NBA’s Black Eye Continues
You are going to hear a lot of people say the 15-game suspension leading scorer Carmelo Anthony received from the NBA today for his part in the recent brawl between his Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks is too harsh.
And they are all dead wrong.
But why do we care in this space?
Because the NBA used to be a red-hot television product, and despite its ratings trending up the last couple years, it remains virtually an afterthought in the grand scheme of the sports world.Outside of TNT’s fantastic studio show, the NBA in general is no longer must-see television.
The reasons for this decline are many. I am biased because I don’t know that any sport ever had halcyon days like those of Magic and Larry battling it out, or Michael showing that the game could be played at a different level.
Today, the best players in the league seemingly were in college for a year if that, which has opened up a whole new can of worms from worse fundamentals to not having star power already when they are drafted.Whether you liked Christian Laettner or despised him, we all knew a lot about him before he joined the NBA.
Or you can just do what everyone likes to do about everything in sports: blame ESPN.If you’re in that camp, check out Bob Raissman’s Sunday column in the New York Daily News.But if a box comes in the mail and it’s ticking and is postmarked “Bristol,” you may not want to open it.
Anyway, NBA commissioner David Stern simply cannot allow these brawls to continue.I need to be able to turn on a game with my kid and not worry that an Ultimate Fighting Championship card is going to break out.
The NBA as a TV property has enough challenges.When brawls break out, suspensions need to be Draconian – and the NBA should follow after what international soccer leagues have done for various offenses: actually penalize the team by subtracting points in the standings from the team.
There are enough reasons not to watch the NBA that the league can’t control.This one they can…and must.
By Ben Grossman
Techbod commented:
Grossman is writing through the eyes of a parent.
I'm sure he can appreciate a well-lit, well-shot brawl as much as the next guy. But that's why they invented boxing.
Basketball is supposed to be equal parts offense and defense executed with a whole lot of hustle on both ends of the floor.
Execution-style fouls six months before the playoffs are just further confirmation that the level of maturity out there has fallen dramatically.
Just because you can finish like Kobe or soar like KG doesn't mean that a couple of years on campus (or playing anywhere but in the spotlight of the NBA) wouldn't do you some good.
Consider, media reports had poor Spike Lee spiriting his young daughter off the floor of the Garden to get her away from the violence. If the Lees don't feel safe at Knicks home game, how should the rest of us feel?
Paulsen commented:
While I stand by my previous statement, I shouldn't have gone quite as far as to call your article trash.
That being said, it is sad that the same old arguments against the NBA have to be rehashed repeatedly. The idea that players barely going to college is a bad thing is immediately blown away by players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett. The lack of fundamentals argument? Blown away by the Phoenix Suns and the high scoring in the league.
If you're going to write an article on the NBA, don't rehash the same tired stereotypes and arguments.
Paulsen commented:
There have been two brawls in the NBA in the past two years. There have been countless brawls in that same time period in Major League Baseball.
Oh, and the whole fundamentals point? Garbage. Have you watched the NBA recently, or are you just going off of the 1999 Playoffs? I'm sick and tired of lazy writing from lazy writers who know nothing about the NBA and take pleasure in bashing a product they haven't seen in years.
Come back to me with an article that's not a lazy piece of trash and I'll consider your opinion useful.
And P.S.: Everybody's ratings are going down. The most recent World Series averaged 10.2 percent of the viewing audience. The NBA Finals averaged lower, but not by much - 8.5.