Red Dog

Here's what it means:

NBA fans seemingly care more about 1 or 2 years from now than the season in play. All I hear about is where such and such player will be in 1 or 2 years. Nobody cares about the present season. And there is still 2 more months of regular season left? Really?

It's totally absurd. Great for the top players that they can bend over the owners (the one league they can do it though the true studs are underpaid relatively), but congregating is lame.

fumanstan

No, it was in response to what you meant by "Forum already knew that" to my previous post about March Madness. I already know you don't care for the NBA as you seem to enjoy reminding everyone

And no, your belief that NBA fans only care about the next couple years and not the present season is completely off base and pretty ridiculous, especially after a wild trade deadline. indeed.

That said, for fans of teams that are tanking this year or have no shot, I actually think its appealing that fans can look at what their teams are doing to plan for future seasons. To me, it's part of the fun that keeps the league more interesting almost year round compared to others. To each their own

DJariya

I don't understand why looking ahead is such a joke. It's the nature of the game for the NBA and it's business model. Teams eventually get old, players leave via free agency, injuries happen and talent dries up, so they have to take mediocre to low level talent on the court to at least have something out there. Even in the college ranks, there are some really bad years for talent making themselves available for the draft.

The 76ers were God awful franchise for nearly 5-6 years and chose to take a slow rebuilding process acquiring draft picks and getting players via free agency. And they've acquired players via trade. Now they're probably one of the elite teams in the East and are relatively young. They can probably be relevant for another decade or so.

DJariya

College basketball for most top conference schools is basically an NBA minor league for these 18 year Freshmen.

That Zion Williamson on Duke is dominating right now and will absolutely bail after 1 season for the NBA. He's probably going to be the #1 overall pick this summer.

Nick Danger

How about Serena Williams?

The Questyen

You think?

Red Dog

I completely understand looking ahead....from a team/franchise standpoint. Believe me, as an Orioles/Redskins fan, I want them to tank.

But it seems to me that the NBA and their broadcast partners is all about looking ahead. I've never seen a league that cares more about 1-2 years from now than the present season.

Red Dog

Laker fan. Got Lebron Nuff said.

If Superteams are what you are going for, then why play 82 games?

I would totally be into the NBA if they played a full round robin and a knockout playoff round of the 8 best. Fresh players, every fan gets to see the best once every 2 years.

Make it more like EPL or NFL.

82 games is nonsense and purely a money grab and we all know it. Same for NHL.

fumanstan

Neither of these have any correlation. But please, keep overusing that emoji

Yeah, back in the 60's when they created the schedule it was a huge money grab to support superteams in the NBA. Brilliant foresight!

Pharoh

Why is seeming inevitability worse than utter unpredictability? Particularly from a neutral standpoint?

Kurt D

Red Dog

Surprised you like the NBA way since you're a fan of Euro football. No playoffs except for UEFA and that's a short playoff.

JeffTheAlpaca

The AAF will not be a massive failure like everybody predicts

LurkerDan

I think the NBA has been doing this in part because of the dominance of the Warriors. There are very few teams that even have a small shot at beating the Warriors, so the focus for those teams and much of the league becomes the future.

Personally, I think the NBA is the best professional sport going right now and has been for quite some time, and I can't get enough of it.

fujishig

This is true of other sports too, just magnified in the NBA because of the dominance of the Warriors and the impact a single player can make on a team.

There are other sports where all there is to look forward to once you're midway through the season is the next first round pick. Baseball especially is pretty polarizing, near the trade deadline either you're all in for this year or you give up and get assets for the future.

JeffTheAlpaca

The NBA was more exciting during the MJ, Magic, Bird, and Barkley era

Bluelitespecial

Not an unpopular opinion if you ask me.

PhantomStranger

Personally, the NBA was best during the 1980s. You had evenly matched dynasties fighting it out for titles each year, with clear-cut inner circle HOFers on those teams.

I think anyone's opinion of the NBA is heavily colored by their feelings on the absolute best players at the top. Many people loved Jordan, so they will pick that era. Many love LeBron today, so they will go with this era.

For me, it's more about the style of play. The modern NBA has eliminated defense with rule changes, which isn't something I would have done.

Decker

Well, you know....That's not, like an opinion, man.

LurkerDan

I grew up as a basketball fan in the 80s. Was a HUGE Larry Bird and Celtics fan, and LOVED the rivalries with the Sixers and Lakers (and there was also the Bucks and the Hawks, back in those days). That said, I think the NBA is better now. There have always been the competitive balance issues, so the complaints I hear about the GSW don't really hold water. Throughout virtually all of the 80s, for ex, you knew it was going to be the Celtics or Lakers (and in the early part of the 80s, you knew it would be them or the Sixers).

I think the players are better now, I think the game is better now, even if my favorite player of all time is Bird and the Celtics of the 80s are my favorite team.

AaronHernandez

Funny I watch old games from the 80s and I feel like the rules benefitted Isoball players like Kobe, Harden and Melo and they would have thrived. Illegal defense rules mean't you couldn't scheme your d to stop Jordan,Drexler etc you could only help if they beat their initial defender and by then it's too late

davidlynchfan

Old NBA Era had players with more character and personalities for sure. Better nicknames too.

fumanstan

Not that I think I'll change anyone's minds, but my probably incorrect generalization that everyone is free to pick apart - I think most of the people that like to comment on how much better the NBA was in the 80's or 90's probably haven't watched a significant number of games in the last 5-10 years outside of an occasional playoffs/finals game and just go off whatever headlines and clips they see online, and are still basing their dislike largely on the post-Jordan wannabe era of players that ignored fundamentals for athleticism and when players started embracing a certain culture (urban, gangster, hip hop, however you want to call it for political correctness) that they didn't care for.

Don't get me wrong, I have complaints about the modern game and all but there's some beautiful basketball being played in the last decade for anyone that truly cares and watches how some of the top teams play the game.

PhantomStranger

I prefer a much more physical brand of baskeball. The NBA has basically taken all intimidation and brute strength out of the NBA. We've also seen the disappearance of good post play within the last ten years. The NBA has patterned the modern game after European basketball, where defense was always a secondary consideration and interior play was weak. Yes, the Warriors are fun to watch when the Splash brothers are raining three after three. It's a style of basketball that could only exist with the NBA modifying its rules.

I also think the NBA has tinkered with the size of the hoop and/or ball to increase outside shooting percentages, but that is another issue.

Obi-Wan Jabroni

I don't care for the modern NBA, but I think that more a product of living in the Detroit area than anything else