I'm not a basketball fan. I'm a Football fan, a Formula 1 fan, and a hockey fan...
I can't explain the rules of basketball. When I watch the game, I might see something that I think is a foul and nothing happens. Then a foul is called and there was nothing at all that looked bad.
That said, I feel pretty confident in making the following statement concerning basketball:
Professional Basketball has no business being a team sport. It is an ego-driven, "superstar"-driven league that cares more about the name on the back of the jersey than the name on the front. It cares more about its big-market teams than it does about its small-market teams.
Want proof of all this? I present to you Dwight Howard, formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers, now of the Houston Rockets...we think. Dwight, or "D12, as he is somewhat affectionately referred to in some circles, was a free agent. He narrowed down his selection to Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and LA. Houston won out by having the best young core and having no state income tax in Texas. Even though LA could offer Howard $30 million more over the life of the contract than Houston could, Howard would net $3 million more over the life of the deal because of taxes.
Atlanta is Dwight Howard's hometown...and yet it was basically understood as fact about halfway through the D12 Sweepstakes that Atlanta stood no chance of landing Howard. Atlanta also lost out on Chris Paul. See, the Hawks had dreams of becoming an elite team by landing those two. But Atlanta has to own up to something: No one wants to play in Atlanta.
For years now, Atlanta has been mired in the drudgery of a really horrible ownership group. They've seemingly decided that reaching the second round of the playoffs was enough. Because of that complacency, that apparent apathy toward drawing in new fans by putting a winning team on the court, the Atlanta fanbase has grown tired. The fall began when the Thrashers were still here.
The Atlanta Spirit Group never really cared about that hockey team. They would not spend to bring in high-profile players. Every time a player began to get really good, the team would panic at the thought of having to actually pay someone, and then trade that player for as many low-level prospects as possible. There were time when it seemed like positives strides were being made. Bob Hartley was hired as head coach. The Dany Heatley fiasco was turned into something positive by trading for Marian Hossa. But then the ownership would just give up. They traded Hossa. Traded Kovachuk. And finally sold the team for only a few million dollars more than the value of the contract they gave to Joe Johnson, a single basketball player. Then, when the team moved, the owners actually had the cojones to blame the fans for not supporting the team, even though they did all they could to destroy the team.
And now...Joe Johnson is gone, though that was a good thing. The Hawks brought in Danny Ferry to be the General Manager; a move that was praised in sports-media nationwide. Then they hired Mike Budenholzer to be the head coach. Budenholzer was the heir-apparent to Greg Popovich in San Antonio, so he has a great basketball pedigree. So what is his reward for finally getting a head coaching job? No Dwight Howard, no Chris Paul, and now Josh Smith, a staple of the Hawks franchise for the last few years, has left for Detroit, signing a 4-year deal worth $56 million.
If Atlanta actually wants to win, they're going to have to build through the draft and trades. No free agent is going to come here. The ownership group has burned every bridge to their fanbase. Atlanta has a history of being a bad sports town. To be fair, we are in the heart of college football country. But that doesn't mean the NBA can't make progress here. But it's going to be slow. This Hawks team won't win overnight. In fact, look for them to take a step or two back as a result of this off-season.
Meanwhile, the NBA is loving the fact that their big-market teams continue to get stronger. Miami, New York, Chicago, and now, Houston, are distancing themselves from the pack. You have some smaller markets doing okay (Oklahoma City, Indiana), but by and large the big-markets are the winners. Even when a move is made that will benefit a big market and a small market, the NBA steps in to ensure that the small market team doesn't win. Example? The NBA shut down a trade that would've sent Chris Paul from New Orleans to the Lakers. New Orleans ended up sending Paul to the Clippers, getting lesser return than they would've received from the Lakers.
The superstars of the league care more about banding together for championships than winning on their own. LeBron, D-Wade, and Chris Bosh came together in such a way, limiting Miami's options for other players, but getting them titles. Boston started the craze, bringing together Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. The Lakers last year had Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and Steve Nash. They nearly had Chris Paul.
All because the NBA prefers the name on the back of the jersey to the name on the front. They saw an opportunity to empower both Los Angeles teams, while limiting the return to a small market franchise. At the rate these "super-teams" are forming, we could theoretically cut the NBA down to six or eight franchises and the league would not lose any coverage.
Then again, I don't know much about the NBA. After all, I'm not a basketball fan...
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