It’s hard-pressed for me to find anything less interesting on TV than the NBA Playoffs. I mean seriously. I haven’t turned on a single game this entire postseason. The only thing I know about the playoffs, at this point, is that the Thunder swept the Mavs and the Heat are up 3-1 on the Knickerbockers. Other than that, I’m clueless.
Being a Cleveland fan, I know what you’re all thinking. “He’s just another bitter Cleveland fan who can’t get over LeBron.” Sure I’m still bitter, I’ll be the first one to admit that, but why, this year, is my taste for the NBA so sour. Last season, I was all over the playoffs. I watched a lot of games, (Minus the Heat of course. I told you I’m still bitter.) and was still intrigued by the level of basketball in the playoffs. This year, however, the playoffs seem so incredibly boring to me.
Blake Griffin’s acrobatics, (are the Clippers still in the playoffs by the way?), cease to amaze me. Kevin Durant’s ridiculous scoring ability leaves not a trace. The Kobe System…just an advertisement now a days. I feel like basketball has become a lost sport, and I don’t think it’s simply because of LeBron.
Watching the NCAA Basketball Tournament this year, I saw the heart and soul that these guys poured out onto the court each and every game. They gave their everything each and every moment. Aaron Craft was literally diving all over the floor to give the Buckeyes a victory. Anthony Davis and Thomas Robinson swatted balls left and right. The magic of the tournament just seemed so real, so alive. That intensity isn’t touched by the NBA. Not even skimmed.
While watching the Cavaliers miserable stretch to end the season, tank you very much, I started to notice how little everyone cared. Guys were just playing to play. In the Cavs case, I could understand why. They need MKG, and they had no other way to get him. The other teams, however, I just couldn’t understand. Why did their guys look so unenthused to play a game that they “love”? It just seemed odd. It’s not that they weren’t trying, it’s just that to me, they lacked any sort of passion. They were just out there because they were getting paid to be out there. When I saw their lack of passion and pride to play the game, I lost my passion to watch.
The NBA is a diminishing league. There are so many things wrong with it, I don’t think the league will ever get back to the days of Jordan, Bird, Magic, and others, in terms of popularity. I think that is when the NBA hit it’s high point.
The thing about Jordan, Bird, and Magic that kept fans close was that they were normal people. Larry Bird, while tall, had the muscle tone of a normal human being. Outside of his innate ability to shoot the basketball, Larry Bird was a normal human being from Terri Haute, Indiana. Michael Jordan was a guy that everyone wanted to be like. “Be Like Mike.” They could dream about being like Michael Jordan. He was cut from his high school basketball team. He wasn’t particularly big, or strong, he was, again, a normal human being with outrageous athletic ability. They could work hard and dream of becoming like Mike.
Today, there is no “Be Like LeBron” campaign. LeBron is a freak of nature, and I think that is what turns people off. The stars of today’s game are freaks and seem super human. LeBron is 6’8, 270 pounds with the muscle tone of an NFL linebacker and the jumping ability of a track athlete. Dwight Howards is 7 feet tall and practically busts out of his uniform. These guys are human, but they appear to be superhuman, and that’s why the NBA has lost it’s appeal. People want to relate to people who are like them. No one is going to relate to LeBron. No one is going to relate to Dwight Howard. And if they do, they’ll be in the NBA and not in the general mass of NBA fans.
People wonder why Jeremy Lin was so popular. Lin is a normal size human being, with no incredible features, who dominated the NBA. That’s why fans loved him. Here he is, a Harvard graduate, who looks just like you and me, but can dominate these super-human athletes. He was a hero to the common man, because he is just that, a common man who worked incredibly hard to get to where he is today.
As sad as it may seem, it’s hard for me to get excited about anything going on in the NBA today. Maybe when the lottery comes around, I’ll be excited to see what happens in terms of the Cavs draft position, but until then I’ll be numb. Watching the Cavs, for me, used to be a basketball thing. I used to love to watch the game of basketball when the Cavs were playing. Now, it’s become a Cleveland pride thing. I only watch the Cavs because they are such a huge part of Cleveland and it’s lore. I would root for them just as hard, if not harder, if they were a professional hockey franchise. The sport of basketball means nothing in terms of the Cavs.
Between Dwight, LeBron, David Stern, and the rest of the NBA, the league has lost touch with it’s fan base. It’s not about the game anymore. It’s not about the fans anymore. It’s about the players. It’s about what the players want. It’s about their fame, their fortune, and their legacy. Forget the fans. The fans don’t mean anything to them. They want titles not just for the satisfaction of winning, but so they can be more famous, have more money, and leave a larger legacy.
I don’t think the NBA will ever return to it’s former state, and it will be sad to watch it go.