Favoritism in NBA vs. other sports

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The_Believer
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Favoritism in NBA vs. other sports 

Post#1 » by The_Believer » Sat Mar 1, 2008 8:07 am

In the past few years, I have noticed an atrocious amount of favoritism towards teams with big market stars/those stars. For instance, in the 2001 ECF, I heard that the refs rigged the calls so that the league's most popular player (AI) would make the finals. The refs also let the Lakers get away with everything vs. the Kings, because they would draw ratings.

Furthermore, teams the Nuggets and Heat are always on National TV despite their disappointment because they have popular stars. Those same people also dominate the media attention, and the media glamorizes them to the extreme. For example, people always pick on Baron/Warriors for their bad shot selection and "stat stuffing." But they never pick on the Nuggets duo for their horrible defense and pretty much being only pure scorers, which is a much bigger weakness. Again, the media makes them look like God, so nobody notices. It seems tha ESPN and such only notice the big stars, and don't care much about anything else.

And as a result of this favoritism, the NBA's general popularity has gone down significantly. Other sports who don't use this marketing ploy are gaining popularity.

Is favoritism bigger in the NBA than elsewhere? Will they ever stop?
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Post#2 » by UNLVNugsFan » Sat Mar 1, 2008 8:24 am

First off, TV schedules are made before the season starts, so that would be a large reason why Miami and Denver are on national tv more often then their record would necessarily warrant. Second off, TV schedules are made with the idea of TV RATINGS, which means higher advertising dollars, which means more revenue for ESPN/TNT. That isn't favoritism, thats good business sense, and has been going on in EVERY sport for the past several decades. Hell, we saw where ratings went when San Antonio and Detroit played in the finals, why would they want to promote things like that season-round?

Also, as a side note, have you heard the way people talk about the Denver Nuggets? Sir Charles always disses them, and pretty much every analyst and announcer I have heard in the past couple of months have noted their flaws constantly, and note that they are an extremely flawed defensive team. Hell, Barry tonight made a point of saying how Golden State is pretty much guaranteed a spot, and Houston and Denver will be battling for the 8th because of Denver's inconsistencies.

As for the rigging of games, I have never heard the claims that the league rigged games for AI to make it to the finals (hell, based on all-star voting, I would assume they would have rigged Vince Carter to make it during that era, or made sure to rig the 2004 finals so that San Antonio and Detroit didn't make it), and although the Sacramento-LAL series was controversial, I have never heard of actual rigging.
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Post#3 » by The_Believer » Sat Mar 1, 2008 8:39 am

^^^ People always talk about AI and Melo as superstars, and they get a ton of media love. Do you ever hear people mention Baron-Monta-Jax as one of the best trios in the league? Jax and Baron as elite defenders? Monta as one of the best midrange shooters, drivers, fastbreak players, and young players? Baron as an elite player and great clutch player? The media always overlooks the Bay Area, and if you wanna talk about Charles dissing, he disses the Dubs like no other.
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Post#4 » by Vindicater » Sat Mar 1, 2008 8:56 am

The media overlooks the Bay area because untill last season they never mattered

what am I talking about... they still dont really matter
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Post#5 » by Illuminati » Sat Mar 1, 2008 9:00 am

Sir Charles is a proud married man don't insult him.
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Post#6 » by Monkeyfeng06 » Sat Mar 1, 2008 9:26 am

The_Believer wrote:^^^ People always talk about AI and Melo as superstars, and they get a ton of media love. Do you ever hear people mention Baron-Monta-Jax as one of the best trios in the league? Jax and Baron as elite defenders? Monta as one of the best midrange shooters, drivers, fastbreak players, and young players? Baron as an elite player and great clutch player? The media always overlooks the Bay Area, and if you wanna talk about Charles dissing, he disses the Dubs like no other.


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Re: Favoritism in NBA vs. other sports 

Post#7 » by Rox_Nix_Nox » Sat Mar 1, 2008 10:39 am

The_Believer wrote:In the past few years, I have noticed an atrocious amount of favoritism towards teams with big market stars/those stars. For instance, in the 2001 ECF, I heard that the refs rigged the calls so that the league's most popular player (AI) would make the finals. The refs also let the Lakers get away with everything vs. the Kings, because they would draw ratings.
Furthermore, teams the Nuggets and Heat are always on National TV despite their disappointment because they have popular stars. Those same people also dominate the media attention, and the media glamorizes them to the extreme. For example, people always pick on Baron/Warriors for their bad shot selection and "stat stuffing." But they never pick on the Nuggets duo for their horrible defense and pretty much being only pure scorers, which is a much bigger weakness. Again, the media makes them look like God, so nobody notices. It seems tha ESPN and such only notice the big stars, and don't care much about anything else.

