The NBA's Image Problem

I just read an article that had the potential to be a fantastic article, but was very weak and disappointing. It’s very short, so I invite you to read it below:

NBA Image Problems

...and we’re back.

See what I mean? I was so excited when I saw the headline for this topic. I thought there was going to be some good, in-depth analysis, and some insightful commentary. Instead, we were left with an article that quoted one internet survey and spent the rest of it's short time saying, "Shame on you, America, for being racist and not loving the NBA!"

I expected more. I wanted more. But fortunately, good people, I’m here to give you more.

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I agree with the introduction to this article: the NBA is currently experiencing a renaissance that it hasn't seen since Magic Johnson and Larry Bird entered the league. It's also very sad that no one apparently is noticing this.

First, the quality of play. The overall quality of league play has been improving since at least 2004. Subtle--and some not as subtle--rule changes have allowed more ball movement and team play, while allowing new defensive schemes have forced teams to play different styles of offensive basketball, so the late 90's/early 00's "stand for 20 seconds then a player goes 1 on 1" style of basketball that the white man hates so much has gone away. Mike D'Antoni's reintroduction of fast, uptempo basketball--and the subsequent acceptance from other teams--has brought the fast break back to the league, and made the game a thrill to watch. Most importantly, a league crackdown on what is a defensive foul has put an end to the "beat em up" style of basketball that Chuck Daly and Pat Riley made such a force back in the day (curse them both).

Next, player movement has decreased to the point where it is not a detriment to the league, and is exciting when it does happen because of it's infrequency. Look at the last great rookie class: Lebron, DWade, Melo, & Chris Bosh--the stars of that draft, future Hall of Famers all--all resigned with their current teams. There is a good balance now; a player can move in extreme situations, but the system STRONGLY (through finances, of course) encourages them to stay put. And this year, finally, GM's have been willing to make dramatic trades that add excitement and intrigue in mid-season.

Finally, the current group of young stars in the NBA are good kids. Are they perfect? No. But they're not "thugz", they're not violent, and they're not dangerous. Sure, there are slip ups--Lebron driving 100mph, Dwight Howard having a baby out of wedlock. But seriously...that's the best you can do? I've driven 100mph before. Does that make me a horrible person? So you want to hate on Dwight Howard for having a baby out of wedlock...have you been ripping Tom Brady for doing the same thing?

Of the Big Three, the NBA has been the best behaved sport BY FAR the last five years. It's not even close. No dogs. No shootings in strip clubs. No steroids scandal. No domestic violence issues among its major stars. The list goes on and on. The NFL and MLB can't even come close to making those claims.

So why, then, is there still the perception that the NBA is a league full of thugz? Why is the NBA not being embraced like it was at the end of the Jordan Era? Is America really being racist, and refusing to embrace a predominately black league, as the NBA is claiming?

Well I think it's obvious what the answer is, reading what I wrote above.

But the truth is not always what it seems...

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No.

Racism is not the reason America is not watching the NBA. Well, maybe a little bit. But no more than the league has always had to deal with the issue of marketing a predominately black league to a white audience.

No, the issue is that the NBA has burned America before, and America hasn't recovered yet.

The Golden Age of the NBA began in 1979, when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson entered the league. It ended in 1999, with Michael Jordan's second retirement. The next 3-4 seasons can be described as the dark years of the NBA; the style of play was at an all time low, and the current crop of stars was unable to deal with the pressures of replacing their idols. The game became too street; there was too much shit talking, too much crotch grabbing, too much 1 on 1, too much indifference for the fans, and too much emphasis on the players developing themselves as a market and not on their basketball skills. This was the Jailblazers Era.

However, a new group of stars has emerged in the last few years, who are not only outstanding players, but ready to open up the Silver Age of the NBA. Lebron James. Dwayne Wade. Dwight Howard. Chris Paul. Deron Williams. Brandon Roy. Kevin Durant. Greg Oden (hopefully; I still think his body will fail him). These players all have the talent to be the all time greats; they all have the same hunger and desire to win that made Jordan, Magic, & Bird, so special; they're all guys who keep their noses relatively clean. Most importantly, they don't have to deal with the pressure of replacing the Golden Age; they just have to do better than the Jailblazers Era. And they're well on their way to succeeding at that, to their credit.

