball writer Alexander Wolff to former All-Star Charles Barkley have said repeatedly -- the game is hurting.

It’s hurting because kids who aren’t ready for the NBA (read: the mass majority of people younger than the age of 21) are entering the draft, and getting drafted. A lot of these kids aren’t hiring agents -- meaning not even THEY are sure they’re making the right choice. But too many owners think drafting Johnny High Schooler will help sell tickets, and instruct their general managers to make the pick, giving the overall product no thought whatsoever.

It’s hurting because every time an owner or GM drafts some unprepared teenager, a coach takes the fall. NBA front-office types say they want to win right away, then ask fans to be patient as the team rebuilds with youth. But, by golly, the coach had better win 50 games with that youth, or he’ll be banished to basketball purgatory -- or worse yet, the Los Angeles Clippers.

It’s hurting because Johnny can’t shoot and nobody cares. This is not meant to take away from the Pistons, perhaps the best defensive team of pro basketball’s modern era. But the reason the Nets couldn’t reach the 60-point mark in Game One was their inability to make wide-open perimeter shots. Shots that were taken 15 feet from the basket, with no one around to stick a hand in their face. Shots that a fifth-grader could make -- at least, a fifth-grader who had yet to be ruined for life by the generally sleazy AAU system.

It’s hurting because shoe companies are pouring money into basketball camps and amateur circuits, which were initially designed to help kids develop their games. Instead, young players are gaining a sense of entitlement, receiving unwarranted worship from people who know nothing about basketball -- but plenty about schemes and scams. They also know how to promote players whose skills include nothing but dunking and dribbling like a streetball clown. Don’t get me wrong. I love a vigorous dunk as much as the next guy, and there’s something to be said for the way those AND1-types can handle the rock. But that’s not ALL there should be to the game.

It’s hurting because effective passes and made mid-range jump shoots never make the SportsCenter highlights. That’s right, the media can be blamed for the decline of the fundamentals as much as anyone -- and since the folks at ESPN dominate the sports-media market (particularly when it comes to the NBA), they are especially to blame. They flaunt obnoxiousness and praise bad decision-making, on the court and off. They pay no attention to teamwork or humility, or guys who try to play the game the right way. In fact, ESPN pretty much laughs fools like that right off center stage.

It’s hurting because, plain and simple, it’s too hard to find a roster consisting only of likeable guys who respect the game (OK. The Spurs, the Grizzlies, the Jazz … but who else?). There are no more ’86 Celtics, ‘88 Lakers, ‘95 Rockets, or ‘98 Bulls. This isn’t to say things were always perfect in the NBA, or that the league hasn’t always had its share of issues. But it used to be about basketball, period. All the problems, all the solutions, all the talk surrounding the game was about the game. It’s only when everything becomes about the last dollar that the game turns into what it has become today.

It’s hurting because commissioner David Stern refuses to get tough and say, “Hey, people have stopped watching! Something needs to be done -- YESTERDAY!” Stern would never admit that, but it’s the truth. The NBA always brags about how it can be seen all over the world, how it has made dramatic improvements to the league Web site, and how fans in China still can’t get enough. Then you check the numbers, and see that more people are ignoring the league than ever before. And now they’re doing it all over the world.

It’s hurting because the players’ union refuses to budge. Its job is to care about getting paid and little more, and that’s fine. But what the union fails to realize is that the money is gonna run out someday. People will stop watching, advertisers will stop sponsoring, and networks will stop shelling out preposterous rights fees. Don’t think so? Just check out the freefall that’s taken place with professional wrestling. And the WWF and WCW were both much more popular than the NBA six years ago.

It’s hurting because the people who care most about basketball feel helpless. We feel that we have to accept what we get. To some degree, we do. There are too many other things going on in the world, in our everyday lives, to concern ourselves with changing a league that, truth be told, is extremely meaningless when it comes to the Big Picture.

And we are right.

That is why it’s up to the people involved with basketball at the highest level to start doing the right thing. It’s why it’s time for the owners, GMs, and players to stop rationalizing and quit building their teams based on trends. It‘s why it is time for everyone who is the least bit worried to step forward and play a role in trying to save the game.

Because right now, pro basketball is on life support.

DO YOUR PART

What needs changed about the game? You tell me. Better yet, you tell the NBA through me. I don’t care if your thoughts are long, short, politically correct, are seemingly downright ludicrous, and so on and so on. Within the next couple of weeks, I will print a special edition of the newsletter, consisting only of your thoughts on how to make the NBA, and more specifically, basketball, better. Then I will mail all of the thoughts to David Stern and union head Billy Hunter. All I ask is that you include your real name and hometown. I will print some e-mails without names, but you had better be pretty important. Start writing, then e-mail me at amicoreport@hotmail.com.

RANDOM STUFF

-- To support my above point, one NBA executive told the San Antonio Express-News, “The profit margin in the NBA is so thin right now, almost every team is losing millions.”

