Image via Complex Original
A league that has won over the planet just tipped off for another campaign. With the NBA back in action it’s either a very good, or very bad time to be a SportsCenter fan. It’s the start of a marathon of coverage that’ll last from now until the middle of the summer. For some it makes the doldrums of winter bearable. For others, it adds insult to injury to the long nights, frigid temps, and icy roads.
Here at Complex we’ve given our fair share of love to The Association. We know the argument that the NBA is the worst league is a road battle during Game Seven of the Finals. But there’s always ways to improve. It’s something you should remind your girlfriend of on the regular. We kid. We argue for those who love the league as well, America loves roundball and that’s become more and more apparent in a league with an enormous batch of current stars. So is the NBA the best, or the worst? Check out two of our writers going back and forth about the things we love and loathe about The Association.
Written by Justin Block (@JBlock49) and Gavin Evans (@GavinEvans187)
RELATED: 20 Reasons Why the NBA Was Better in the '90s
RELATED: 20 Reasons Why the NBA Is Better Today Than it Ever Was
RELATED: The NFL vs. Soccer: Which Version of Football Reigns Supreme?
The NBA is the world's league.
Soccer is the world's sport, but the NBA is the one professional sports league that receives attention from all corners of the globe. Thanks in large part to the 1992 Dream Team, there's league visibility wherever TV sets are, because basketball as an urban sport exists there as well. Europe, India, Russia, Africa, Canada, South America, Russia—you name it, and there's an NBA player or owner to represent the league.
Currently, 70 percent of the NBA's social media enagagement comes from outside of the United States, and there are more NBA fans in China than there are people in the U.S. If David Stern's wet dream is to wake up one day and have every American man, woman, and child declaring their fanhood for the NBA, he shouldn't fret—he's already got that in China. While the NFL can't catch a cold outside of the U.S., MLB is confined to North America and select Asian and Latino countries, and European top-flight soccer still hasn't penetrated the American sports psyche as deeply, the NBA is sitting on the shoulders of all these leagues on the international stage.
The world has crappy taste.
Synchronized swimming, badminton, trampoline, and the steeplechase are all Olympic events. The world has settled for soccer as its game because it doesn't know any better. Those two sentences alone should tell you that the planet doesn't exactly have its head on straight when it comes to the world of sports. The NBA has done a great job in identifying the potential (and population) of China, whilst poaching talent to interest the continents of Europe and South America. But the NBA's foreign popularity is negated in America, the Land of Entertaining Sports. If that's ethnocentric I got to say I don't really give a damn because like I said: Steeplechase.
Flopping is the new gamesmanship.
If I complained about it in soccer it would be inconsistent to not complain about it in the NBA. Diving is the bane of anyone who ever tried to sell their sport to the unconverted. You try to ease somebody into basketball and they see this 6'8" 250 lb. athletic prodigy, dive backwards after a shove. Not only is he the face of the league but he's become the face of the epidemic. It's become so rampant that the Players Association may take the new flopping rule to arbitration. How about just stop doing it? One day LeBron's going to have a legit tear in his knee but his teammates will no longer be able to differentiate from his acting. And when Chris Bosh rips him up the resulting sound will haunt dreams for a generation. I can see this coming.
The league will cut flopping out of the game sooner rather than later though.
I can't front—flopping is a major issue within the game, and it has the chance to undress basketball the way diving in soccer has. It's sad to see, but the league is becoming less and less physical with each passing year. Players from the '90s and beyond always talk about how grinding play used to be, and how it was conceded that if you were going to drive into the paint, you were going to get walloped. After the NBA made rule chances in 1999 and again in 2004 to prevent hand-checking and the use of forearms in defense, the culture of in-game NBA basketball changed. Defenses started flopping to regain the advantage, and offensive players responded by doing their own gymnastics to level the flopping field. It sucks.
I am, however, confident that the league will move closer to a three strikes and you're out rule in regards to flopping. The NBA isn't going to let the issue persist. Last June, David Stern admitted that "It [current flopping penalties] isn't enough. You're not going to cause somebody to stop [flopping] for $5,000 when the average player's salary is $5.5 million." Hopefully we'll start seeing heavier fines and suspensions come into play in the near future.
David Stern is like the greatest pro sports executive ever.
In every other professional sports league, you expect to see the league's problems continue on, either due to incompetency at the top or a lack of balls to get progressive shit done. Whether it's instant replay in baseball, concussions in the NFL, or corruption in UEFA or FIFA, the old farts running the show never seem to work in the best interests of the sport. Not in the NBA. If it wasn't for David Stern, the NBA honestly might've folded decades ago.
When Stern became commissioner in 1984, he did three major things to save and improve the league: 1) He made sure all NBA Finals games were televised live, so people could watch Magic and Bird in primetime, 2) Made the All-Star game into All-Star weekend so the league could sell the shit out of the event to sponsors and fun events like the Slam Dunk Contest could happen, and 3) Started marketing the sport to make it star-driven. When a Lakers vs. Celtics game was advertised, it wasn't "the Lakers take on the Celtics," but "Magic Johnson and the Lakers battle Larry Bird's Celtics." Those three decisions have reverberated not only throughout the NBA over the years, but in other sports as well. Stern is as fearless as he is innovative—traits that may have alienated some, but have undoubtedly helped turn the NBA into one of the world's best sports leagues.
