Biggest Problem Facing the League?

pipfan · Post #1 » by **pipfan** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:16 pm

In general, the NBA is in good shape. Revenue is increasing, lots of young stars and expansion should help the overall product (in the long run). The talent level is higher than ever.

But, nothing is ever perfect. What do you think the biggest problem facing the league is right now?

For me it's how WAY too many stars miss RS games for "rest" and injuries seem higher than ever. I NEVER remember any comments about fear of MJ/Stockton/Malone/Hakeem or any other stars being tired for the playoffs, and needing a bunch of games off. This year we had Zion, Simmons, Irving (special case), Lillard, LBJ, AD, Klay, KD, Butler, Murray, CP3, Beal and many others miss 25+ games.

Maybe my memory is faulty, I just don't remember so many stars not playing 75+ games. Did any star player appear in 82 this year? I think the league needs to fix this somehow, to make the RS matter again

AbeVigodaLive · Post #2 » by **AbeVigodaLive** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:20 pm

For me... I strongly dislike how drama and speculation has taken over so many of the narratives and seem to be more popular than the actual games.

But that's the thing. The TMZ-esque stuff is happening because so many other people dig it immensely.

So I'm an irrelevant minority on this one. I love basketball enough to keep tuning in despite my frustrations. And the NBA and people who talk about and promote the NBA know this. So they win this round.

holdenwait · Post #3 » by **holdenwait** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:24 pm

home teams wearing away jerseys and vice versa has to be up there for me lol

but really refs

TravisScott55 · Post #4 » by **TravisScott55** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:24 pm

Refs have too much power over the outcome of the game.

Mogspan · Post #5 » by **Mogspan** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:25 pm

Players forcing trades

Roger Murdock · Post #6 » by **Roger Murdock** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:27 pm

You put your own editorials in the poll options…

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Yummy delicious Vanilla or poopy chocolate?

shakes0 · Post #7 » by **shakes0** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:30 pm

I was never one to blame refs for everything, but after spending the year watching the way the refs call games for the entire league vs how they make calls regarding Trae I'm picking that option without even reading the rest.

CharityStripe34 · Post #8 » by **CharityStripe34** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:36 pm

Off-court, TMZ drama being covered as if it's more important than the actual product. The NBA loves the coverage but I feel it hurts the product. It creates this (unfair) stigma that the basketball itself is crappy, and even people thinking NCAA March Madness is "better basketball" which is ridiculous. The media is mostly to blame because they'll put out segments wondering "Why people don't watch RS?" and then follow that with 72 hours of non-stop segments about "What are the Lakers and LeBron doing today for lunch?" It's blatant hypocrisy and if I were in the Association I'd bitch to the networks.

You could sort of merge the above sentiment with the "load management" era of the star players sitting out 15-20% of the games, which I always think is absolutely childish. The NBA has stretched the schedule to where there are fewer b2b games than ever before. Chartered flights, world-class physical fitness and treatment from the teams, etc., there's no excuse for the best players to not want to play as often as possible. The networks will always dangle the "load management" as an excuse for why the regular season doesn't matter and for why they cover off-court drama more than actual on-court product.

International stars actually help the NBA a lot. Other than, I think, the UEFA Champion's League isn't the NBA in the Top 3 for most watched leagues around the world? I also have never heard any American hoops fan in recent memory complain about too many foreign players. Pretty much everyone respects and/or enjoys guys like Gianni, Luka, Jokic, Embiid, etc.

C_Money · Post #9 » by **C_Money** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:37 pm

The refs.

But a huge pet peeve of mine is when teams don’t wear their normal colours. Like the Orlando Magic with those ugly orange jerseys for example. The Magic are supposed to be blue!

wade44 · Post #10 » by **wade44** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:31 pm

3 point shooting

meekrab · Post #11 » by **meekrab** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:48 pm

HD television has exposed how crappy the refs are, Silver should lobby the TV networks to go back to broadcasting in 480p. In the 90s you had to take their word for it that fouls happened because the whole court was only 15 pixels on your tv.

