Minnesota Sports Forum

SameOldNudityDrew wrote:I not only agree with Lip and Grey, I think the notion that the only form of success that matters is championships is part of what's wrong with the game these days. Yes, that's the ultimate goal, but just look at some of the effects of what has definitely become a culture of "all or nothing" in the NBA in recent years.

1. Stars forcing their way off teams to get to teams where they think they can win it all. Miami is the biggest example of this, and Love is probably most close to home, but there are plenty of other examples. To some degree, I get this. It's nice to win. But it's gotten so out of hand its like the only loyalty players have anymore is to their own chances of winning it all. And it's not entirely their fault, fans (and notice how many more fans there are of players, versus fans of TEAMS there are lately?) and sportswriters so often tell good players, "you deserve to be on a contender, you deserve to win championships." And these players believe it because the idea that nothing else matters but rings, that everything else is failure has become so pervasive recently. So this "all or nothing" attitude is part of what's driving a more individual, cynical, selfish, entitled approach to free agency among players (*ahem* Love), particularly star players, that is driving talent away from teams where they used to stay and remain loyal and have a loyal fan base.

2. Tanking. That's right. Why does all of this tanking happen? Because teams aren't just happy to try to be good year in and year out and get a little better every year. When the idea that championships are the only things that matter takes hold, the logic of "if you're not a contender, blow it up and go for the lottery for several years" takes hold, and look what that's done to the league. It's pathetic. What's happening right now in Philadelphia right now is just sad. I get that there's a natural ebb and flow to a team's development, and sometimes it makes sense to let a veteran go because they don't necessarily fit where you're at as a team, but it's gone way beyond that in recent years. Because we've so overemphasized the importance of championships, it's like we've pervasively created a race to the bottom, as teams gut their rosters and pray for the #1 pick where they can hopefully get the next LeBron. It's a disservice to fans and to the league. It's also why you're seeing the same teams at the top in recent years, the rest of them decided if they can't win it all, they'd rather blow it up.

3. Roster gutting to create tons of cap space for free agents. This is what the Lakers and the Heat have just done, where they basically stop signing any long-term contracts except for their stars (who are now even getting shorter deals with opt out clauses so they can chase rings elsewhere if it doesn't work out), and just sign a bunch of ring-chasers and other vets to 1 year deals that come off the books so they can go for another big free agent the next offseason. If championships are all that matters, who needs to be consistently good with the same set of veteran players? No, just do whatever it takes to keep your 1 or 2 or 3 stars happy, give the short stick to every other vet out there with a one year contract, try to get another star next year, and fill in the roster as needed each year. This is a bummer because even if the team wins multiple championships, like Miami winning two, it's not even necessarily the same team because they bring in different guys. Other than Chalmers and Haslem, who else was on that Heat team with the big three all 4 years? That kind of turnover undermines the loyalty between teams and players, between fans and the team that make basketball great. And if more and more teams start doing it, it will hurt those "good but not great" players and boost crazy roster turnover year to year. The only consistency on some of these teams would be their stars, and everybody else turns over. What kind of a world is that?

To me, championships are the ultimate goal, but what's wrong with just winning and having a good season and being a threat in the playoffs? What's wrong with being consistently good year in and year out? What's wrong with being loyal to your team, loyal to your players, loyal to your city? Are we so obsessed with championships that we're going to overlook the accomplishments of players like Stockton and Malone and Barkley? Is the ultimate measure of how good a player is really the number of rings he has? (Adam Morrison is better than Stockton and Malone and Barkley then). It's time to tone down the "everything other than a championship is failure" attitude and recognize how it's been hurting the league.