by Ronald Millsaps

Created on: October 14, 2009   Last Updated: October 15, 2009

Clean As a Whistle?

If you listened to NBA commissioner David Stern, you likely would hear that the NBA is stronger than ever before, more visible to the rest of the world, perhaps stronger than ever before monetarily, and more tangible due to the excess of cable stations, facebook interactions, the rest of the internet, etc.. In reality, the NBA is extremely boring, overall. The game has many credibility issues, and the overall product is simply underachieved and leaves a lot to be desired.

Contrary to another writer's comment, the league's rule changes are bad, and no, contrary again, the verdict here is not based upon personal perspective. (Truth is absolute and objective, not relative or subjective.) In 1999, a few months after Michael Jordan's retirement, the league knew its ambassador was gone and was frustrated by the dismal product and all the embarrassing final scores-which literally were the same as halftime scores from the 1980s, so it changed the rules and made scoring easier for offensive players, an attempt to make the game more video-game like. Jordan later would blast the move, by the way, and referred to how the players had an obligation to respect the game and practice and that it was wrong for the league to try to make the game easier. (If the NBA's mistake here sounds familiar, think about how our "educational" system hinders real students and rewards apathy and mediocrity from typical students and does not inspire achievement and instead asks said real students to slow down for those who indeed are apathetic or cannot speak the language.)

The Lakers' fast break from the 1980s is gone, as is the Celtics' impeccable half-court offense, as is the Pistons' rebounding and tenacious defense, as is the Hawks' stylistic combination of the speed, power, and finesse shown by all of the above, and now complacency runs rampantly all over the court. There is nothing wrong with players earning multi-millions (notice how people complain about athletes' salaries but say nothing at all against an Oprah Winfrey earning $100 million-for her propaganda, no less?), but there is everything wrong with the common decision to cash one's check and not develop one's God-given talent. The league would be much better if individuals took pride in their respective crafts and worked to refine them.

Magic Johnson referred to this very topic when he returned to the Lakers in 1995. He spoke about how, in his day, players arrived for practice on time and would criticize teammates

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next Page >>