He doesn't have much to compete with.
Being the best pro sports executive ever is like being the world's tallest midget. I'll ignore the conspiracy theories regarding Donaghy and Patrick Ewing to focus on controversies that are more tangible. There was the microfiber ball fiasco. The vetoing of Chris Paul to the Lakers for "basketball reasons." And there's the fact that Stern follows the Roger Goodell model of pulling punishments completely out of his ass. Oh, and I'm not sure if the dunk contest has been relevant since Vince Carter could get around without a wheelchair. Stern's also sat through four NBA lockouts and two play stoppages. Like every other commissioner he always sides with the owners. I will agree with anyone who says NBA (and all pro athletes) are drastically overpaid. But, if the only alternative is giving the fans hard earned cash to owners than screw it, let Kobe make $30 million.
There are way too many teams in the playoffs.
I can rant about this one until somebody questions whether I have a life. By making the playoffs an invite to anyone who can dribble, you've completely ruined the regular season. This not only makes the season worthy of hibernation but makes the 82-game campaign a (way too long) battle for seeding and one additional playoff home game. People complain about the BCS all the time but at least it makes college football the greatest regular season sport to watch, by far. Every single week is a playoff. The opposite of that is the NBA (and the NHL) which drones on for 5.5 months to eliminate less than half the teams.
Honestly, the strike shortened years magnify the fact that they play (at least) 30 games too many. Some may argue that smaller playoffs would ruin the season for teams that are (roughly) 19-27 in January. That's a byproduct of professional sports. Teams like that shouldn't be alive for a title and if they struggle that mightily then it's not their year to host a parade anyway. Does the NFL allow 18 teams in the playoffs to give poor saps in Jacksonville a glimmer of hope that the Blaine Gabbert Era will finally take off in earnest? No. But the NBA will continue to have two-month long playoffs as long as that revenue churns and enough people stave off boredom to watch the eighth-seed get swept, again.
Cinderella is thirsty for some NBA action.
Have you no heart? Sixteen teams making the playoffs is great! Everyone loves a Cinderella story. That 1999 Knicks playoff run still stands as an incredible feat, as does the Warriors' stunning dismemberment of the No. 1 Mavericks in 2007. If the league wasn't strong enough top-to-bottom to make 8 vs 1 seed match-ups entertaining, then yeah, let's cut down on the amount of playoff teams, but that's not the case. There's a deep enough talent pool and parity to sustain a 16-team playoff, and it makes for thrilling basketball.
Who doesn't love scoring?
The highest-scoring NBA game took place between the Nuggets and the Pistons in 1983. 370 total points were scored in that contest. THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY. The English Premier League record for the most goals scored by a club in one season is 103. The point of any sport is to score enough to win the game, and the higher the score, the most enthused fans generally are. The NBA has done everything to handcuff defenses and make it a more offense game, and we should rejoice that.
Where's the D?
I'll be the first to point out that I complained about the lack of scoring in futebol. Now, I'm decrying the inflation of scoring in hoops. Sounds like I'm a jackass, right? Right and wrong. I prefer my sports to have a mix of defense and offense which is why I respect the Joakim Noahs and Tyson Chandlers in a league that wants high point totals to win over the casual fan (a trend the NFL has, admittedly, followed). Somewhere there's a middle ground for viewers to watch shootouts as well as defensive battles. And that somewhere is in the midwest, from Indianapolis to Chicago.
Fouls are a guessing game, with stars always getting the benefit of the doubt.
LeBron gets breathed on and he gets shots. Too frequently penalties become the entire game with players like Carmelo scoring 32 points despite going 6-23 from the field. In a league that already neglects defense, the penalty system makes contesting shots even more difficult. It's certainly not uncommon to see 60 free throw attempts in a game (in fact, Durant had 24 on opening night alone). Think about the fact that Tim Donaghy fixed games and nobody could even tell. What does that say about the way penalties are assessed? I don't blame the zebras (at least the non-crooked ones) as much as everybody else does because I think that discerning fouls in basketball is nigh-impossible by nature. How can you see the difference between a slap on the wrist and a swat on the hand? Even on replay it's almost impossible to tell. And so it becomes one of those side effects that you have to accept if you want to be a fan of pro hoops.
Preferential treatment is nothing new, bro.
Fouls happen. It's a byproduct of the game. More credit to players like Melo and Durant who get the opportunity to shoot so many free throws. It shows that they're being aggressive and not coasting on their jumpers for baskets. It's really a good thing that stars get the benefit of the doubt-as a league, stars are the biggest assets they have. Considering how far the NFL has gone to protect star quarterbacks, preferential treatment en route to the free-throw line shouldn't be lambasted. Like any good company, you want to protect and insure your most expensive properties. Hell, any iPhone owner with half a brain throws a case on their shit. Protect the stars and allow them to flourish, and the league will reap the rewards.
It's amazing television.
