Jan
23, 2001
NBA BASKETBALL
Fan Editorial - - - - -
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What's
Wrong with the NBA?
By
MIKE ROSIER
So
what's wrong with the NBA anyway?
Plenty
in my mind.
Today's
NBA players are corporate entities unto themselves. Players like Shaquille
O'Neal have outgrown even mighty the Lakers in this .Com world of the new
millennium. And if the owners and NBA management don't regain RESPONSIBLE
control, players like Kobe Bryant will outgrow the entire league. Bryant
certainly has the ego to get it done. Bryant's overblown psyche is like
injecting Michael Jordan's ego with steroids. Agents like David Falk
haven't helped either. How else do you explain Juwan Howard being the third
highest paid player in the league this year? The recent changes that the
league has done as far as a rookie salary cap are a step in the right direction,
but not near enough. A diluted product of anything will never be as strong
as the same product at its original strength. And diluted is exactly what
the NBA is right now. Expansion in the late 80's and into the 90's gave
us more teams, and the college game and high school ranks have stepped
up to deliver the workforce. Imagine an NBA without the Orlando Magic,
Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Vancouver Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves
and Toronto Raptors, and you would have a league much easier on the eyes
than what fans are forced to stomach these days. Besides, have any of these
teams done anything to merit their places in the league other than stealing
juniors, seniors, college sophomores, and a few high school all-americans
from the college ranks?
Yes
and no.
It's
all about the dead presidents now, and even the game itself has been forced
to take a back seat while owners and players chase the paper. The new teams
have provided tons, and I mean tons, of additional revenue for the NBA
in merchandise and ticket sales, but no talented basketball teams to speak
of. For the most part, NBA fans have embraced these new franchises with
their pocketbooks, but they're still waiting for the level of play to even
approach being worthy of the price of admission.
So
should it really be a surprise that fans are staying away from NBA arenas
this season? Davis Stern's constituents are being charged premium rates
for seats to mediocre basketball games, to watch mostly mediocre players
hog the ball and slack off on defense. Shooting percentages are down, fundamentals
have never been worse, and amazingly scoring is down even though the league
has given offensive players more freedom than they have ever previously
enjoyed. And there are still teams in the NBA that have trouble scoring
90 points, much less 100. Isn't it ironic that such a fierce competitor
as Jordan is getting an up-close and personal view of how far the league
has really fallen with the lowly Wizards. You can't even guard anybody
in the league anymore and teams still can't score. Teams like Chicago and
Atlanta would be hard pressed to break the 50 point barrier if the Bad-Boy
Pistons
ever
got a hold of them.
How
many points would the lowly the Nuggets of Paul Westhead AVERAGE in today's
NBA? Adding insult to injury, are teams like the Lakers, who have the ability
to defend on the court but don't because their star players are too busy
defending their ego's from their teammates. If Shaq and Kobe moved their
feet as fast on defense as their mouths move to the media, Phil Jackson
might actually have something worth defending. Do you think that Shaq actually
cares how many free-throws he misses?
But
why should players like Kobe and Shaq listen to Jackson anymore? After
all, they have their championship. Now it's all about being the next Jordan.
Playing with five players IS overrated, and who needs a team if you have
Kobe, right?
Expansion
has managed to achieve one thing, in securing nice pensions for geriatric
players around the league that should have hung up the high-tops years
ago. Having these players still clock minutes in the NBA are a testament
to the league having too many teams, and the young talent not yet being
fundamentally ready for the big time. Dean Garrett, Tom Hammonds, Sam Mitchell,
Hersey Hawkins, Otis Thorpe, Tyrone Corbin, Dell Curry, Charles Oakley
and Doug West are still playing? And those guys are just off the expansion
rosters.
Young
players today either get by on athletic ability or sit the bench behind
the aforementioned senior NBA citizens. Which is sad, because athletically
speaking, the players of today are far ahead of where there contemporaries
were in earlier years.
Why
is there a need for the CBA or the NBA's brand new developmental league
when half of the teams currently playing seem to be doing the job just
fine. All it takes these days to command the big bucks is a pretty face
to sell shoes, a weak cross-over dribble to keep it real, and a 40-inch
vertical leap for occasional use on Patrick Ewing for ESPN and the NBA
Tonight.