Here's the problem: they've started that. The game's not over. America is not going to forgive and forget overnight. 2-3 good seasons of good behavior doesn't erase the damage caused by the previous generation's stars. The modern (we'll call this age the Silver Age) stars don't want to suffer because of the sins of their predecessors, and want to be judged on their own merits. This is understandable, and I sympathize with them. However...too fucking bad, guys.

Look at it this way: your wife gets drunk and kisses another man. Your brother screws you over in a business deal. Your parents profoundly insult you publicly in some sort of way. How do you react to this? Some people can forgive, immediately. Most, however, cannot. They can forgive; they can move on, but it takes time, and it takes effort from the person at fault to earn back the victim's trust.

Because that's what this is about: not race, but trust. How does America know Lebron--who quickly married his high school sweetheart upon entering the league, and is apparently very devoted to her--know that they can trust Lebron not to end up in the bed of some woman in Colorado sometime in the near future? America's heard, "Ya'll know me. Ya'll know I wouldn't do this" from "The Next Jordan" before, and how did that turn out for Kobe and America?

Is this fair to Lebron and the other stars? Not entirely, no. But they are more than just individuals now; they are the living representations of the NBA, and the NBA has harmed America's psyche on numorous occasions in the past. You can't honestly expect America to forgive and forget overnight. We wouldn't do that as individuals dealing with our wives, brothers, and parents, and the NBA shouldn't expect America as a whole to do this either. Like the individuals, you're going to have to earn America's trust back, and America is not being unreasonable in asking for that.

The sad part is that the way the league is reacting right now is one of the worst possible ways it could react. By saying, "Well, America is just racist!" for not immediately accepting the NBA, they're only going to further push America away. Negativity begets more negativity, and no one responds well to being called something evil--especially when it isn't true.

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So what should be done? The answer, somewhat surprisingly, is nothing. Nothing drastic should be done. The NBA should be patient, and accept the fact that it's going to take some time to win America back. Remember, young stars of the NBA, you've made great strides, but you haven't gone all the way yet. You've only won one title, and that was a dubious title, at best. You're still young, and still have plenty of time to make the mistakes of youth, and need to be on your guard not to make them.

America will come back to you. Look at the baseball strike; it took years, and the unprecedented excitement of the Home Run Chase to bring fans back to baseball. The same thing will happen to you, but only when you prove that the stars of tomorrow can be trusted, and only when the stars of tomorrow step up and take the stage away from the previous generation. Timmy will never win America back. The Detroit Pistons will never win America back. YOU have to win them over, by winning, and by winning without people being ashamed of you as you win--which is exactly how Jordan, Magic, & Bird won over America.

You can do it, NBA. Just be patient. Healing takes time.

Jason Kidd to the Mavs

Not to sound negative, but...

I'm not totally on board with the Mav's trade.

In fairness, I'm not against it. I don't think it's a terrible trade, like I did Shaq for Marion. But I don't think this makes the Mavs appreciably better which, of course, is the name of the game.

Currently, Jason Kidd is having a very popular season. He's almost averaging a triple double--he's two rebounds a game away from that--he's started for the East in the All Star game, and has been seen as one of the difference makers in any Western conference trade for a while now.

However, I say popular instead of great for a reason. His stats aren't as impressive as they appear at first glance. He's averaging a career high in turnovers, and is averaging career lows in steals, FG%, and points. That's right; in spite of his triple/double status, he's barely averaging 10 points a game (11.3). People are wowed by his triple/doubles, and it's always a good thing to have a triple double; unfortunately, I would say though that these are the last impressive triple/doubles in the history of said feat.

The Mavs are giving up Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Mo Ager, a freshly signed Keith Van Horn, $3mil in cash, and two first round picks for Kidd, Malik Allen, and Antoine Wright. For some reason, the Mavs feel like trading for Wright, too; I have no idea why. A&M fans should be thrilled, and that's about the best I can say about that.

