Right now, at 1 pm in the morning, I just had what I consider a stunning revelation about the NBA. It's about how the NBA sells itself. Here's the thing: in the NBA, top players get "star treatment." That is almost undeniable. A Jazz fan might say Shaq gets too many calls, but Malone doesn't, while a Lakers fan will say Malone gets too many calls, but Shaq doesn't. But both will admit that star treatment is there; it's a fact of today's NBA. It hasn't occurred to me until now that this is a complete reversal of previous policy. Go way back to the 1970s and before. Back then, they were equalizing the game. Mikan was dominating on the skinny lane, so they widened it. In college, Abdul-Jabbar so dominated that they outlawed dunking. The NBA changed offensive goaltending rules so Wilt couldn't guide his teammates' shots in all day. The pure and simple fact is, today's stars are given special treatment, while back in the day, the league tried to contain the stars to create more even competition. Both of these policies were carried out in the hopes of making the NBA sell better. This raises a whole lot of questions. When exactly did this shift in policy take place? Is it the people's fault that stars are held up, or the fault of big companies like the NBA? Is the NBA now more entertaining? Is this good? Why did star treatment emerge? I suppose it's important to remember that the NBA is only entertainment. The purpose of a professional league has never been to pit talent against talent for talent's sake; the purpose has always been for people to watch it. So in a way, it doesn't really matter whether it's all strictly fair, does it? The NBA is entertaining, and David Stern has done a better job selling it than any commissioner previously. Should I care if there is star treatment? But as a fan of all ages of the NBA, I preferred it when scrubs got the same calls. I'm talking about letting Bo Outlaw and Lawrence Funderburke swing their arms like Karl Malone... that's how it was in the 60s. Or better... the other way around. I'm reminding myself that I'm not obligated to watch the NBA, and seriously thinking of forgetting about this league for awhile and letting it sort itself out. I have better things to do than watch big guys put a ball in a hoop for $100 a ticket. I can live without basketball. Thoughts?
It started happening when they started marketing STARS and not TEAMS MJ and his three steps to the basket was probably the first NOTICABLE change before that there was some. . but not as blatant. Rocket River
1. Nobody plays defense. 2. Noone outside of European players are great shooters anymore (not 100% true but in general), so it's a layup/dunk festival 3. Too many really bad teams (IE the Eastern conference) 4. Very few teams run an offense other than one-on-one or two-on-two games (zone helped a little) 5. College kids always play hard, NBA players screw around for 46 minutes then play hard the last 2 minutes
