I love NBA basketball. I grew up on the classiness of the Blazers in the early '90s. During the few games that weren't televised in the days before the Internet, my little brother and I hunkered around the kitchen radio to catch scratchy snippets of Bill Schonely's play-by-play. The Blazers were the NBA version of the Oakland A's: a small-market team with a fairly low payroll that always flamed out in the playoffs.
Now, of course, the Rose City boasts the West Coast's version of the Knicks. I think that if there were a Mount Rushmore for well-meaning NBA owners that end up screwing their teams, James Dolan, Paul Allen, and Mark Cuban would be locks for a statue. That aside, though, the league itself has never been better; not in the glory days of Jordan, and not during the Bird/Magic rivalry.
The NBA has a new generation of superstars with extraordinary marketability. Dwayne Wade, aside from being an NBA Finals MVP and one of People's 50 Most Beautiful People, is a devout Christian who doesn't drink or smoke. The man has a tattoo of his grandma on one arm and Jesus on the other, for crying out loud! LeBron James is already following in Michael Jordan's footsteps by crafting a carefully constructed public persona designed to appeal to the widest range of people.
David Stern has the unenviable task of promoting a league predominantly populated by young, black men from urban backgrounds to an older, suburban, white audience. I hear NBA players classified as "thugs" with disturbing frequency (more so than players in other major pro sports), and while I feel that there's more than a little racism in that characterization, players like Wade and James defy it and will help put fans back in the seats.
Admittedly the late 1990s was not a good time for the NBA; plodding post offenses and hacking, grabbing defenses were the norm. (The primary reason I hate Pat Riley, by the way, is the role his Heat played in establishing this style of play and therefore making the NBA virtually unwatchable for about five years. That and he looks like the Devil in corporeal form. Back to the column).
But the entire landscape of the league changed when Stern, genius that he is, cracked down on hand-checking. Voil? ! Quick players started attacking the basket again because they weren't getting mugged on the perimeter, generating dunks, free throw attempts, or kick-outs to teammates for uncontested threes. Five years ago, just four teams averaged more than 98 points per game; last year, 12 teams did. No team this century has averaged more points per game than the hyperkinetic Suns did last year, at over 108.
The most common criticisms lodged against pro basketball are that the players can't shoot and everyone is selfish, to which I respond, "Have you watched an entire NBA game recently?" If you get to a shoot-around two hours before tip-off and watch these guys warm up, the guards and forwards knock down everything. It's not unusual to watch a bench scrub like Dan Dickau sink 15 or 16 straight threes. Misses in the games are more frequently a product of the insane athleticism of NBA defenders and complex defensive schemes that are designed to remove opposing players from their offensive comfort zones than an inability of the players to shoot.
To allegations of selfishness, I reply that the best teams are the most unselfish ones. It is not a coincidence that the Pistons, Spurs, and Heat have won the last three titles; all three boasted a veteran core with role players willing to accept their limited parts. Watch the Mavericks or the Suns in the West, or the Wizards or the Raptors out East, and try to tell me that those teams play selfish basketball. Toronto is scouring free agency and international leagues to find players that can play like Phoenix does, and so are the Sonics - success breeds imitation, so the freewheeling, selfless style pioneered by Steve Nash and his compatriots will continue to spread throughout the NBA.
A lot has changed from the Blazers of my childhood. The franchise showed Bill Schonely the door with a distinct lack of grace (it's called "karma," management, and we suck now because you threw a franchise icon under the bus because he criticized you guys - thanks); and the playoffs, once a lock, are laughably far away. But you have to stick around through the bad times to appreciate the good. I love this game. Bring on tip-off.
-Matthew Mertens is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major.
