There’s been some interesting NBA news lately. This post is more like news and personal reminiscence. I’d like to start with Kobe Bryant’s vanishing trade demand to get it out of the way.
Bryant asked for a trade from the Lakers, but changed his mind after speaking with Phil Jackson. End of story, I guess, but I have two thoughts. One, where would Kobe have gone? He obviously doesn’t want to play for a middle-of-the-road team anymore, but if he’d gone to an already-great squad, he’d have to share the spotlight. I seem to remember his having a problem with that before once. If he went to, say, the Dallas Mavericks or Phoenix Suns, he’d end up taking a backseat to Dirk or Steve Nash in some ways.
Don’t get me wrong. Kobe’s substantially better at basketball than either of those guys. But think how Carmelo is still presented as the face of the Nuggets franchise, even after Allen Iverson joined the team. It’s not even necessarily that Bryant wouldn’t get the ball in crunch time-both of those teams would be insane not to force-feed him-but just that he’d have to share the glory. Could Kobe handle it? Um, what do you think?
Second, Kobe’s trade demand supposedly stemmed from a comment by a “Lakers insider” that Bryant had forced Shaquille O’Neal out of town. Why did that set Kobe off? I have no idea if the accusation is true-I always assumed it was, but don’t have / don’t remember any evidence that it is. But people have been saying that for years. Why the fuss now?
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I’ve been following the NBA since the 1996-97 season (Kobe’s rookie year). For the fourth time in those eleven years, the San Antonio Spurs have made the NBA Finals. Congratulations to them.
That first year I watched, the Chicago Bulls went 69-13, tying for the second-best record ever. (This, after setting the all-time best mark the year before.) It was obvious from opening night they were going to win the championship. Of course they did, beating the Utah Jazz in six games.
The next year, the Chicago Bulls went 62-20, tying the Jazz for the season’s best mark. Though the Jazz had the homecourt edge (I think because they’d won the season series), the Bulls, of course, won the championship again in six games, capped by Michael Jordan’s amazing final minute in the last game. (I can still remember it: Stockton hits a three to put the Jazz up three, Jordan hits a lay-up, Jordan steals the ball from a careless mail delivery boy, then sinks the winning jumper to clinch the title.) I’m not going to lie, I was an all-out Bulls bandwagon fanboy, and I’ve never regretted it. They were just the most awesome force I’ve ever seen.
Anyway, those were about as suspense-less as two seasons could ever possibly be in any sport. There was no doubt the Bulls were going to win. Sure, some idiots doubted, and it usually did come down to some dramatic and memorable plays, but the Bulls always won. Deep down, I was looking forward to Jordan’s retirement, because I wanted to live in a world where other teams had a shot.
The lesson: be careful what you wish for. This regular season was as wide-open as they ever come. The Mavericks, Suns, and Spurs all looked like serious contenders, and perhaps the Detroit Pistons still do. Yet these playoffs are Bor-ing. I didn’t watch a minute of the Spurs-Jazz Western Conference Finals.
Back in the day, I watched the Bulls every single chance I got, even staying up the night before I took the ACT to do so. But the games just aren’t as compelling anymore.
Why do you think that is, and what does the NBA need to be huge again? Another dominant, charismatic player like Jordan? (If so, keep dreaming.) More great teams? Open season on all floppers? Am I completely wrong, and the league’s just fine? Or is the NBA in an irreversible decline?
6 comments:
(1) I think the natural spot for Kobe to end up would be in Chicago. The Bulls are a franchise with enough young talent to trade for him and still remain good, especially in the Eastern Conference. The only problem is that Kobe would still share the spotlight, but with a guy who is no longer playing.
In a larger sense, Kobe's trade demand is weird. It feels like he is admitting he isn't man enough to get it done on his own, which seems more and more true with each passing season . . .
(2) I think the NBA overall is doing fine, but it has always been a league built around star power - so it rises and falls on the individual performances of a few guys. Last year's playoffs were so compelling because D Wade was in the zone and a bunch of other Heat players were finally getting their championship. Neither Utah nor San Antonio has an explosive force like that, so the series was a snoozer. But if LeBron somehow steps up and pulls out an Eastern Conference championship, there may yet be reason to watch.
Speaking of LeBron finding a way to step up . . .
That makes sense about star players, and I agree. I guess the problem is just that no one's that good consistently, save maybe Duncan, whose skills are understated, especially to non-hoops fans. (The other problem is that if Converse made an honest ad campaign around D-Wade, it would be more like "Get breathed on three times, shoot from the stripe six.")
Hey, maybe there's hope for LeBron after all...just kidding. He's not my favorite player or anything, but man, have people been quick to quit on him.
Nice one about D Wade - that guy gets more calls than a girl with a bad reputation.
The whole thing with LeBron is typical of the NBA's star system - the media hypes him up, then the media dissects his every move, and finally the media declares whether he is performing up to the (media-created) hype. How many 22 year-old players in history have led their teams this far? And yet they are so eager to anoint him as the next MJ that they get frustrated that he isn't yet (forgetting, of course, that it took MJ until much later in his career to win it all).
kobe, such a little drama-whore. i'm really glad that after shaq left, he won a championship. thus proving what everyone was wondering, who was the player that got the lakers their championships.
john is right, the nba is structured around star power. there will never be another jordan, although there can still be compelling rivalries, johnson/bird, lakers celtics, etc.
here's my answer: give up on the nba altogether.
the nfl and mlb (gag for you, i know) more than satiate my desire for athletics at the professional level, and then when you factor in the ncaa basketball tournament (mens, mike) and college football, i think you can sequester yourself into a world where you'll never need the nba ever again.
speaking of which.... you guys should go to mitt romney's myspace page. so awesome. i love his music choices.
Baseball's fine, but I think you have to throw yourself into it more than other sports (so many games and players), which I haven't wanted to do the last couple years.
I love basketball, so I have to follow the NBA. College hoops can be nice, and the tournament is certainly fun...but there are WAY too many missed lay-ups and free throws. I'm sorry, it's just rarely a high level of play, and it drives me nuts. This year was good, but I wonder if the age rule has actually restored order or if it was a one-time thing, now that Durant and Oden are gone.
I did have Elvis stuck in my head all day after looking at Romney's MySpace, so thanks!
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