Pass the ball...hello? Pass the ball!...Brick 

Pass the ball...hello? Pass the ball!...Brick

Hodaka Kajita for SBS

Continuing with last week's column about Kobe Bryant and his image, I'd like to discuss the overall image of the NBA and how this reflects declining popularity and what determines this decline.

Note: Because the NBA is the most accessible in terms of seeing the player, the fan/player relationship is more intimate than any other professional sport. The court is small and there are only 10 players at one time. At a game, you can often hear conversations on the court. This effect magnifies the game and therefore player image is more significant compared to baseball or football. In a way, it is unfair to NBA players because there are a lot of things they can't get away with that their baseball or football counterparts can like talk trash or argue with a referee. But rules are rules whether it is game or social; it is the way a sport is presented and perceived in the public sphere that determines a player's action as right or wrong.

The most obvious and problematic issue with the NBA is that the players are their biggest fans. The most talented and gifted players turn out to be the most selfish and are engrossed with their own image. Part of the blame should go to the media who magnify their every action on and off the court but most of the blame should go to the players who present themselves as privileged individuals who believe it's their God-given right to be do whatever they want.

It's also the owners who feed this greed with millions. Without causing a stir here, but many of these players come from poverty stricken environments and when they are presented with a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract with an added signing bonus that is beyond most people's life time savings, they feel as if they've made it. And financially, this is true. But it's how a player rationalizes money and image that determine his self-righteousness. Unfortunately, there are too many cases where money interferes with rationality. Because NBA players are "privileged" they feel as if they can get away with anything like not showing up to practice or breaking the law.

No one wants to watch a one-man show, where the show doesn't just end on the court but off the court as well. How often did we see an NBA player's face in the news because he smoked marijuana or was involved in a domestic dispute? One too many; if the fans can't trust their favorite player to conduct himself accordingly, how does the NBA compensate?

The NBA has not directly solved this problem except for giving suspensions and fines, which seem a bit like child's play. The NBA has addressed a different issue in hopes of camouflaging player transgressions. In other words, they want to make the game so appealing that nothing else will matter. Luckily, the game is so bad right now that there are many things to improve on and last season David Stern and company made a big step in addressing the lack of defense by allowing teams to play zone defense.

The only problem is that while this will enable teams to play more effective defense, it completely contradicts players' inability to score. In 2003, the NBA averaged a meager .442 shooting percentage and averaged 95 points a game. Compare this to the day when keeping teams at 100 points was considered good defense.

Poor shooting goes hand-in-hand with NBA players' Manifest Destiny that they deserve to shoot because there is no one better. In fact, it's not about who is better but who has the better shot. Are the Philadelphia 76ers truly better off when Allen Iverson takes 42 shots a game (his avg. last season was 24 shots a game)?

The truth of the matter is, players these days like to go for the spectacular play in the form of a dunk or a three point shot. Much like in the NFL, where more and more players are mistackling because they want to go for the big hit that will land them an ESPN highlight instead of the sure tackle, NBA players are more concerned about drawing oo's and ah's from the crowd. This results in completely ignoring teammates by forcing the ball through the lane or taking an unnecessary amount of three point shots. Unfortunately, the NBA cannot devise some sort of plan that will make players shoot better. The way things are going, Albert Pujols will have a higher average than Jason Kidd, who by the way shot 39 percent from the field last season.

Tue Sep 23, 2003 12:53 am MST by Hodaka | Email Article | |

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Comment Good comments, Hodaka. I also think that players salaries and, in turn, egos have gotten out of hand. I realize you are treading on sacred ground, but someone needs to say it.

Fri Sep 26, 2003 8:28 am MST by Tim

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