Help me explain to my 7 year old Kid why NBA rewards Losing with Draft Picks

[Doctor MJ]

Teams that lose are typically low in talent. The draft distributes talent to the teams that need it most.

But this is different from the values we teach our students

Values have nothing to do with it. These are businesses acting with acceptable effective monopoly through an organization that first used a ton of money to rip apart a superior basketball league (the NBL, in the '40s) and then incorporate a later competitor (the ABA).

[Capn'O]

Parents won't stop watching their children because another student has been getting straight A's for 3 years

speak for yourself. sometimes you have to know when to abandon ship

jesus...

[magicman1978]

Lets say you have two students. One has been given better resources and therefore is getting better grades. So you continue to reward them with more resources and that gives them even more of an advantage. How is the other kid ever going to catch up if you put him at a disadvantage? For example, kid A (Brooklyn) is getting much better grades this year because he has a laptop, calculator, etc. Kid B (Charlotte) is trying really hard but doesn't have a laptop, calculator, or any tools. Do you reward Brooklyn next year by giving him an even better laptop and giving Charlotte a calculator? or do you maybe at least give Charlotte a chance at getting a laptop?

[NO-KG-AI]

Can we link some “that child didn’t say that” memes please?


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[Metallikid]

He tells me this is against the value of rewarding good performance and punishing bad performance. I told him it for the parity of the league but he argued that there is no such thing as parity in the classroom. Those students that gets a E grade should not be receiving extra bonus merits just to pass the semester.

I would say the best way to explain it is that it is because the fortunes of a franchise can oftentimes be affected by things outside of the control of a team's FO, or coaching staff, or roster; such as injuries, off-the-court issues whether it be criminal or familial, free agents from your team leaving for personal reasons (i.e. Kawhi), etc. and so by nature it is not purely meritocratic. To balance the intrinsically chance/luck-oriented nature of an 82-game season, the playoffs, and free agency, it serves the NBA best to give teams the perform the worst the best odds at the highest picks.

So let's say the Bucks flame out the next two years even though they went all in with Jrue Holiday and Giannis demands a trade. The Bucks' record craters - it's not that the Bucks didn't try their best, but now they are terrible, so to balance the personal decisions of individual players the high picks are the compensatory system. The NBA is largely meritocratic but not entirely.

[kobe_vs_jordan]

I high draft pick isn't as much of an reward as a championship

[CodeNinja]

Tell your kid that draft picks are not rewards. They are resources.

Tell him not all kids in this classroom are treated same. More like only some kids are rich and can afford books, extra online classes etc. they are the ones acing the exams. Kids with less resources at disposal are not faring well in exams. So they are given better resources to make them better.

[Johnny Bball]

He tells me this is against the value of rewarding good performance and punishing bad performance. I told him it for the parity of the league but he argued that there is no such thing as parity in the classroom. Those students that gets a E grade should not be receiving extra bonus merits just to pass the semester.

“Your seven year old” isn’t busness partners with the other kids. Pretty **** simple really.

Y’all should be teaching your kids better lessons.

[Hobo4President]

A bad team being punished for being bad is a feedback loop which can cause them to be perpetually bad. The reward for being good is typically you'll get more money, fans and a chance at a title. Because of how the league is set-up it's in their best interest to have some way for bad teams to become good teams or get bargaining power so they can make improvements.

[bearadonisdna]

lesser tiered grade accumulators have more access to tutors and other benefits to increase parity

[JLiv]

Don’t know why the kid’s such a rugged individualist, it’s not like 7 year olds are graded on a vicious curve with their degree on the line lol.

The negative feedback loop of high draft picks to bad teams + other measures like the Stiepen rule is to protect bad teams from bad management and bad decisions.

[Michael Jordan]

In theory it would balance the league and lottery teams would eventually become playoff teams. But is that really the case?

Kings - 14 year playoff drought
Suns -10 year playoff drought
Knicks - 7 year playoff drought
Hornets - 4 year playoff drought
Bulls - 4 year playoff drought

Wolves - 1 playoff appearance in 15 years
Pistons - 2 playoff appearances in 11 years
Pelicans - 2 playoff appearances in 10 years
Magic - 2 playoff appearances in 8 years

Almost all these teams never won a playoff series in the past decade, and most of them don't look like they'll win a playoff series anytime soon - so the draft lottery is essentially broken.

[SlovenianDragon]

In theory it would balance the league and lottery teams would eventually become playoff teams. But is that really the case?

Kings - 14 year playoff drought
Suns -10 year playoff drought
Knicks - 7 year playoff drought
Hornets - 4 year playoff drought
Bulls - 4 year playoff drought

Wolves - 1 playoff appearance in 15 years
Pistons - 2 playoff appearances in 11 years
Pelicans - 2 playoff appearances in 10 years
Magic - 2 playoff appearances in 8 years

Almost all these teams never won a playoff series in the past decade, and most of them don't look like they'll win a playoff series anytime soon - so the draft lottery is essentially broken.

So the true msg here is that this guy needs to tell his kid that if you lose and are rewarded for losing you are still a loser.

[Dutchball97]

Yeah let's use good old free market capitalism and let the Lakers become the biggest superteam ever with all the talent in the league. Why not just have the Lakers buy all NBA teams? Why have 30 teams when 29 of them aren't number 1?

Some people man, crazy. Wonder when the red scare will be over for you poor Americans.

[Myth]

[LloydFree]

I don't know why this is such a difficult thing to explain to a 7 year old. I've been following the NBA since I was 8 years old and the order of the draft in reverse order of record, was never perplexing. People don't give kids enough credit for having the ability to grasp simple things.

[Seattlesun]

He tells me this is against the value of rewarding good performance and punishing bad performance. I told him it for the parity of the league but he argued that there is no such thing as parity in the classroom. Those students that gets a E grade should not be receiving extra bonus merits just to pass the semester.

You’d have to have had sex with a woman to have a 7 year old. And that’s pretty unlikely.

[dhsilv2]

He tells me this is against the value of rewarding good performance and punishing bad performance. I told him it for the parity of the league but he argued that there is no such thing as parity in the classroom. Those students that gets a E grade should not be receiving extra bonus merits just to pass the semester.

This is a business and not school. They're all working together (the teams) to make money. The basketball is just a product they all work together to sell. this is like helping others on your team do better so you succeed.

By 7 no kid should be thinking of teams are separate, they should get that it's one league and each team is a product. The poor kid needs better teachers. I also feel like i need to wash my hands, kids are gross.

[Alatan]

The NBA is essentially one entity that distributes its workforce in a way it deems will give them the most profit.

[brutalitops]

Teams that lose are typically low in talent. The draft distributes talent to the teams that need it most.

But this is different from the values we teach our students

someone didn't go to school