[atmosx]

In my opinion, the real problem with the NBA is that we no longer get the marquee matchups in the Finals that we used to during the 90s and 00s, mainly because the season is too long. An 82-game grind isn’t sustainable - it practically guarantees that stars like Giannis, Luka, or Jokic (or their key teammates) will get injured to the playoffs or not at all.

The fact that we’ve never seen Embiid vs. Giannis in the ECF, and that we’ll likely never get Giannis vs. Jokic, the two best players during the 2020s, in the NBA Finals says everything you need to know and it's a bummer.

Aside from 2021, I can’t remember another truly competitive finals where both teams had a real shot at winning. Maybe Boston wasn’t expected to fall so hard against Golden State, but matchups like DEN vs. MIA, BOS vs. DAL, or LAL vs. MIA felt lopsided—one team stacked with talent, the other never really standing a chance.

At this point, injuries, not players or teams, are deciding who moves forward.

[myvoiceismypass]

> At this point, injuries, not players or teams, are deciding who moves forward.

Football is kinda like this at this point too. Some fraction of the top QBs are going to go down each year, and it feels like a limp to the finish.

That being said, somehow Wilt Chamberlain once played a season in which he only missed 8 and a half minutes total in the entire season, including OT. Amazing. Times have changed but that will never happen again now.

[matsemann]

Soccer is slowly getting there. You play for your club in the series, the cup, some europa cup, now also the world club cup, then there's matches with your national team, world cup etc. They are now even contemplating having the world cup more often.

Having more games is an quick way to make more money, but in the long run it waters down the product.

[thakoppno]

> Wilt Chamberlain averaged more than 48 minutes a game during the 1961-62 NBA season, where he played an average of 48.5 minutes per game; this is considered one of the most remarkable feats in NBA history.

[HDThoreaun]

The real problem is the amount of ads and game breaks. Everyone knows basketball is about the fourth quarter so the league has backloaded ads. Now it routinely takes 20-30 minutes to get through the last 6 minutes of a game. Completely breaks the flow of the best part of the show. Second problem is that with the play in 2/3 of the teams make the post season so there is little incentive to try for a top seed anymore.

[darkerside]

This is an interesting point. All the breaks also make it so that players get less tired from a cardio standpoint, are able to further exhaust their muscles, and leads to more injury.

[tuna74]

I agree with the breaks, but there is a lot of incentive to make the guaranteed playoff seeding. You might only have a one game chance to make it into the playoffs otherwise.

[Spooky23]

It's weird because almost all of the levels below the NBA are better games than the NBA. Nobody really goes out of their way to follow AAA baseball teams, but college basketball and even some high schools are great games.

The pet theory is that the NBA is a RNG for gambling now the game isn't really the game. TV is near death, so gambling is the only source of revenue that can possibly replace the big TV deal.

[flycaliguy]

My theory is that it’s only a matter of years before the Saudi’s launch a league. It’ll scoop up a large swath of international players including NBA superstars. Jokić becomes very famous and wealthy.

[starspangled]

This theory of yours in which Jokic is yet to become very famous and wealthy, what alternative universe is it set in?

[flycaliguy]

This is why I don’t comment on the internet anymore. You exist in the alternative reality in which every back and forth is a polarized ridiculous showdown.

Jokic is not famous outside of basketball. The Saudi’s would make him so wealthy he’d seem poor today by comparison.

[antoniojtorres]

I agree with your point and response. This activity of being players overs to new leagues run by Saudi or adjacent countries has been huge in almost every major sport. Some with much more success than others.

[bdangubic]

TV is definitely not near death - geeeeez

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-signs-new-tv-deal-det...

[trustinmenowpls]

The theory that NBA is all about gambling is very old. My dad mentioned as something that people were talking about when he was as kid in the 60s

[kaonwarb]

On season length: the NBA moved to an 82-game season in 1967.

[BoiledCabbage]

I think a big reason we don't have competitive finals is generally not having a harder salary cap and allowing max for contracts. If a player really is that good they should take up 50% of the cap and to balance it out have terrible other players.

Anything else allows stacking value above cost and leading to team imbalances.

[darkerside]

You still get that, players take less to win.

[bluedevil2k]

The real problem is the players don’t give a sh*t about the fans any more. You need no better example of that than the All star game tomorrow. In the 90’s it was an amazing, competitive game between the best players in the league. Now…the players can’t even be bothered to jog up and down the court. Load management: players claim their bodies are delicate and can’t play too many games. Why would I want to buy tickets to a game or watch on TV if there’s a good chance the stars aren’t even playing. Guys the 90’s played every game. Players now sign a 5 year contract and the next day ask for a trade. Look at Kevin Durant - great player, but has forced his way out of 3 teams and it’s about to be a 4th. Too much guaranteed money means too little incentive. If the players don’t care about us, why should we care about them?

[toast0]

They've gotta change up the all star format then. NHL didn't do all star stuff this year; instead they're running a pseduo-national teams tournament with NHL players, and the four teams are all top players playing really hard. I don't know if there's enough non-US players in the NBA to do the same thing, but it's an idea.

[tclancy]

The 90s All Star games were 160-150 affairs and had all sorts of sideshows. And players should absolutely maximize wealth which includes protecting their health. And there has never been a time when every person played all out, that’s just nostalgia creeping up on you.

[tuna74]

Durant has only requested a trade once. He completed all his other contracts.

[bdangubic]

80's and 90's also played 82 games... the fact that today's players are soft and whiny is nba's fault

[darkerside]

The game is so much faster in terms of pace, and in terms of players being bigger and faster. That's the real reason for injury caution.

[prawn]

I think the difference is that teams are more cautious because they don't want a season disrupted by a major injury. Zion the other day said that the Pelicans were the limiting factor in his sitting back-to-backs. Players frequently come back on minutes restrictions (Kawhi previously, Exum currently).