Alright, so the NBA is an obvious disaster. I honestly don’t care what they will say in terms of revenue and popularity but the truth is the product is fading, and fading ridiculously fast. If the NBA didn’t have the Mickey Mouse marketing of ESPN and instead was stuck with NBA TV and/or some other network it would have been obliterated by the competition. This is an ugly secret that it being withheld by all those that air NBA games.
At least half the NBA is not even trying this season so far. Whether they are flopping, tanking, or just relaxing until the playoffs begin, the entertainment value has severely diminished and is arguably the worst since…well….I don’t actually remember. The bottom three teams in the East are currently collectively on a 34-game losing streak. Not making this up. We see teams like the Miami Heat just calmly coast through the season and lose ridiculous games because they are fully aware that they can make the playoffs regardless.
There is no drama in the playoff seeding in the East. The Cavaliers are 26-42, but still in playoff range. The Phoenix Suns have a better record than the third seed in the East---and might miss the playoffs because of its existence in the West. The Lakers, Jazz, Celtics, Magic, Bucks, 76ers, Kings, and Hornets are in full tank mode. Ridiculous tank mode. Yet the prices have not dropped. Hockey is selling out more than basketball this season.
Not making this up.
So, how do we solve this problem? How do we improve the brand of basketball and potentially bring it back to the 90s? How do we stop the tanking from continuing? Well, it’s time to punish the tankers in a certain way that will prevent any franchise from attempting the same ridiculousness. It will get ugly, and it will involve the D-League and the four bottom teams.
It involves demotion.
It involves potentially losing the ability to play in the main NBA league.
Yes. It will get ugly.
For starters, every team has a shot. Every single team minus the bottom four teams has a shot at earning the #1 seed. Of course, teams ranked #17-#26 will have the much better chance, but even playoff teams have their opportunity at the #1 slot. This way missing out on the playoffs doesn’t provide much of an advantage at the lottery, leading to teams not dropping on their effort. Is it honestly bad news that the champion can land a #1 seed? The NBA has more casual fans than any other league, and secretly thrives better with super teams like the 80s Lakers/Celtics, 90s Bulls, 2000s Lakers, and the current Miami Heat. But at the same time it gives lower-ranked playoff teams (which yearly have a ridiculously tough uphill battle) a chance to get the necessary bump to take on the typical top seeds like the Heat, Spurs, and Thunder.
Now, about those bottom four teams. Regardless of conference (because it’s unfair that a Western Conference team loses the draft pick when it can still boast a better record than half the bottom dwellers of the East) the four worst teams in the NBA lose their chance at a pick unless they win in a March Madness-style tournament. Not only do they have to compete in a tournament to potentially gain a pick, but they need to survive to at least remain in the NBA.
That’s right, the D-League has a chance to play spoiler and upgrade one of their smaller teams into the NBA and allow their small town/city to see professional franchises for at least one season. My proposal is to run the D-League season in the same pace and same time as the regular NBA season, and then the top 8 teams in the D-League will compete in a tournament with the bottom 4 NBA teams. The 4 remaining teams left in the tournament will be in the NBA next season, and the winner of said tournament gets the #27 and #28 seed. The runner-up wins the #29 and the #30 seed.
This NBA Hunger Games Tournament would be done in an NFL one-and-done format with the 4 NBA teams getting a bye and taking on the remaining D-League teams that survive the Wild Card beginning. All 12 of these teams will play in a neutral arena, like a Madison Square Garden or Amway Center. These games will be broadcast on the off days of the actual NBA playoffs so basketball fans can have access to more basketball without increasing the playoff schedule.
This tournament would not only give hope to the smaller cities and smaller franchises, but it would threaten the elimination of the larger NBA franchises and would pretty much eliminate the concept of losing on purpose. There is more talent than ever out there amongst all the sports because of the widespread exposure around the world and increasing scouting in other nations. Look at how tight Major League Baseball has become. The NBA technically has a broader spectrum than all the other professional sports because of its nice stranglehold in the China/Europe/Africa markets---no excuses anymore. The 76ers have a good enough squad to not lose 22 in a row. The potential demotion to the D-League and the widening of the lottery chances should be more than enough leverage to convince all teams to aim for the playoffs and aim for a successful season.
The D-League itself should also grow so that way high school stars can skip the nonsense of the NCAA and enter a job that pays and allows you to play the sport you love without the stupid restrictions of college. The D-League would be perfect for the washouts, burnouts, and has-beens to gain second wind and potentially wreck some havoc and earn some revenge against the league that gave up on him. It would make for awesome, awesome storylines. Can you imagine the Bakersfield Jam potentially eliminating the Utah Jazz and entering the next NBA season? And with the shuffle, it would alter divisions and would create even more havoc. Nothing scares an owner more than losing money, and trust me tanking won't look so attractive when your upcoming schedule involves playing home games against teams from Maine, Omaha, Reno, and Idaho.
I personally can see an NBA that will run mildly like the soccer leagues in Europe: win, or at least be decent or get demoted, simple as that. Tanking needs to go, as soon as possible. There is enough talent for all NBA squads to at least gain some sort of relevance at one point in a three-year span. At least provide some ripples in the NBA community. But with tanking remaining to be legal, and ignored by the higher-ups, it will remain rampant, and will spoil the professionalism of the league altogether.
So the solution is simple: expand the chances to include nearly every team, throw in a win-or-be-demoted tournament for the bottom feeders, and expand the D-League to give a chance to basketball players that have found their path and don’t want the college hassle. We need to shake up the NBA to improve the product. Potential demotion would definitely help. Disagree with this idea all you want, but something is certain:
The NBA sucks and needs to change.
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