[NBA] Comments that don't warrant a thread (JAN)
- Thread starter Spike
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And when a man says that he voluntarily ended his NBA career because his "mind went to a dark place", the reason his mind may have gone there could certainly be because of comments like the above. People who don't make $128M over their careers often like to think that huge sums of money are both an excuse for emotional abuse and an antidote to depression and/or mental illness, but I don't think that the data bear that out.
As long as I've been alive, every sports league I've followed in America has been on a never ending thirst quest to get more scoring. A lot of it is so pig headed like getting rid of offsides rules in hockey and soccer, and making the goals bigger (again hockey and soccer). Football destroyed defense with all the QB and receiver protections and PI calls, but by the same token it has lead to less reliance on running backs which is a brutally crippling way to play the game so we've seen more player longevity from these changes. Baseball has always battled their need to get more homeruns without players cheating to get them.
Basketball is the one sport where I think the scoring thirst is totally in the wrong direction. Because nobody wants to see teams shooting free throws. We can argue til the cows come home about dunks vs. three pointers, but I think the casual fan is excited by both. But nobody wants to see players like Harden ref baiting and scoring 14+ points a night from the line.
It'd be like if NFL decided to generate more field goal attempts somehow. The scores would possibly go up but for the wrong reasons.
Good defense is part of the game and should be rewarded. Basketball already has more score tallies than any other sport to the point "remember that missed free throw" is a painful cliche, along with the "I can just catch the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter" mindset.
But because its still the easiest way for players to get paid it won't be going away.
Basketball is the one sport where I think the scoring thirst is totally in the wrong direction. Because nobody wants to see teams shooting free throws. We can argue til the cows come home about dunks vs. three pointers, but I think the casual fan is excited by both. But nobody wants to see players like Harden ref baiting and scoring 14+ points a night from the line.
It'd be like if NFL decided to generate more field goal attempts somehow. The scores would possibly go up but for the wrong reasons.
Good defense is part of the game and should be rewarded. Basketball already has more score tallies than any other sport to the point "remember that missed free throw" is a painful cliche, along with the "I can just catch the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter" mindset.
But because its still the easiest way for players to get paid it won't be going away.
They need to get rid of the hand checking rules. It’s become a guard’s perimeter game and the only good counter-balance would be allowing the defender to put their hands on an offensive player. Too many times the refs will call soft touch fouls. The really smart players have found ways to use it to their advantage and start drawing shooting fouls from them.
The NBA wants more scoring and higher scoring, but fouls take the rhythm out of the game.
But you’re right about the changes in the game allowing players to be paid. There’s a reason why no current NBA players have come out to complain… they’re able to score a lot easier, thus getting larger contracts because they can point to all the points they score.
I don’t think I’m a fan of the way the league is trending. It makes defense nearly impossible to play. Offenses have all the advantages.
The NBA wants more scoring and higher scoring, but fouls take the rhythm out of the game.
But you’re right about the changes in the game allowing players to be paid. There’s a reason why no current NBA players have come out to complain… they’re able to score a lot easier, thus getting larger contracts because they can point to all the points they score.
I don’t think I’m a fan of the way the league is trending. It makes defense nearly impossible to play. Offenses have all the advantages.
I think the NBA has mostly got this under control? Harden's FTA averages have certainly plummeted from their height in 2019. I think the current leaders in FTA (Giannis, Embiid) are not playing a boring brand of basketball by most people's definition
The disinterest in anything but the last 5 minutes is not a criticism of this current higher scoring era, (this sentiment was very present in the slow 90s.) The criticism is more of an indictment of the level of intensity of regular season NBA games, which are devalued by quantity. With the success of the IST, it's obvious that the NBA needs to make basketball more scarce and rarified if it wants to increase its intensity.
This is not how player contracts work. Through collective bargaining, players collectively have received ~50% of NBA revenue for a long time.
Players are getting bigger contracts, because NBA revenue is increasing, because the NBA is a growing business. The manner in which NBA is growing is not 100% transparent, but it could involve either finding more fans or more valuable fans. Why should the NBA change in order to please people who liked the game more in the 90s?
I don't know why any NBA businessman would have any nostalgia for earlier eras.
The disinterest in anything but the last 5 minutes is not a criticism of this current higher scoring era, (this sentiment was very present in the slow 90s.) The criticism is more of an indictment of the level of intensity of regular season NBA games, which are devalued by quantity. With the success of the IST, it's obvious that the NBA needs to make basketball more scarce and rarified if it wants to increase its intensity.
This is not how player contracts work. Through collective bargaining, players collectively have received ~50% of NBA revenue for a long time.
Players are getting bigger contracts, because NBA revenue is increasing, because the NBA is a growing business. The manner in which NBA is growing is not 100% transparent, but it could involve either finding more fans or more valuable fans. Why should the NBA change in order to please people who liked the game more in the 90s?
I don't know why any NBA businessman would have any nostalgia for earlier eras.
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