Basketball is in season. Yes, you read that right — basketball.
Never mind that the NBA is currently in a lockout, and that it may stay that way for a very, very long time. Never mind that we may have to accept the Dallas Mavericks as champions for longer than planned. Even though the sport’s premiere league is temporarily out of business, the best players in the world are still competing every night.
And after all, isn’t that the main reason why the majority of us watch the NBA?
If you haven’t gotten your pro sports fix lately, NBA players are more active than they have ever been around this time of the year. Some are staying in the states and playing streetball and taking part in pro-am leagues, some already signed modest contracts to go overseas and play against Europe’s finest, and most of the international players are currently training with their home countries for the FIBA Championships.
Ironically, it seems that the players are even more involved this time of the year than any past NBA offseason.
It’s awesome to read how Kevin Durant scored a gazillion points in the Goodman League, or hearing how Kobe Bryant scored 45 points and a game-winning buzzer-beater in the Drew League and thinking “He’s still got it.” LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Paul announced they will play on the same exhibition team and will play against Durant Tuesday night.
YouTube has picked up a lot of hits on videos of the players’ activities. Footage of Michael Beasley shoving a fan in the face earlier this month at Dyckman Park in Maryland attracted close to 1.2 million views as of Monday.
A Chinese player embarrassing James in an exhibition two weeks ago drew two million hits.
A highlight reel of Durant scoring 66 points in a streetball game last month at the famous Rucker Park attracted three million views.
But as for the NBA itself, the players’ success at finding ways to keep busy isn’t making contract negotiations easier. Since the league announced its moratorium on July 1, team owners and the players’ union have met for negotiations a grand total of one time.
When the NFL was locked out, players were very desperate to return their teams in time for the new season, meeting with the owners for countless of hours a week. NBA players? Not so much.
As a passionate NBA fan, let the 2011-12 season lose games. Let the team owners and players suffer in their pocketbooks for being unwise and not even attempting to draft a collective bargaining agreement. Let the Heat wait another year for a chance at a championship. All I really care about is watching the world’s finest going at it, and hardly any of that has changed so far.
Just one minor request: Please get the players to bring some of the action to Phoenix.
Reach the columnist at jnacion@asu.edu