Do I think that's too much for Kidd? Yes. I think on a talent standpoint, Harris and Diop are enough for Kidd. Kidd's only got a coupla good years left, where Harris is going to be a good young point guard in the league for a long time. Diop has been a solid starting center (don't say Damp is the starter, there are $70 million reasons that Damp has started over the years) in the West, doing a good job holding his own against Timmy, Yao, Marcus Camby, Mehmet Okur, Brad Miller, and Chris Kaman for several years now. He'll never be a 20-10 guy, but he's a top five center in the East. My problem is with the two first round picks; I wouldn't offer those, maybe 1 to take Ternton Hassell's bad contract, and I also don't like the addition of KVH, but that became a necessity because of the Stackhouse/George snafu (we'll discuss that later). We have truly mortgaged our future in this deal; if this team doesn't win it all in the next 2-3 years, then we're in trouble for a while.

Here's the thing: if Kidd can come in and give the Mavs confidence and swagger, and convince Stackhouse and Howard to not be in love with their jumpers and start attacking the basket, then this is a good trade. If he doesn't, and looks out of place amongst a bunch of players way in love with their jump shots, then this is a bad trade. It's really as simple as that.

I really think the Mavs need to make one more deal to make this trade really work, and that's why they didn't want to use KVH to begin with--they wanted to deal him for an athletic slasher who Kidd can run with and throw lobs to at the rim. Unfortunately, the Mavs don't have that option now, and honestly, I don't know how feasible that would have been. That's why I think that the Mavs asked for Antoine Wright; I think they're hoping he could be that kind of player. Don't hold your breath would be my response to that assesment, unfortunately.

So in the end I guess my answer is "we'll see." I don't think this makes us a shoo-in to win the Western Conference. However, if things go right, and there's a good chance they do go right, then we're right there with as good of a chance as anyone in the West. Our future is mortgaged, unfortunately, and we'll miss Harris in 3 years, but I do agree that you've got to take your best shot when you have a chance to win a title. This is probably our best bet, because the team we had was not going to make any significant noise in the playoffs.

GO MAVS!!!!

The Stupidest Trade I've Ever Heard Of

(Author's note: I was planning on writing about Bobby Knight today...and then this happened. But don't you worry; the sports world finally being rid of the miserable human being that is Bobby Knight will get discussed soon.)

Or the greatest, if you're a Miami fan.

The Phoenix Suns are trading Shawn Marion & Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat for Shaq. Fairly simple.

As stated above, this is the stupidest fucking trade I've ever heard of. Seriously, I think this is the worst. This beats getting Charles Barkley for, as the Sports Guy likes to put it, "the peu peu platter" from Philly (when basically you trade Barkley for Jeff Hornacek...yeahhhhhhhhh...not good). This beats even trading Wilt Chamberlain for cash, because that happened when the NBA was not the giant it is today, and when the options are "sell Wilt Chamberlain" or "go out of business", well, you kept the doors open, that's a good thing. So what makes this trade so bad? Because it's bad on every conceivable level. Allow me to explain:

Level 5: Age. Phoenix traded away a star in his prime for a 36 year old center who has already missed 14 games this season, is having by far his worse season statistically, and is on the obvious downside of his career. There wasn't just speculation that Shaq would retire after last season, most people were encouraging him to do so.

Level 4: Skill set. Shawn Marion is a jack of all trades: a freakishly good athlete who can dunk on anyone, is a good perimeter shooter, an excellent rebounder, one of the best and most versatile (he can guard all 5 positions) defenders in the NBA, and an outstanding free throw shooter. He’s also incredibly durable, never having missed more than 3 games in a season.

At this point in his career, Shaq is an average center who is injury prone. He is averaging a mundane 14 pts and 8 rebounds, and even with his injury woes, there’s no reason to see those numbers improving if he gets healthy--which won’t happen with the run 'n gun Suns. He hasn't averaged over 2 blocks a game in 3 years, either, so please stop all the "he'll be a great defensive presence in the middle!" nonsense. He's always been a below average shot blocker for a center, and now he’s a bad shot blocker. And if you think he is going to keep up with Tim Duncan, Tyson Chandler, Andrew Bynum, or Yao Ming defensively, you're insane.

Just look at the Suns defensively now: Amare and Little Stevie Nash are famous for being not just bad, but HORRENDOUS defenders. The Suns got by with having Raja Bell guard the best guard, and Shawn Marion guard the best anyone else. Now they don’t have that option! They have no frontcourt defense! They have no defense at all anymore!

