I love basketball. But right now, I don’t love the NBA. I used to watch random regular season games on a Tuesday night. Now I check scores, stats, and standings on my phone instead of actually watching. I love basketball, but something is off with the NBA. It’s not talent. It’s not stars. It’s the product.
The Officiating & Review Problem
My first and biggest issue with the NBA is the officiating and replay stoppages. The flow of the game is interrupted far too often for reviews that simply seem unnecessary. I think sometimes they are warranted, especially when deciding between a flagrant 1 or 2 given that a player will be ejected for a flagrant 2. However, far too often they stop the flow of the game for what seems to be a pretty common foul. Two grown men barely bump each other and we’re at the monitor. It’s soft. Let them play.
Speaking of soft, these technicals they give are just absolutely insane. I mean, I’ve seen technicals for players laughing.
For clapping.
For high-fiving a teammate.
Fans don’t tune in for the NBA ref show, but sometimes that’s what they are going to get. And one simple request for officials, stop rewarding foul baiting! I believe players are complaining more as they’ve grown accustomed to getting these weak calls. So even though the players complaining is annoying to watch, I truly think this still ties into the poor officiating of the game and the weak fouls they grant these guys. Basketball is a fast paced game of runs, momentum, emotion, and crowd noise. And then, we go to the monitor or call a weak tech and kill all of that. I don’t think we need to go back to the Bad Boy Pistons era where players are getting chucked into the stands, but we have gone way too far in the other direction now.
Player Effort
Ok, I’m not trying to sound like the old man yelling at the clouds here, but I really think there is something to be said of the effort from some of these players. Especially with this current load management culture. Fans don’t get a “load management” schedule, so it is crazy to me that superstars will sit random games for “rest” even if they are not hurt. What message is that sending to the fans who are spending hard earned money buying tickets well in advance to attend these games? NBA players make upwards of 60 million dollars per year, and you can’t show up to work that day for the fans who pay your salary cause you want to rest? It feels like a disconnect between the league and the fans. I know they added a rule saying players can’t rest on a nationally televised game or an NBA cup game, but that still doesn’t help the 20,000 fans who purchased a ticket to the game.
Another issue I have with effort is on the defensive side of the ball. Since when did people stop caring about defense? I hear all the time analysts and “experts” say so and so is being lazy on defense to conserve energy for the offensive end. I’m sorry, what? The best players used to, and should right now, take pride in dominating both ends of the floor. Being an incredible scorer doesn’t give you the right to take plays off on defense. If you score 30 points, who cares if you let up 35.
The Three-Point Era
Now this is a point that is tough for me. I’m a believer that the game evolves and changes over time, so perhaps this three-point era is a phase that will be over soon. I am not anti-analytics, as I know analytics call for a lot of threes, but I am anti-uniformity. Every team now is essentially high pick-and-roll, kick out, swing, three. For me, the issue is stylistic diversity seems to be disappearing. This doesn’t apply to everyone though, as teams like the Rockets and Pistons are very good and rank near the bottom of the league in threes attempted per game. But I still think it’s very possible you tune into a game and feel like you are watching a three-point contest. When every offense looks the same, even great shooting starts to feel routine.
Closing
The talent in the NBA is better than ever, but in my opinion the watchability is not. I think the officiating and reviews are the biggest issue, but certainly not the only issue.
The NBA doesn’t need more stars.
It doesn’t need more offense.
It needs to let the game breathe.
Have a take on this? Leave a comment below.