Kyle’s View

Maybe its just me, but the NBA doesn’t have the same feeling as it used to. The rivalries have faded and stars are becoming few and far between. It seems like the NBA season has come down to 3 teams and two players. All the sportscasters, writers, and broadcasters talk about a specific niche of NBA. The two main topics are Lakers vs Celtics and Lebron vs Kobe. The Cavs are so overrated i can’t put it into words. Lebron puts up amazing numbers and carries his team on a nightly basis but his supporting cast is the same as last year in which the were swept by the Celtics. They added Mo Williams who is a solid player and plays a important role but is not the sidekick Lebron needs to win the title. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is still decent but hes reaching the end of his career and cant contribute the way he used to. The Cavs also have to rely on Wally Szczerbiak and Daniel Gibson to hit big shots at key moments and i just dont see it.

The Lakers and Celtics rivalry is awesome and can create some new excitement for the NBA, but are we going to have to wait until June every year to watch them play for something meaningful. I feel like there is no reason to watch the 82 game season. Even with this Kobe and Paul Pierce are not young guys who can carry the NBA forever.

Do teams like Utah and Denver matter? Utah has a solid team that has a floor leader in Deron Williams who is vastly underrated. Denver acquired an Chauncey Billups for an past his prime AI which made the Nuggets the second best team in the western conference. But does there play mean anything? Does anyone really care what happens with these teams besides the people in their markets? Maybe being in Sacramento watching the Kings waffle through the season and make moves that make no sense has made me jaded but the NBA just doesn’t have the same allure it used to.

In addition are fans not getting everything they should be getting? Amare’ getting hurt all but eliminated the Suns from contention. Manu’ Ginobili being out for the season made the Spurs an above average team at best. Even if these teams are healthy, can they compete with the Lakers? That said are the Lakers even that good? I think Kobe is an amazing player and has some good peices around him if Andrew Bynum is healthy and Lamar Odom can produce. Maybe the problem is the talent level of the NBA isn’t at the levels of the past. Maybe the late 90′s and early 2000′s spoiled us. I remember growing up with great rivalries with Phoenix and Dallas, as well as Sacramento and the Lakers. The sound bites of Shaq saying Sacramento was a cow town or Mark Cuban running up and down the court in Phoenix after Dirk hits a big shot. The magnitude is the thing that seems to be lost in the new NBA.

The NBA has players to build around with stars like Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard, but the NBA don’t seem to take full advantage of their potential. These guys should be on TV all the time showcasing the future. Maybe the NBA is too watered down. What if the David Stern took two or four teams out of the NBA? This would make all the teams stronger, keep good but not great players in college for longer and make the brand of basketball more exciting to watch. It would be interesting to see how players would get re-dispersed. Maybe worst record gets first pick. Maybe the Kings then pick Danny Granger if Indiana were no longer a team. Would make teams much stronger and get players out of the NBA when they aren’t NBA caliber players.

Maybe i’m out of my mind and the upcoming NBA playoffs will remind me why i loved the NBA but the NBA does need to do something to improve its product or the end could be here sooner that most people think.