And as a result of this favoritism, the NBA's general popularity has gone down significantly. Other sports who don't use this marketing ploy are gaining popularity.

Is favoritism bigger in the NBA than elsewhere? Will they ever stop?



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Post#8 » by pewing33ny » Sat Mar 1, 2008 3:28 pm

I heard that the refs rigged the calls so that the league's most popular player (AI) would make the finals


where did you hear this?

if they tried to rig games someone would have leaked it by now. i hate conspiracy theorists because they never have any proof and just want attention.

it looks worse in the NBA too because there are more fouls/calls than other sports and the game is so fast paced.

the nba puts hte major stars on more than other sports because the game is based around stars. their faces are more visible than football and the game is more exciting to watch than baseball. especially after the jordan era people want to have great players to look up to. it's just good business for them to give casual fans what they want. sucks for people who come to this board but we represent probably less than 1% of the NBA's audience.
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Post#9 » by NetsForce » Sat Mar 1, 2008 4:21 pm

The_Believer wrote:Do you ever hear people mention Baron-Monta-Jax as one of the best trios in the league? Jax and Baron as elite defenders? Monta as one of the best midrange shooters, drivers, fastbreak players, and young players? Baron as an elite player and great clutch player? The media always overlooks the Bay Area, and if you wanna talk about Charles dissing, he disses the Dubs like no other.


Oh... My... God... Wow... Let me fix that for you:

The_Believer wrote:Do you ever hear people mention Baron-Monta-Jax as one of the best trios in the league? Jax and Baron as elite CHUCKERS? Monta as one of the best midrange shooters, drivers, fastbreak players, and young players? Baron as an elite player and great clutch player? The media always overlooks the Bay Area, and if you wanna talk about Charles dissing, he disses the Dubs like no other.


Anyway, favoritism exists in other sports as well but in general there are just more calls made during the course of a NBA game so it's easier to nitpick / hate on the refs... Speaking of the refs it's also unique how the refs in a NBA game really feel like part of the game because of their proximity to the crowd and the players.
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Post#10 » by CupcakeNoFillin » Sat Mar 1, 2008 7:15 pm

Damn why do people think they're SOOOO cool when they call Baron and Jackson chuckers. That doesn't change the fact that they still win games. The most important stat is "wins/loss" anyways.

And The Believer, the Warriors do get love some times. I remember Reggie Miller saying that Monta Ellis will soon be on a higher level than Rip Hamilton when it comes to mid range shooting. Other than that no one cares about the Warriors because they assume them to be a team full of careless thugs. And of course you want to see "thugs" fail. That's why everyone is against us.

Lets not turn this into a Warriors thread though. The Believer might as well had changed the title to "Where's the love for Golden State?".
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Post#11 » by HarlemHeat37 » Sat Mar 1, 2008 7:16 pm

the NBA isn't rigged..there aren't any conspiracies..let's stop with this speculation..first it's for the big market teams to make it, then it's for the Spurs to make it..all these claims contradict each other from NBA fans in general..so much talk..until there is actual proof of anything going on in the NBA that is RIGGING GAMES(not point shaving, completely different), then let's stop talking about it..
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Post#12 » by CupcakeNoFillin » Sat Mar 1, 2008 7:17 pm

Yeah, there could definitely be a lot of favoritism in the NBA, but it most likely would never lead to rigged games. Rigging games is just going too far.
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Post#13 » by NapoleonII » Sat Mar 1, 2008 7:44 pm

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Post#14 » by HarlemHeat37 » Sat Mar 1, 2008 8:34 pm

I love the Spurs argument..

Stern sure loves a small market team that draws low ratings and most casual fans hate..****, their superstar is one of the greatest, but he's boring and doesn't have as large a fan base as many players inferior to him..he also loves screwing a fast-paced team that appeals more to the casual fan, in favor of the Spurs..

I guess Popovich must have walked in on Stern changing at the gym one time, and saw that he was a little short down there and took a picture..blackmail?..

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