OT-The NBA is the Tabloid of Pro Sports

Post #1 » by **ICMTM** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 4:59 pm

Just a rant but doesn't it seem the NBA has more speculation about player movement than any other league? I mean football you don't hear much in the way of player movement. In baseball movement happens either at the deadline or in the winter. In the NBA it's all the time. I thought it was a product of being here (RealGM) but ESPN, and Yahoo are covering this as well. I logged on and I thought "what am I going to learn about Melo today?"

In any event with the coverage of LeBron and now Melo am I the only one annoyed?

RoyalCourtJestr · Post #2 » by **RoyalCourtJestr** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 5:41 pm

As someone who is in the field of Sports Journalism and hopes to someday be an NBA beat writer, I may have a scewed way of looking at it.

The NBA is more about the players because of the smaller team sizes. The NFL and MLB have much larger teams so it's harder for most to know all the players. The NBA isn't AS huge, so it's easier to care when we see "Derrick Favors may go to Denver", that sort of thing. While you have to be a big freaking star to make serious noise in the NFL with 60 player teams, in the NBA, it's easier to care when the quote on quote "best player" of that team is maybe being moved.

Secondly, it's what we want. Do we not, every trade deadline, hang on Amicks every vailed sentence? I know I do. I personally enjoy reading trade speculation, calling up my buddies in a big game of "what if".

What I don't like is when the player becomes MORE important than the team. LeBron, for example. Melo isn't doing so much himself as LeBron did, but he's getting up there. Favre is the best example I can think of where a combination of himself and the media push him higher than the team is. This is my hatred of SJ, but it's also just journalism in nature. Journalism now is all about readership, and readers will read "LeBron contemplates leaving Cleveland some of his used Gym Socks" over "Cavaliers hold first team practice".

Post #3 » by **ICMTM** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:24 pm

Thanks for the insight, and I agree to an extent.

I'll counter with this. Brady was a free agent. Peyton Manning can become a free agent. Cliff Lee will become a free agent. Carmelo Anthony, who can become a free agent has received more media coverage about his next move then ALL of them COMBINED!

RoyalCourtJestr · Post #4 » by **RoyalCourtJestr** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:37 pm

Brady, Manning would never have left their teams. Melo is actively known to be available because he hasn't agreed to the Nuggets deal and everyone is aware they are shopping him.

It DOES happen in the NFL/MLB, but not to the extent, I agree, because of the bigger teams.

Durant coulda been a FA this year but he quietly signed a max in all the chaos of the summer. There was low coverage for that as well, except for the praise he got for being the anti-LeBron.

Post #5 » by **ICMTM** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 6:56 pm

Lightning Strike wrote:Brady, Manning would never have left their teams. Melo is actively known to be available because he hasn't agreed to the Nuggets deal and everyone is aware they are shopping him.

It DOES happen in the NFL/MLB, but not to the extent, I agree, because of the bigger teams.

Durant coulda been a FA this year but he quietly signed a max in all the chaos of the summer. There was low coverage for that as well, except for the praise he got for being the anti-LeBron.

See that's what I mean. Peyton Manning has yet to sign an extension. In the sports world Peyton Manning is a more popular figure than Carmelo.

Marshawn Lynch is probably the guy I heard most in NFL trade rumors this year. People move in baseball all the time so it's not news. Even still sports is about star power. Roster size doesn't make as big of a deal as being a star.

Maybe its because one player in the NBA moving can (perception) dramatically change the entire league?

RoyalCourtJestr · Post #6 » by **RoyalCourtJestr** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:33 pm

I think it's more the chance that Manning will never actually leave the Colts. It would be like Kobe leaving the Lakers now - it just wouldn't make sense. No one talked about Kobe's extention really, - cause him leaving just wasn't possible.

I'd agree with the conception of one guy leaving changing the team, though.

Post #7 » by **ICMTM** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:49 pm

When Kobe was a free agent a few years back and he considered the Clips nobody took him seriously. Even still the possibilities of where he would go weren't posted everywhere all the time. With Carmelo WE KNOW he wants to go to NYC. I just don't see why so much coverage on a foregone conclusion. It's not like we don't know what he's (and Chris Paul for that matter) up to.

For the league that isn't, or really never has been, the most popular sports league its players have A LOT of power.

wiltchamberlain · Post #8 » by **wiltchamberlain** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 10:20 pm

Lightning Strike wrote:The NBA is more about the players because of the smaller team sizes. The NFL and MLB have much larger teams so it's harder for most to know all the players.

This is some pretty good insight. I've always thought that the smaller team sizes have always made the NBA a different culture. In the NFL or MLB if you take the single greatest player and put him on the worst team it probably wouldn't change a thing but if you take the best NBA player and put him on the worst NBA team that team is going to win a hell of a lot more games and could even make the playoffs.

ADoaN17 · Post #9 » by **ADoaN17** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 10:23 pm

Julius Peppers was the biggest NFL move in the offseason and it wasn't even a big deal. It seems like fans of the NBA get more attached to their players.

KiNgSbOi · Post #10 » by **KiNgSbOi** » Thu Oct 21, 2010 11:08 pm

So if the NBA is a tabloid, what is the NFL? Pepto-bismol? 0_o

Post #11 » by **KingInExile** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 2:08 am

I think the title of this thread could easily be "The USA is the Tabloid of The World".

It just seems like everything in this country gets over-hyped, over-sensationalized and over-analyzed. If it's not about the great questions of where Melo or LBJ could go, it's what's the latest political controversy to sensationalize, who's the latest celebrity to to get drunk and strip in public, or where was the latest example of a stupid criminal getting caught on camera while screwing up a liquor store robbery...all brought to you live with "Breaking News", in-depth analysis in HD. There's plenty of examples that the media over-hypes just about everything. The sad thing is that too many people in American society put up with that...or even DEMAND that type of coverage from the media.

So that's my rant.

LakeZebras · Post #12 » by **LakeZebras** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 2:40 am

The real reason is in the NBA - one player can make a huge difference compared to other sports. Basketball while its a team game, one player can dominate or take over. I think thats the biggest reason.