After nearly a decade spent profiting off the drama, the transactional lust of trade rumors and free agency speculation, and so many other ancillary distractions that obfuscate from the actual product, the NBA was bound to face a reckoning.
At some point, the league was going to need to promote the actual game that attracted a loyal audience from the beginning. The game that made worthwhile fantasizing about prospective super teams because of how it would look… on the court. But based on the NBA’s recent proposal intended to spice up interest in what is perceived to be a drab, 82-game regular season – which includes toss-the-match-as-you-walk-away-from-the-gasoline-drenched-past alterations such as an in-season tournament involving all 30 teams and a postseason play-in tournament – the league would rather focus on the next gimmick or slight-of-hand trick to take eyes off the product.
And that’s a shame.
The league has an enviable abundance of…