-- Heck, even Michael Jordan has turned his attention to other things. In Jordan’s case, it’s motorcycle racing, as arguably the greatest player who’s ever lived now owns Michael Jordan Motorsports, which sponsors racer Montez Stewart. Jordan became involved in the venture after bumping into team owner James Casmay while the two were pumping gas near Chicago.

-- High schooler Shaun Livingston has declared for the draft, and here is what his grandfather Frank Livingston had to say about it in the Chicago Tribune: “Shaun is not ready, physically or mentally for the NBA, I don’t care what they pay him.”

-- Chip Snyder (Springfield, Mo.) wrote: “I believe Sebastian Telfair will be the biggest bust of the 2004 draft. At 5-foot-10 (without shoes), he is a defensive liability, his jump shot is worse than mine, and he is skinnier than my 6-year old daughter. I understand him skipping school for the shoe money and the first-round guarantee. He stopped going to his high school classes, and considering the fact that he can barely speak English, I don't think he would have been accepted at Louisville. He had to enter the draft now, because if he would have played college ball, scouts would see that he does not have the game to compete in the NBA. My prediction is that he will not last five years in the league.”

-- That’s just the thing. Nobody blames these kids for coming out. They deserve a shot -- but only if they’re good enough. Besides LeBron James and Kevin Garnett, no one who came to the league directly out of high school has been ready for at least three years. Too many of them are NEVER ready.

-- The biggie when it comes to NBA pre-draft camps will be held next week in Chicago. This is the one in which scouts and general managers put a lot of stock, and is basically for players who are trying to play their way into the first round (and in some instances, the lottery).

-- I never thought I would hear NBA coaching great Jack Ramsay utter the following words: “I stand by my story.” But that’s what Ramsay said after Doc Rivers refuted his column on ESPN.com, which stated Rivers took the Celtics coaching job only after assurances he would have a big say in roster management. It’s always funny to see former coaches and players come under the same type of constant scrutiny they placed on the media for years.

-- Indiana will probably sweep Miami in the second round, but I expect it to be a “tough” sweep. In other words, look for the Heat to keep every game close … then lose. No need for the Heaters to feel bad, though. No one in the East will keep Jermaine O’Neal, Ron Artest, and the rest of the Pacers out of the Finals. (I love ya, Pistons fans, but I have to go with my instincts on this one).

-- Meanwhile, the Lakers had a great run, but it’s O-V-E-R. San Antonio is just too good, and is about to win its second straight title, matching L.A. with three in the past six years. Big men everywhere should be keeping a close eye on Spurs forward Tim Duncan, the most fundamentally-sound low post player since Kevin McHale. He again is the reason no one will touch the Spurs. That, and Gary Payton simply cannot defend Tony Parker.

-- Granted, I picked the Lakers to win it all two weeks ago, but that was before the Spurs proved that they are superior in nearly every aspect -- from defense to chemistry to depth to coaching. Yes, I said coaching. The Lakers would win it all if Gregg Poppovich were on their sidelines, and there’s no doubt in my mind.

-- Here is what’s about to happen with the Lakers this off-season, and you read it here first: Jackson is out, as his asking price on a new contract is ridiculously steep. That’s especially true when you consider he is coming off his worst coaching job, with the players having all but completely tuned him out. Shaquille O’Neal is out, as he’ll either retire or follow Jackson somewhere else -- which most likely will be Memphis, assuming Hubie Brown retires as expected. Karl Malone may be back, but Payton will sign elsewhere. At 41 years old, Malone really has nowhere else to go, and Payton refused to be a team guy when it was clear that he should have been sitting behind Derek Fisher. I love old guys like Payton, but the man isn‘t close to the defender he once was. Finally, Kobe will be back. Owner Jerry Buss has told friends that he’ll gladly depart with the other Big Four (including Jackson), to keep his prize player happy. And the Big Four have no desire to return if Kobe does.

-- Sam Adams (Indianapolis) wrote: “How could you name an all 34-and-over team and leave Reggie Miller out?” Dear Sam, you’re right. Reggie belongs.

-- Ronald Blackshear, who declared early-entry out of Marshall University last season but didn‘t get drafted, is currently tearing it up in the new World Basketball Association. Check out the WBA at its Web site: www.wba.com.

-- Meanwhile, the ABA keeps growing and growing and growing: www.abalive.com.

READ ME IN BT

-- Just a reminder that I will be writing a regular column for Basketball Times beginning with the June issue. Real experts like Dick Vitale, Dick Weiss, and Bob Ryan also write for the publication. You can subscribe to Basketball Times by calling 910-295-5559 or sending an e-mail to hoopgroup@aol.com.

CONTACT ME

You can e-mail your thoughts to me at amicoreport@hotmail.com. You must include your full name to be considered for publication. Also, please include your hometown, as I love to see where the e-mails are coming from.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!