NBA “News” ?

The NBA in-season tournament for the NBA Cup is in the books.  The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder last night to win the cup; Giannis Antetokounmpo was voted the MVP of the tournament.  And don’t you feel better now that you know that?

And that is not the only inane news from the NBA this morning.  Commissioner Adam Silver announced yet another “new format” for the NBA All-Star Game.  The simple fact that the game has required “reinvention” several times over the past decade or so ought to indicate to any “critical thinker” that the exhibition itself is the problem.  But the Commish continues to tinker around the edges to make the game anything more than “not unpalatable” to a TV audience.

The fundamental problem with the game is simple:

• The players do not care about it; they do not play hard, and it is obvious to anyone watching it.
• The players cannot be “incentivized” to care about it; they are rich enough.

Just to give you an example, here are some stats from last year’s NBA All-Star Game:

• East 211   West 186
• The two teams combined to attempt 168 three-point shots (approximately one attempt per 17 seconds of game time)
• The two teams combined to commit a total of 3 personal fouls in the game.

And now, Adam Silver has another idea to inject interest into this muck and mire.  The solution is to expand the event thereby diluting whatever marginal interest there might be.  Here’s the deal:

• There will be a one-night tournament involving four teams and three games.
• Instead of 48-minute regulation NBA games, these All-Star tournament games will be decided on the basis of which team posts 40 points first.  [Aside:  At least there won’t be another game with 200+ points by one team to endure.]
• Three of the four teams will consist of 8 NBA players selected for the All-Star team.
• The fourth team will be the winning team from the “Rising Stars Game” which will continue to exist, and which will pit NBA rookies against second-year NBA players.

Fans will vote for NBA All-Stars and coaches will fill out the 24-players needed for the three All-Star teams in the tournament.  The individual teams will be selected/drafted by NBA studio analysts, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.  Candace Parker will serve as the “GM” of the fourth team of either rookies or second-year players.

You can stand back and assess this new thinking in several ways:

1. This is bold, new thinking about the game demonstrating that the NBA is committed to finding a way to make its All-Star Game into something fans want to see.
2. This is another example of the NBA grasping at straws to save this annual event from further embarrassment.
3. Why is this interesting?  I permanently lost interest in the NBA All-Star Game about 20 years ago.

There are a couple other ways to react to this news which are less polite:

1. You can put lipstick on a pig – – but it is still a pig.
2. You can polish a turd – – but the shine doesn’t last long.

Moving on …  There was another “announcement” recently in the sports world that seems to have flown under the radar.  In 2028, one of the new sports in the Summer Olympics will be Flag Football.  The NFL has used Flag Football for its Pro Bowl Game; the new format is not great, but it is better than what the Pro Bowl had devolved into with little to no contact in the game.  The announcement that drew little attention said that the NFL and the NFLPA and the Olympic organizers are “working on the logistics” to enable NFL players to participate.  Is that a “good thing” or not?

Finally, the fundamental problem with the NBA All-Star Game and the Pro Bowl is the lack of any defense played by the teams.  John Madden had a great observation about defense in football that will serve as today’s closing remark:

“If you see a defense team with dirt and mud on their backs, they’ve had a bad day.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………