Actually, I think the current NBA is a byproduct of the Jordan era, not the other way around. The league was at its peak when Jordan was playing and Stern wanted to keep that going. He needed superstars on the level of Jordan, Bird, Magic, so he created them. He made them. Players are cultivated like a product now, not an employee. I watched this video on Magic Johnson about when he announced he had HIV. It was interesting to hear him talk about the game and how he would do anything to win. How winning was the most important thing in the world to him. I had read a book by Magic before, and one by Barkley, and one by Reggie Miller, where these guys talk about how winning was all that mattered to them. They didn't care about anything else. Do you think that's still prevalent? I think a lot of these guys don't even like basketball. They play because they can make money. They play because they can be stars, they don't care about the sport. It's not like Michael Jordan playing with a fever and willing his team to victory.
I think there's still tons of guys who play to win, for love of the game. And, I think there'll always be people who play because they can make a shit load of money doing it. Am sure there were enough guys playing back in the day because itpaid better, and gave them more notoriety than some other job. I think if all someone like, say, Lebron cared about was himself, his brand, and making money, he'd have gone to NY. I don't like the wway he went about trying to win, but I think it's tough to argue that he didn't go down to Miami primarily to team up and win.
No, I think that leads to basketball being popular, but it's all about marketing. It's all about how you push something. Stern was at the head of the rule changes, he was at the head of the marketing and the leadership of the referees. Example: Stern didn't like that the league was being known as a sport of thugs, so he instituted rules and worked to change the perception of the league. How is that any different than how he chose and marketed superstars? If you watch Euro ball or Olympic ball, you see that many of the "superstars" in the NBA are really not that good. I couldn't get over how Yao Ming wasn't shit in the Olympics for China. He was just like any other center. Not dominant AT ALL. What was different? The refs. There were no superstar calls. The FIBA rules and refs were different than the NBA and it really exposed some of the supposed stars of the NBA. The league decides to market someone, start giving them superstar calls, and that player becomes great. Another example: Blake Griffin. Yes, he's super athletic, but is he really that good? The guy was getting superstar calls right off the fucking bat. He was getting away with murder as a rookie. Oden didn't get those calls as a rookie. What's the difference? Why could Griffin go over the back on people, dunk on people, etc but Oden couldn't? Size of market. It's the only explanation. It was so bad with Griffin that Andre Miller got frustrated and took him out. That was so out of character for Miller. He's usually a very reserved and even keeled player, but he acted out because he was pissed off about the superstar calls.
Actually what LeBron did was very smart. He still gets the stardom, the wins, and forwarding his brand, but he has significantly less pressure on him because he's playing with Wade and Bosh. It's not like in Cleveland where he was THE man and everyone was counting on him to carry the team. Now he has two other stars to share the load. Remember when it first happened? Guys like Jordan, Bird, and Barkley were saying they would NEVER do what LeBron did. They wanted to play against the best, not with the best.
Oden couldn't get calls because he was stumbling all over himself and couldn't play defense without smacking someone. But on offense, with a much lower usage rate, (19-27), he shot 6.2 FTs per 36 to Blake's 8 in their rookie years. With a similar usage rate, it's likely Oden would shoot more. So how was he not getting the calls Blake got? As for Miller, he wasn't mad about superstar calls, he was made about personally getting shoved by Blake. So he shoved him back. And I guess got superstar treatment, because the refs didn't call THAT either.
If you believe that Oden was getting the same calls that Blake was/is getting, I don't know what to tell you.
Different calls, perhaps, but the same amount, if not way more for Oden, when you look at FTA per FGA. why did he get so many FTAs, compared to his FGAs and usage?
I am talking about fouls committed. Not fouls received. I'm talking about Blake Griffing being allowed to go over the back to get rebounds. Repeatedly.
Star players make a lot more impact in the NBA than in the NFL or MLB. Stern is not the only reason for lack of parity, it's just the nature of the game. I don't hate Stern, but I'm not really that big of a fan of his either. I think his handling of the Donaghy situation of the lack of openness with regards to the refs are his biggest detractors. But all in all, a good run for the game.
As I said, they absolutely make an impact, but I think the NBA makes their impact even greater with the rule changes over the years and the unfair treatment by the refs.
Brain cramp...... thinking about those early 80s Sixer teams that were my favorite team other then the Blazers.
