Image courtesy of the NBA.
A New (Great) Idea for the NBA
Unfortunately, especially this woebegone season, I am a fan of two teams who are doomed. The Orlando Magic and the New York Knickerbockers are two teams that are swimming in the bottom of the barrel of the Association. Both teams have struggled mightily this season with pretty much every game, every storyline, everything.
And, at the trade deadline, the Magic and the Knicks did nothing, famously failing to give fans a reason to keep watching and rooting. In the any sport, hope is the most valuable thing. Well, I have a surefire idea to keep hope alive. This is something you should share with your friends.
What Now What?
The major thing on basketball news site,s and publications like Bleacher Report, right now is draft predictions. Draft predictions! Already. I know we live in a future-forward NBA, but there is still half a season left!
If teams are thinking a year ahead, fans are either thinking beyond that or giving up, for good or ill. We should be thinking and believing that our team(s) is going to turn it around and save the year in fashion. Our mothers and fathers never thought about tanking. They were happy to leave the kids or the factory and just watch basketball.
However, the Internet, the rapid reporting of news, as well as the idea of tanking being a benefit is quickly diminishing fan hope and god forbid television ratings. Like I said, I have a way to fix that. Just keep reading and you will agree. Leave comments below.
Good Idea, Bad Subtitle, Lackluster Trade Deadline
The trade deadline always comes right after the All-Star break, just after the halfway mark of the season, and while everyone invested (every major fan, casual fan, pseudo-fan…NBA player coach, scout, recruiter, reporter…and people in France and China) spends every waking moment nearing the trade deadline locked in and scouring news sources, waiting for a big move. Besides Boogie, this year was a let down. If you really think about it, most of those people, especially and most importantly real fans, are waiting for a new source of hope.
Even a terrible trade gives new life to a franchise, like the Knicks or the Magic. Fans, myself included, latch onto every movie, every third-round draft pick, and desperately, sometimes painfully, want to believe that this move or that move will turn the franchise around. We want hope. It keeps us coming back, watching and rooting.
Here’s My Idea
One week before the end of the regular season, teams are given a hard 24 hours to make whatever moves they choose. In that time period, they can trade if they want, but they don’t have to. It should also include exemptions to some of the Collective Bargaining Agreement rules. Let Chris Paul go to the Lakers.
Owners will hate this (at first), but it will provide so many benefits and/or surprises. Playoff-bound teams will have the chance to bolster their lineups, while lowly teams like the Knicks or the Magic will give fans a last-ditch effort to keep hope alive.
Think about it. We will call it NBA Trade Day and it will be immensely good for the NBA, its ratings, all kinds of news, including ESPN, and so many more avenues. Throwback jerseys don’t do shit; this is where it’s at. Trade Day. Share this post with your dedicated NBA fan friends and see what they say.
#NBATradeDay
Tanking is terrible for the long run of the League. For fans, it is all about hope. Fans of bad teams want hope, especially. Even fans of good teams want hope. Next generation hope.
No hope means no TV ratings, and that translates to jersey sales and much more. Still waters run deep. Dead teams go long. The trade deadline being just after the All-Star halfway point still gives fans a long way to go and a big reason to give up and start watching Westworld or some shit.
NBA fans need hope, something, anything to hang on to. This goes especially for fans of teams like the Magic, the Knicks, and the 76ers. Adam Silver, it is time to think outside the box and give the fans some new hope.
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