Stern to Remove All NBA Videos Outside of NBA.Com

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As debilitating as these actions have been towards the player-fan dynamic, Stern's latest decree may be the worst one. As reported at the end of last week's "The Biz" report, the NBA has decided to take all NBA-related video content off of the Internet. Highlights and game clips will now only be available in NBA.com's video library.

By far the biggest blow in Stern's destruction of the relationship between fans and the game, Stern has effectively removed an opportunity for fans to interact with basketball. These are the same fans that buy the tickets, jerseys, shoes, and posters, but they're being shut out on the 'net because David Stern's backside needed some extra cushioning?

Fans across the world watch short clips that others edit to make a highlight reel, often with music in the background and flashy graphics that these fans/video editors spend their free time putting together. Not only are they simply being fans and spending time on a hobby, but these people are damn good at what they do.

In fact, they're better than most arena video editors. They're better than NBATV's nightly Top Ten.

Don't believe me? Before it's too late and YouTube is forced to take down the video, check out "Birth of a New Age: History of Flight" over at YouTube. The mix was compiled by four amateur video makers and chronicles the slam dunk and its rise in popularity. It's an eight minute, power-packed reason as to why David Stern immediately needs to reconsider this decision.

After watching the video, you may have realized the sheer amount of work put into making something like this come together, which is precisely why that single mix has been viewed nearly 28,000 times in the last year. No, the creators weren't paid a dime for their hard work - they did it because they love the game of basketball.

At the same time, the work of these fans directly leads to profit for the NBA anyway. After watching these mixes, some of which are about specific players or teams, fans typically get energized, grow in their fandom and then mobilize themselves to generate income for the league with ticket and merchandise sales. That marketing is provided - again - for FREE.

The video mixes these fans have made aren't full games. They aren't NBA DVDs ripped and distributed on the Internet. The footage these editors use is primarily never going to be seen again. If someone made a Mickael Pietrus mix so his fans in France could get a glimpse of how he's doing this year, the mix would include the most fundamental of plays. For example, a head fake might be included in the mix .. would that make ESPN's Top Ten? How about NBA.com's?

Of course not. Most of the time, special things don't happen (that's what makes them special when they do happen). These mixes take the obscure, mundane parts of the NBA game and spawn thrill from them.

Moreover, in a time when the NBA is looking to go global, what better way to engender excitement than using the Internet and its viral videos? How can we already forget the impact new media (Internet blogs and video sites) had on Election Day just a week ago?

Sure, an event may happen once but the new media outlets constantly remind people of that event, ensuring that whatever emotion they felt at that very moment was captured, bottled, and released upon seeing the event again. Don't you think George Allen would've liked to find any way he could to get the now infamous "macaca" video off the web? How many times have Keith Olbermann's anti-Bush "Special Comments" been replayed (and, by the way, his ratings have gone up quite a bit lately, in no small part attributed to the Internet viewers who hadn't seen his work before)?

David Stern is already taking emotion out of the game with this zero tolerance nonsense; now he's starting to take emotion away from the fans, too. Just like the game won't end because players can't scream and yell, it won't end because videos won't be on the 'Net anymore. Surely, fans will continue to flock to games and buy jerseys.

But the fans that looked up to these players and emulated their games just lost about half of the footage they had saved on the laptops they take to the blacktop to practice their moves. All the while, from a strictly marketing standpoint, the NBA is taking away a medium through which they reached the international community.

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot just before the marathon .. a head-scratcher indeed.

Fans in general are losing another channel to enjoy, consume, and live the game that they love.

Now, whenever someone screams "I LIVE FOR THIS," they'll be doing so only on NBA.com with inferior videos and less content.

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Wow. I suggest you read the whole article..........

 

s**t, dude, that sucks. When the rule take effect?

 

And yet another reason to hate Stern.

Stuff like this is starting to turn me off about the NBA in General.

 

I better start saving my mixes then.....F Stern.

 

Stern has been the NBA's GM my entire life. . but man, he just makes me hate him. A lot of fan base might go down the toilet with this, especially if NBA.com is not free or is terribly slow. I don't even visit NBA.com, and I only do if someone links an article to it.

 

This is really infuriating me. Just like the article said, Stern is drawing fans farther away from the game by doing it. The dumb part about it is the fact none of this makes sense. What benefits does this have?

If players want to wear arm bands, tights, etc. for fashion, why stop them? How is it downgrading the league?

This part really got to me:

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jermaine O'Neal was fined $5000 for wearing an arm band around his elbow, the latest victim of zero tolerance because of his fashion faux pas.</div>

 

Its free, for now. They did the same thing with mlb radio, and then made people pay for it.

 

Damn, see, I didn't have a major problem with Stern...but NOW, this is really taking it too far. Now I'm starting to wonder if he's actually gone insane.

 

Who wants to help me with the hit on Stern? *Dream thinks about erasing post, because David Stern might hunt him down, take his job, money, and future wife and place them in the NBA.COM museum for display, as a reason not to mess with the "Big D"*

 

Stern needs to get run out. He WAS doing a great job, without him the league wouldn't be here, now I guess he is just trying to bring down the fan base to how it was in the early 80's. He is making making moves that are pure stupidity, honestly how does he think the rules he is making lately good for the league.

 

Damn it. So no videos on Youtube?

 

Man, that article wasn't kidding. That was like the best mixtape I've ever seen:

Invalid Video Link

 

Its simply time for a new Comish. F*** David Stern. He was great for the past but his mind cant get around the new age. Why would you ban video? THATS FREE COMERCIALS FOR THE NBA AND ITS PLAYERS. Sorry for thr caps. But im mad. I love the mixes on youtube.

 

Stern's done some great things for the league, increasing its global popularity. I didnt mind the dress code, but I thought the new ball was stupid. None of the players had a problem with the old one, and if its not broken, dont fix it. This new rule is bull sh* t though. Just plain retarted.

 

stern is so crazy, what will this acheive? nothing, its just another thing he can do because he feels like being a dictator and a prick. stern is on a power trip and someone better get him out of the job.

 

Hmmmmm... would be good if the NBA's website was actually able to support their videos, instead of the them buffering every 5 seconds or running slowly.

Time for David Stern to go me says.

 

If anyone finds a petition or comes up with somekinda way to try to stop him from doing this, I'm down for it. What a stupid f-in rule. What a stupid f-in asshole.

 

Made by yours truely.