With the start of a new NBA season, the internet is abuzz with the typical stories. Over the next couple of days, I’ll preview what the NBA fan can expect from his/her favorite sportswriter.
The first kind of article I’ll look at is the one that you’re most likely to find if you do a search of ‘NBA’ on Google News.
1. “I hate the NBA” – this is the story you’re most likely to see. It is published every single year, mainly in October, April and June–they key months for sportswriters to let their readers know how much they hate The Association. Here is an example of an ‘I hate the NBA’ story:
It’s October, which means its time to ignore the NBA again. The meaningless 82-game season starts tonight, only about a month after Indiana Pacer player Stephen Jackson was charged with a felony stemming from an incident outside of a nightclub which involved Jackson shooting a gun in the air. Since then, NBA commissioner David Stern has actually had to tell his players to leave their guns at home, which is a statement to how out of control the league is. Jackson is just one of many NBA players to have committed or have been charged with a felony. The league, which has made money pandering to hip-hop, thug America, has finally faced backlash in recent years, as ratings have plummeted to pathetic depths. Of course, mediocre play from players who don’t understand the fundamentals or respect the game doesn’t help; aside from the Phoenix Suns, most NBA teams spend night after night shooting bricks, arguing with referees, and bobbing their heads to the violent, misoginistic hip hop themes that now assuault fans’ ears at arenas.
You see, none of that is necessarily untrue. That’s a key for an ‘I hate the NBA’ story. Everything has to be true, just overblown and filled with lots of key omissions. For instance, the fact that the NBA doesn’t necessarily have more felons than the NFL, or more gun owners than ‘salt of the earth’ leagues like MLB and NASCAR. That’s a nice, glaring omission. By leaving that out, it makes the league seem a lot worse than it actually is. Another glaring omission: ratings, sans NFL, are down across the board. The recently completed World Series averaged a 10.1 rating, the lowest ever (though still higher than the 8.5, 8.2 and 6.5 average ratings for the NBA Finals in 06, 05 and 03). The NBA’s ratings, which, with the exception of 98, were never as high as World Series ratings, have declined at virtually the same percentage as that of Major League Baseball’s. As far as mediocre play, it always helps to use the Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks or Philadelphia 76ers as examples. Remember, judge the whole league by its worst teams.
It’s easy to say that players don’t know fundamentals or respect the game. This is an intangible; it can’t be judged. Nobody knows for sure if the players do respect the game. Fundamentals are a little more easy to judge, but none of the league’s critics are interested when Tim Duncan is dominating the NBA Finals (which he did in 99, 03 and 05, three of the lowest rated years in NBA Finals history). And the last crack, at hip hop, is a favorite of the Mushnicks and the Gary Thornes of the world. It’s just there for show.
You know, it’s a good thing David Stern doesn’t make decisions for his league based on ‘I hate the NBA’ columns. Or else we might end up with dress codes, referees given blank checks to eject players who look at them wrong and armbands being banned for no reason.
Later, we examine the ‘I love the NBA, please don’t hate me, I’m still one of you’ columns.