The Super Bowl will always be the king of American television (over 160 million Americans watch it yearly), but when it comes to non-NFL games, the NBA makes for great TV. Game 6 and Game 7 of last year's finals scored the 5th and 4th highest ratings in NBA history, respectively. Game 7 alone drew 26.3 million viewers. Aside from the NFL, no other sports league matches drama with viewership. The numbers don't lie: people love watching NBA games.
Yeah, until it's late in the fourth quarter.
For that one amazing Ray Allen shot you have 10 games that come down to wide open 15-footers. The only defense is an air horn. What the hell do I mean by that, exactly? Well let me tell you...
The worst part of close games is the ending.
This really is a problem with basketball as a whole and, unfortunately, there's absolutely no real way to fix it (though you can chop the timeouts per half in half). These greatly freakish athletes, who get people to cough up their grocery money to come watch, end up having their athleticism negated to watch their muscle memory at the charity stripe. Unless the contest is within three (and there's over 24 seconds left) the crescendo ends up being a game of 'Horse' from the same 'effing line. The only defense is the player's nerves and an occasional foam tube or stupid sign. It's like watching NFL games come down to a defenseless, centered extra point contest with everybody participating. It's one of those things where you're like, "I really want to like this, but the ending is broken."
The best part of close games is the ending.
You take the bad with the good. For every game that takes 15 minutes to run off two minutes of game clock, you get mind-melting buzzer-beaters and last second heroics. Like Ray Allen's shot at the end of Game 6 wasn't one of the most incredible moments of the Twitter Era, and didn't totally make up for every wrong the NBA has dealt you. Aight.
The two greatest athletes of the past 20 years have been NBA stars.
Is anyone really debating the total awesomeness of Michael Jordan and LeBron James? What other athlete—American or otherwise—can you put ahead of those two in terms of ability, cultural and league impact at home and abroad, and importance? Absolutely none. If you even dare to throw the likes of Lionel Messi, Ronaldo, David Beckham, Tom Brady, or Derek Jeter into the debate, please readjust your tinfoil hat. (Kobe stans, no shade was intended here. Your mans is just stuck on 5 rings, and is no longer the best player alive.)
What about Jerry Rice and Adrian Peterson?
I think guys like Jerry Rice and Adrian Peterson might have something to say about this. Players like MJ and LeBron are what keep me from becoming an NBA hater; but I'm not one of those people who bought into this "LeBron would be automatically great at football" argument. It reminds me of when wrestling fans were talking about how much of a beast Brock Lesnar was and he was relegated to the Vikings practice squad. Besides, I've seen how "The King" whines about soft fouls and wonder how short his arms would get after James Harrison went human cannon on his helmet.
The seasons are consistently predictable.
I could rattle off a dozen teams right now that will make the playoffs and guarantee their entry. If I'm wrong come April then I'll put my hand in a blender. With the same penalty I could give you 10 teams that won't get in. During the entire season I wouldn't even break a sweat. Remember the inaugural November/December of the Big Three? The Heat went 7-7 in November and the media had to do their best at making that compelling as if they weren't going to eventually tear shit up and make the playoffs? Then in December they were 15-1 and nobody cared because we all saw it coming.
Last year's Lakers were the only exception to an exceedingly dull rule. There's only 5-6 teams with a legitimate shot at the championship making the regular season drawn out and boring and the postseason artificially riveting. You could argue that that allows the best team to hoist the championship but it makes the NBA more boring than a late-night monologue in all but a half dozen cities. When someone came up with the adage "that's why they don't play it on paper," they didn't have the NBA in mind.
Seriously, don't tell that to the 2012-2013 Lakers.
To quote Drake: "Bridges burn, tables turn, you live and learn." That's a perfect summary of what happened to the Lakers last season. After acquiring Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, talk of a 72-10 season didn't seem all that crazy. Then, after the James Harden trade, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Lakers were going to bulldoze the Western Conference. To quote Bill Simmons after the trade: "They just handed the Western Conference to the Lakers." Not so fast. There are still games to play, man! Throughout the course of every NBA season, preseason title contenders fall apart, wannabe playoff squads fail to mesh, and bottom of the barrel teams ascend to that 8th seed. A lot of the NBA can be forecasted in advance, but the league as a whole are equal parts predictability and volatility.
The Decision: The NBA is great, f*** the haters.
We're going to take our talents to the NBA's league offices, because it's a great fucking sports league. Although, the issues we brought up shouldn't be discounted by any means: the flopping, the overabundance of playoff teams, the predictable bore that can be the regular season, and the refs bailing out superstars. Yet what's made the NBA great over the past 30 years has been it's consistent willingness to tackle outstanding issues head-on, and to adapt when necessary. All of the above issues can and will be addressed in time.
David Stern has instilled enough confidence in the NBA (Tim Donaghy aside) to make it a near indestructable entity. Nobody has their heads up their asses at 645 Fifth Ave. in NYC. They're not screwing around when it comes to global engagement and expansion, the promotion of their best talents, and the proper adjustment of game rules and league structure. The NBA is the most progressive sports league in the world and it's not even close. Watch out NFL: The NBA is coming for that Riddell helmet-sized crown.
