I’m old enough to remember when the NBA was great. Notice the clever emphasis on the fans. Unfortunately, load management has made the NBA regular season suck.
Video surfaced this week of a kid at a Miami Heat game holding a sign saying he traveled to see Jimmy Butler play. The problem is that Butler didn’t play. The heat and the butler the young man did wellbut what about everyone else at the game who was there to watch Jimmy Butler play?
Along with multiple examples from past seasons, the NBA has a problem. The kids are constantly shown to be upset that they went to a game and a player they paid for didn’t play.
Not a good look for the NBA
Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat looks on during the game against the Atlanta Hawks on January 16, 2023 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
(Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)
The NBA is continually making headlines for all the wrong reasons, and I’m not even talking about outrageous fashion or China deals. The product on the floor is worrisome.
When the champion Warriors made their only appearance in Cleveland this year, the story was about Golden State players who didn’t adapt. Unfortunately, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins (he was actually injured) didn’t adjust.
The shocking development was that the Warriors won the game, but still hurt the sport.
Sadly, fans who wanted to boo a roster that Cleveland played in the Finals four straight years between 2015 and 2018 didn’t get the chance. At one time this was marketed as the biggest rivalry in the NBA. Now the players don’t even dress up? As a result, fans are disconnected from the league.
Fix the product. Put the fan first. I am a die-hard fan and the NBA regular season has turned me off.
Really, I could be the biggest NBA fan you know. If you’ve read this article this far, I assume you’re also a fan of the NBA. I have seen all the franchises live and I get League Pass every year. I play more fantasy basketball than fantasy football and watch the NBA betting lines every day. I go to the games in person. In fact, my wife and I even go to Vegas for Summer League every year.
Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors looks on from the bench during the second quarter of a game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on December 20, 2022 in New York City.
(Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
I am involved in this sport as a fan and even I can’t take it anymore and I completely understand why fans walk away.
The NBA is hurting itself
Regardless, I am an authority on this subject and the issue with the product needs to be addressed. Players being left out due to load management are detrimental to:
Fantasy Basketball: People aren’t as excited to invest their time in fantasy sports if their players don’t sit down.
Match: When people lose bets because players sit down, people stop betting, and when people stop betting, they stop caring.
Live events: It’s hard to justify spending money on the NBA experience if players don’t play. If you don’t care, why should I?
Patty Mills #8 and Ben Simmons #10 of the Brooklyn Nets celebrate teammate Kyrie Irving’s three-point shot while on the bench in the first half against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center on March 10, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(Elsa/Getty Images)
Ratings: Who wants to spend their time looking at backups?
Simple changes to start fixing the NBA
The NBA should stop toying with the idea of a midseason tournament and focus on fixing the product. And the solutions are easy.
- First, delete all consecutive games. On Thursday, the Denver Nuggets played in Milwaukee after playing in New Orleans on Wednesday. Unsurprisingly, many of Denver’s players were left out. In a game that featured the last two back-to-back MVPs, does the league have one of the teams play on back-to-back days? Why? Self-inflicted programming error.
- Second, reduce the season to 72 games. Owners won’t want to give up 5 home games each and give away money, but it’s necessary to do so.
- Just as important, getting rid of the play-in tournament for playoff teams. When 10 teams have a chance to make the playoffs instead of eight, it devalues winning in the regular season.
It’s really that simple as a starting point and the league needs to step in.
NBA coaches aren’t worried about the regular season because their job is to win in the playoffs.
NBA players aren’t worried about the regular season because that check is cashed anyway.
The league must take action to get back to being Fantastic again, an easy start is putting the fan first.