Level 3: Chemistry. This is why this trade was made (well, other than the panic over the Gasol trade). Marion and the Suns have been at odds for years, and Shaq is done with Miami, the worst team to ever win an NBA title. However, be careful what you wish for. Shaq isn't going to be happy not being the focal point of the offense; if they think Shaq is going to be content to come in, play D, rebound, and shoot 4 or 5 times a game, they're flipping crazy. Shaq was vocal at the start of the season about not getting enough shots in Miami--and this was while Wade was out! Shaq, like most stars, is a bit delusional about his skill level now that he's grown old. So don't expect all the Sun's chemistry issues to be solved immediately.

Level 2: Financial. I’ll say it: Sun’s owner Brett Sarver is a cheap ass. He's been giving away draft picks for years, and last year started giving away players, by ditching the INCREDILBY valuable Kurt Thomas to the Sonics. So you would think that this move would help the Suns financially--much like the Gasol trade made absolutely no sense from a player standpoint, but did make sense financially.

Oh contraire, mon fraire. Shaq has 2 years after this season where he makes a whopping $20 mil each. The Suns have tied up all of their finances in Shaq for the next 2.5 years--there’s no way they can make any other trades, because all their money is going to be entrenched in him. We’ve already established that Shaq is aging in dog years at this point, so by the time he reaches his last season, he'll be one of the highest paid players in the league and will be averaging single digits in everything. Awesome.

Some pundits would say, "But Marion was a free agent after this season! They could have lost him and gotten nothing in return!" First of all, so what? You’re in FIRST FUCKING PLACE right now, so you make one more run at the title--you're third try in a row—and if it doesn’t work, well, then yes, it's time to break the team up. But it's not like things are broken now, so you make the one last push. Second of all, you weren't really going to lose him for "nothing". Marion wants his money, and he can make the most in Phoenix. That means that the Suns would do the same thing for him they did for Joe Johnson, work a sign and trade—which worked out really well for the Suns, until Boris Diaw signed a contract extension and realized how many chocolate croissants and strawberry tarts he could now afford. So no, you weren't going to "lose him for nothing", and even if you did, you were left with cap flexibility.

Congrats. You didn't get "nothing" in return for Marion, you lost all of your cap flexibility for the next 2.5 years and got a subpar player in return.

And finally, most importantly...

Level 1: Style of play. Congratulations Phoenix. You have completely fucked up your style of play with this acquisition. Your "7 seconds or less days" are gone. Over. Done. Finito. There's no way Shaq can run like Phoenix likes to--even if he was able to do it effectively, it would lead to a myriad of injuries because his body can’t (and never really could) take that style of play. "Well Shaq's the new guy," some would say. "He should adapt, and accept a lesser role." Oh yeah. How many times have we seen that scenario: an aging, arrogant star on the downside of his career--but still in denial about that--coming to a new city, sacrificing his entire game and taking a peon's role. That happens ALL the time. Shaq still wants his touches, and he's going to demand that Phoenix plays a game that they are not used to. The Suns are going to have to adapt to Shaq because there is no possible way he can adapt to them, and it's going to kill their team and their soul in the process. They're changing to a style of play that they and their new acquisition aren't good at, and that's all there is to it.

Don't get me wrong. The Suns will still make the playoffs. They'll still be pretty good. But they are no longer in the West's elite--they can't compete on a serious level with the Mavs & Spurs anymore, and probably can't compete with the "new elite" (the Hornets & Lakers) either. They probably aren't even as good as the Jazz now.

It's just sad. As a Mavs' fan, I should be thrilled, because one of our biggest competitors is now out of the picture. But I'm not thrilled; I'm angry and sad. One of the most entertaining teams in the league is out of the picture because of an idiotic owner and GM. The Suns were responsible for the rebirth of offense in the NBA, which is the best thing to happen to the league since Jordan retired (the first time). This was a great, fun to watch team that will be missed, and it's just so damn frustrating that bad management has allowed this to happen.

So farewell, Suns. You're not going to suck, but you're no longer amongst the elite teams in the West.

It was good while it lasted.