The NBA is Back

Lately I have been really annoyed by everyone saying that the NBA is going downhill because of its "lack of parity".  The idea is that because players have been joining together on certain teams the small market cities are going to be left out to dry.  I personally think this is just a bad cop out on the part of small market owners.  Cleveland had 7 years to bring in another big time player and they failed to do so.  This was not because they are a small market.  It is because Danny Ferry, Mike Brown, and Dan Gilbert failed as a management team. 

Everyone points to the NFL as a league that really helps out its small market teams (always pointing to the fact that Green Bay won the title this year).  However if you really think about the NFL has just as many bad teams as the NBA.  Has everyone forgot that Buffalo, Jacksonville, Carolina, Detroit, and Cleveland have been terrible for the better part of the last decade?  Green Bay didn't win the Super Bowl because of the franchise tag people.  They won it because Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthey made good personnel decisions. 

Another argument that people use is that there are "only 5-7 teams in the NBA that have a legitimate shot at winning the title."  Well, I am once again going to point you to the NFL (which supposedly has so much parity) and say that the situation is the same there.  Lets look at the teams that we would all agree had a great shot at winning the Super Bowl this past season and compare them to the teams that are in contention in the NBA this season.

NFL
New England
New York Jets
Baltimore
Pittsburgh
New Orleans
Green Bay
Atlanta
Chicago

NBA
Boston
LA Lakers
Miami
San Antonio
Dallas
Chicago

That gives us 8/32 NFL teams as compared to 6/30 NBA teams.  Not a huge difference.

I love the fact that these players are joining forces and trying to win titles.  It has brought rivalries back to the NBA.  I have never been a huge NBA fan but I can tell you that I have watched more games this year than ever before.  I love watching basketball when guys are invested and playing hard and nothing makes guys play harder than when they really don't like the other team.  Watching Boston/LA, Miami/Boston, Miami/LA, Chicago/Miami, and now NY/Miami is bringing NBA fans back to the glory days of the early 90s. 

Small market teams need to look more at their drafting and free agency decisions rather than always pulling the small market card.  If you build around your superstar they will stay in your city.  If not, they shouldn't have to.

-Eric