Don’t forget, basketball is Bennie’s favorite sport. He likes the way they dribble up and down the court.
My love for the NBA started when I was a wee lad in the windy city. I pretended to be Michael Jordan in my driveway countless times growing up. Now that I am thinking about it, last summer I definitely had an awesome dribble session in my driveway where I channeled my inner Jordan. I am 34.
My dreams of making the NBA were crushed when I was about thirteen years old. My father signed me up for a camp with other potential college basketball prospects. Let’s just say, your boy got his butt whooped. It was not a pretty sight.
I had an amazing time and played with future and current NBA players. The difference between these players and myself was insurmountable. My love for the game will never die. But during that fateful week, I realized that being a power forward for the Chicago Bulls was not in the picture.
Enough about me, lets focus on the state of basketball as a whole.
I truly believe that todays professional basketball players are as talented and more athletic than ever before. However, the product that is being put forth is not necessarily the greatest.
The NBA’s 82 game regular season has long been a point of contention amongst basketball enthusiasts. The season is just too damn long. As I am writing this, it is currently the NBA All Star break. I honestly feel that we could end the regular season right now and be no worse off for it.
Few things are tougher to watch than NBA basketball in the month of March. The good teams are doing their best to get to the playoffs as healthy as possible. They rest their best players constantly in order to decrease the chances of potential injures.
The bad teams on the other hand, are trying to lose as many games as possible to improve their draft position. They also rest their best players hoping to lose. It is a terrible situation all around.
I truly believe that we could get rid of over a month of the NBA’s season. The league would be better for it. Less is more from a marketing perspective. A huge reason that the NFL is the most popular league in America, is that there are so few games each year. Every single game in the NFL feels like appointment television. A regular season NBA game on the other hand, who gives a shit? If you miss one, you still have eighty-one more chances to catch another game.
The right number of games for the league would be between sixty to seventy games. That is more than enough time for teams to prove that they are worthy of qualifying for the NBA playoffs.
The number two issue hampering the league, is the long term affects of anyalytics. The Golden State Warriors of the 2010’s broke the game of basketball. Shout out to the James Harden Rockets of the same time period. They did not have the same level of championship success as the Warriors did, but they won a lot of games playing the same style.
Who would have thought that it would have taken the league so long to realize that three points are worth more than two? Maybe, we should get really, really good at shooting threes? Also, lets shoot as many three pointers as possible!
The success of the Warriors has led to every other team in the NBA playing the exact same style of basketball. There is a feeling of sameness in every single game that I watch. It is sadly a little boring.
I have heard creative solutions on how to fix this. By far my favorite solution is to have every team draw their own three-point line. In some arenas, shots from thirty feet will be worth three points. In others, you have to shoot from beyond forty feet. Some teams who are not good at threes may decide to not have a three-point line all together. It would force teams to adapt and play different styles of basketball in different games. I honestly think it would be amazing for the game as a whole.
At the end of the day, the game of basketball is being played at the highest level in human history. Going to a game in person is still one of my favorite activities. I just worry about what the league will look like ten years from now. Every single product, especially entertainment products such as the NBA, are subject to the product lifecycle. I am very concerned that the NBA peaked in the 90’s with the Jordan Bulls. That would mean that we are on the downslope right now.
Help us, Victor Wembanyama. You are our only hope.
I am planning to see Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs play the Pistons next week. I honestly cannot wait.
A bientot!
Bennie's Blasts 
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