| November 13, 2003 NBA stands for Not Basketball Anymore --Have you noticed the continual degradation of the NBA lately? It’s been going on for a couple years now, mostly since Jordan retired after that pristine game winning shot against the Jazz (err, I mean should’ve retired finally). Anyways, it seems the public is only concerned about Lebron’s latest clothing contract or Iverson’s new line of footwear. They might as well rename the Cleveland Cavaliers the Cleveland Lebron James Show We Only Care About The Money He Is Providing Us’ers. Maybe the Denver Nuggets should be renamed the Denver Have You Bought The Carmello Anthony Bobble Head Dolls Yet?’ers. Aside from my witty raillery (yes it’s witty!), the National Basketball Association has become a joke plain and simple. Let’s not even consider how the “rivalry” between the great teams of the 80’s and 90’s have all but disappeared (Lakers/Celtics, Lakers/Sixers, Pistons/Knicks, Pacers/Bulls, etc.) And don’t even try to say Sacramento and L.A. have a rivalry going. Paaa-lease. People are more concerned about Mike Bibby’s new tattoo and Kobe’s court date then they are Stojakovic’s jump shot. People would rather read about Iverson’s corn rows and Garnett’s kicks then they would Duncan’s near flawless technique and Jason Kidd’s selfless play. The NBA has become a complete superficial stage for above average height athletic men to display style over substance. Ratings for the NBA Draft, a hotspot for immature boys to strut they’re newness, are higher than opening day! What’s going on here?! What happened to Bird vs. Magic, Jordan vs. Bird, Ewing vs. Lambeer? What happened to the stuff that made the NBA exciting to watch like a professional sporting event should be, not like how a fashion should be. People honestly care more about LeBron’s stats then if the Cavs won or not. They care more about tatoos than free-throw percentage. They care more about shoe contracts than steals. It’s a complete basketball fashion show! It’s not basketball anymore really. I mean yeah, they still play it, but they don’t really play it. I don’t know. Sure other professional sports are guilty of the same “superficialization” in a sense, but not to the degree the NBA is. Not even close. People still care more about the whole team in the NFL more than individual players. NHLer’s could care less who is leading in points; they just want their name on the Stanley Cup. It’s a disease the NBA has caught and that I’m afraid will only further degrade the league’s integrity. Players like Tim Duncan and Shane Battier are the exception now instead of the norm. It sad, the NBA just isn’t fun anymore to watch. It’s more of a burden. It would suck to be Lebron James. I fI were him I’d take my bonus and fake a career ending injury. Maybe people would forget about you after a couple years and you could live a normal life. |