Tuesday, December 20, 2011

A Few of My Favorite Things: NBA Basketball

At some point during the darkest hour of the NBA lockout, when the owners had made their ultimatum and the players were disbanding their union, I grew truly despondent. Why couldn't the NBA have been locked out when the Knicks were terrible, when our greatest glimmer of hope was stealing Maciej Lampe in the second round, or Lee Nailon's prolific scoring, or hoping Randolph Morris might be good. It was just my luck as a sports fan that as the Knicks were regaining their credibility, after years of horrible basketball, the sport would skip a season. But as they say it's always darkest before the dawn, and at the 11th hour the owners and players struck a deal, and NBA basketball was back. If anything, fans seem more excited because of the lockout, with the void illustrating what they were missing.

This year, instead of beginning on Halloween, the NBA returns on Christmas Day. The NBA has turned itself into a veritable Christmas gift, just as families gather to watch the NFL on Thanksgiving, there is a marquee slate of games to watch on Christmas. Fans are whipped into a frenzy, besides the Knicks being good, the Los Angeles Clippers are also ascendant. Along with Chicago, Miami, and the Los Angeles Lakers, their success means that the biggest NBA markets are all expected to be title contenders. Also, there's a glut of dynamic young players. All these factors combined to create, perhaps the most hyped season of basketball in recent memory.

However, all is not well in the NBA. Small market owners, worried about growing debts, and less competitive balance, almost caused the season to be missed. Additionally, in a strange and complex scandal, the NBA which owns the franchise in New Orleans, vetoed a deal that would send Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, at the behest of small market owners. These are heady times for the NBA, as it searches for a way to maintain profitability in the face of changing technological and societal factors, and it remains to be seen how the NBA navigates these troubled waters. Still, 5 days away from the first NBA basketball of the year, these games feel like a Christmas miracle.

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