Slim Charlez · Post #12 » by **Slim Charlez** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:50 pm

The season is too long making RS games largely meaningless.

vital_signs · Post #13 » by **vital_signs** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:09 pm

I went with load management, I've gotten screwed by this in the past and it makes me hesistant to spend good money on tickets moving forward. I didn't drop ~150 to watch g leaguers vs nba players.

KembaWalker · Post #14 » by **KembaWalker** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:20 pm

lack of defense
our "DPOY" just got cooked for 39pts on 20 shots and probably will again tonight
give these guys some tools to play defense so it actually matters

Big J · Post #15 » by **Big J** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:22 pm

Stars not playing in meaningless regular season games is only a problem for people who actually go to the games. Most people watch these games on TV and that's where all of the money is coming from, so it's not really a priority for the league to fix that. Plus the more these guys rest the less likely they are to suffer an injury that could put them out for the year.

Maybe the bigger issue is that the regular season is becoming more meaningless and they need to reduce the amount of games or figure out a way to make them matter more.

kenwood3333 · Post #16 » by **kenwood3333** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:23 pm

Excessive player empowerment.

pipfan · Post #17 » by **pipfan** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:26 pm

Big J wrote:Stars not playing in meaningless regular season games is only a problem for people who actually go to the games. Most people watch these games on TV and that's where all of the money is coming from, so it's not really a priority for the league to fix that. Plus the more these guys rest the less likely they are to suffer an injury that could put them out for the year.

Maybe the bigger issue is that the regular season is becoming more meaningless and they need to reduce the amount of games or figure out a way to make them matter more.

I understand Big J-but I wonder how this wasn't an issue for most of the history of the league. Stars usually played 75+ games

Honestly, who was the best player who played 82 games this year? I know Covid was a special case, but next year will any top 30 player appear in 82 games?

DonaldSanders · Post #18 » by **DonaldSanders** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:27 pm

Definitely the refs, please give me back the first 6 weeks of the season.

KembaWalker wrote:lack of defense
our "DPOY" just got cooked for 39pts on 20 shots and probably will again tonight
give these guys some tools to play defense so it actually matters

It's still not too late to delete or edit your post, you're telling on yourself right here.

letskissbro · Post #19 » by **letskissbro** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:30 pm

1. The officiating. The way that the calls are artificially inflating stars' numbers makes the game feel inauthentic. There doesn't need to be 40+ players who are a threat to drop 50 on any given night to make the league interesting. Numbers don't feel meaningful anymore and at this rate past players are going to be lost in history. I'd much rather return to the '06-'16 era where there was a handful of stars who were a cut above the rest and you really had to be like an all-time great player to be breaking records and doing things that had never been done before. The new rules felt like a return to form but after seeing how many players were effected by the changes they've doubled down on the soft calls. Which is frankly pathetic. I see it as Silver fearing repercussions as far as having less players to market and lost endorsement revenue goes.

2. The media and the way they are actively degrading the product and ruining the fan culture with the way they cover the league. NBA media is **** awful. You got 90s players and fans in the media trashing and hyper-analyzing players of this era to delegitimize them and uplift their own. You got TMZ-like sensationalism off the court. You got very little levelheaded analysis of games and practically 0 effort given toward educating newer fans on strategy. I don't know why the league validates these clowns by giving them award votes. And the way that reporters constantly disrespect players is rubbing off on the fans. They've been getting more and more bold the last few seasons. At this rate if there's another Malice at the Palace it will probably be justified.

KembaWalker · Post #20 » by **KembaWalker** » Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:31 pm

DonaldSanders wrote:Definitely the refs, please give me back the first 6 weeks of the season.

KembaWalker wrote:lack of defense
our "DPOY" just got cooked for 39pts on 20 shots and probably will again tonight
give these guys some tools to play defense so it actually matters

It's still not too late to delete or edit your post, you're telling on yourself right here.

?

NBA's current biggest problem?