We want to see competitive sports. Just because Jimmy Butler is a 27 ppg in the Playoffs and he is only a 22 ppg in the Regular season does mean squat. Some teams are made for the Playoffs, some are made for the Regular Season. As you said “best on paper” is just an opinion. I want to see other countries at least spending huge cash on basketball and its development. At least see some improvement there, close the gap.
That's exactly my point. The expression "best on paper" shows that best is not a fact but an opinion. If it's a fact, no debate is needed. A team wins. That's that. If you need to give reasons to argue that a team is best, then it's an opinion. The gap has been closed a lot. The days when the US could send college kids to the Olympics against other countries' pros and expected to win easily were long gone. Now even when they send all NBA players, they can't guarantee a win over teams that have only maybe 3 or 4 NBA players.
Yes and No. I meant like a super league on a club level. I mean that is fine when NT play versus NT (plus their naturalization of players) I want to see a Club World Cup the same as in Soccer. Half of the World talent re-allocated and not automatically go to the NBA Draft. (B level talent) The world finances would need to get re-allocated as well --- Saudi owners, Russian owners, Chinese owners, Indian owners, Nigerian owners......
There are two kinds of world championship, There are tournaments of world NTs like the Olympics and the World Cup. There are inter-league club tourneys like in soccer. (Even in soccer, those don't involve all the leagues in the world.) The problem with basketball is that the NBA has been monopolizing the market. It has something to do with basketball having the longest history and tradition in America and the great NBA marketing surge in the 1980s when the rest of the world was still dominated by soccer. They get most of the glory and the money. Top players in the world naturally want to play here. Same with baseball. Most other sports' professional leagues were developed in parallel without being monopolized by any single one. BTW, the most prestigious championship in soccer is the World Cup, not those inter-league club tourneys. There's a sense that pro clubs are played by mercenaries. It's all about who has the most money to get the best players.
It is a monopoly thus regional super league is adequate terminology. While NBA superstars and stars are getting paid like gods but there are players that are not paid like that. I think it is still about marketing and monetization. Lock outs can be used to establish alternative leagues, I think the world just has not been clever to use it to their advantage. I am surprised that the Saudis have not attempted to buy half of the NBA yet.
The mid-season tournament would've been much better if it were the top few teams in the US, Spain, France, Turkey, Australia, Italy, etc.
The US has Gold 16 out of 20 times in the Olympics and has only walked away with no Medal at all once. I think it's safe to call NBA champs world champs.
Everyone is just arguing about labels. You can call it whatever you want. USA Champ, NBA Champ... the fact of the matter is, the NBA offers the best international competition, and winning the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy means more than the FIBA World Cup in terms of competition or accomplishment.
Then the sports as a whole is dubious. US wins everything in the Olympics....... Fakers/Celtics/Bulls Spurs Miami GSW win everything in the NBA...... NBA going global, the game become more European, that itself is crying for more parity. It just takes an eternity.
I don't have a dog in the race, just that maybe asking consistency in the language. NBA media, fans and the league use terms like NBA referees, NBA Playoffs and NBA Finals, but they don't use words like Earth referees, World Playoffs, or Global Finals. NBA players only like the term when it's describing the winner: world champion. 'World' implies a larger scale of international participation. But a grand scale of inclusion counts the mediocre as well. The Miami Heat lost the Finals last season, so if they lost to the World Champ, then are they by definition a World Loser. Pistons was last in regular season standings, were they really the last in the World? And if it is just silly semantics, shouldn't the league be able to opt out of using the term just as easily? ... No more printing of it on hats and shirts? Just because NBA is the best in the world, doesn't mean that label should be attached by default. At dinner parties, do folks introduce themselves as bipedal humanoids, (maybe people do, *shrugs*) Just saying be consistent. p.s. Anyways, next season we can look forward to the first In-Season champion of the whole wide world.
I respect what Pop said because it was Pop who said it. I don’t know this Lyles fellow, so maybe I’m out of touch. Having said that, I would be for a “world basketball tournament” every 3 or 4 years, whatever’s agreed on, where nations played against nations. The winner gets a cool trophy and bragging rights until the next tournament. I’d watch it.
NBA champs aren't comprised of the same folks who won the Olympics. If folks are being technical, those that won the Olympics and got a gold are the best in the world, hence the title world champ is fine. Winning a domestic league, even if it's the top league and declaring themselves World champ is the typical American arrogance
I am cool with whatever the New School says.......Old School on the court but New School when things are being discussed and being cleared.
Noah Lyles is considered the fastest man on the planet (100, 200, 4x100). A current Carl Lewis minus the long jump. He's also usually trying to get attention. The Olympics is basically that "world tournament" you're talking about, I think. Except sometimes the best players usually aren't there.
This right here. I really think Noah Lyles says stuff to get attention because no one knows him despite having such an illustrious career.
Yeah, America's love for track and field is usually limited to maybe the Olympics, and that's about it. The rest of the year 99% of the populace barely knows what's going on whether the US is dominant in an event or not. Honestly, I don't think most of the public really cares about any basketball unless it's the NBA or college, either. "What's a FIBA?"
