NBA making it harder

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By GARY SHELTON

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 27, 2001

I meant to watch the game. Honestly, I did.

For once, the NBA seemed to have something to offer. Shaquille O'Neal was going to play against his old team, the Magic, and it was going to be fun. Who knew? Maybe Shaq was going to bring a job application and hand it to Doc Rivers, just in case.

So I settled onto the couch, and I turned on the game, and there was Darrell Armstrong, bringing the ball up court.

Ah, I thought. I'll come back to the game in just a second. But first, let's run through the old remote control and see what else is on.

So, it's two days later. And what channel was that game on?

That's the thing with the NBA these days. The remote control never seems to find its way back. Every day, every game, the NBA seems to slip a little in prestige. Five minutes ago, it seems, it was the hottest game in the world. Now, it has become so dull, you'd swear Vince McMahon was calling the shots.

I don't know if you saw the item last week, but Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal had an interesting statistic. For the first time in more than a decade, the NHL is drawing more fans than the NBA. If that doesn't worry David Stern, perhaps this should: Jack Nicholson is one of them.

Okay, okay. I made that last part up. But the point is this: The NBA, the boom sport of the 90's, is losing luster. The television ratings are down 17 percent. There are empty seats in the arena. Except for days in which he is trading Juwan Howard, even Michael Jordan doesn't seem that interested anymore. If people continue to ignore the NBA, they're going to change the name of the sport to "men's tennis."

So what has happened to NBA?

And is there anyone left who cares?

There are those who will tell you this is Jordan's fault, and darn him for getting old. For years, Jordan was the NBA. This was inevitable, they will tell you. Didn't the Huns lose a few fans when Atilla retired? There is some truth to that. The NBA still misses Jordan. When Julius Erving retired, there were Magic Johnson and Larry Bird to take his place. When Johnson and Bird retired, there was Jordan.

There are those who will tell you that we are merely waiting for the next generation to show off its greatness. That, too, is partially correct.

There are those who will tell you it is all about tattoos and hip-hop and cornrows. Those are the people who will harrumph and say they are being turned off by athletes they can't relate to. That one strikes me as bunk. There have always been weird players with weird hair and weird opinions (Bill Walton comes to mind). It's hard to believe America is just now discovering them.

Let's be honest. It is harder to watch the NBA these days. And it isn't because of what we're seeing. It's because of what we aren't.

Passion.

Professionalism.

Respect for the game.

Greatness.

These were the components of the NBA boom, the reason most of us started watching, the reason this was the league in which you wanted to own a franchise. These were the virtues that defined Jordan and Bird and Johnson. You watched them play, and it never mattered one whit how much money they made or how many movies they had been in, because when the ball was bouncing, all that mattered was the game. They honored the game by their play, and because of it, it honored them.

How many players can you say that about now? Look around. On the league's pre-eminent team, the Lakers, Shaq and Kobe Bryant seem to care more about their petty squabbles than repeating as champions. It is legend, of course, that Jordan didn't always care for all of his teammates; but if you could help him win, that was enough. Why isn't it enough for O'Neal and Bryant?

These days, we have players who will blow off practice because they have a good tee time, for goodness' sake. We have the Denver Nuggets boycotting practice. The Nuggets. We have Gary Payton firing coaches and Latrell Sprewell choking them and Shawn Kemp, one assumes, eating them. Allen Iverson has a microphone and Penny Hardaway has a gun and Olden Polynice has a badge. We have B-level stars acting like immortals, and journeymen acting like stars, and an owner (Mark Cuban) acting like one of the stooges.

You want a quote that defines the NBA? "We have guys with egos who have gotten in the way. They don't care about anyone but themselves." No, that wasn't Phil Jackson talking. It was Randy Wittman. Coach of the Cavaliers.

Look at an NBA roster these days. Who are these guys? The answer: Well, that guy was a freshman at Rhode Island last year, and this guy played high school ball in California. And so it goes. That, too, is part of your problem.

Today, kids don't stay in college long enough to become a name brand product. Not only that, they don't stay long enough to learn how to play the game. Instead, they take up space on an NBA roster as they attempt to learn the game before it devours them. And the game is less for it. True, underclassmen have been turning pro for a very long time. But it used to be only the cream of the crop. Now, it's everyone who has ever hit a free throw.

Meanwhile, the game withers. Charles Oakley suggests that 60 percent of the league smokes marijuana. Karl Malone suggests that too many players care only about their endorsements.

If you are commissioner, that is your problem. You have a great game, still. You have great athletes, still.

Once the athletes seem to care enough about the game, the rest of us will pay attention.

Meanwhile, there is something on another channel.

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