The NBA Today

It's an amazing feeling to make it to your first NBA game. I myself am a Lakers fan. Born and raise, through and through. So my memories of this special event were when I saw the Lakers play the Jazz. It was a thrill to feel the roar of the crowd. See the quickness of the players. Most importantly I was able to actually feel like all my screaming was doing something finally. It wasn't the same old yell at the TV and storm off into the next room when the Lakers turn the ball over or anything like that.

Do you remember your first? Have you had your first yet? Well for those that have experienced the thrill of the being in the arena, you would understand when I say the game is very entertaining. That is as long as your team isn't getting schooled in the second quarter. In fact the NBA has become so excited and so full of entertainment that the hype has carried over into the off season. How many of you remember being this excited about the NBA before Jordan? How many of you remember the NBA before Magic and Bird? Would you be able to tell me about Happy Hairston or Fred Hetzel? What about guys like Vern Mikkelsen or Jim Pollard? For some I might even ask do you know Dave Bing or Jack Sikma? At times I even wonder if people could tell me what traveling or carrying really is.

The NBA of today is rooted deep into the entertainment industry. It has made a continued goal to entertain and create as many happy customer as possible. This of course doe not mean that all the players in the league are about entertaining and nothing else. Yet, the players that find themselves in the lime light tend to be the flashes, most athletic players in the league. Honestly ask yourself if you would watch LeBron James play if all he did was just simply layed it in on a fast break. Would there even be a LeBron watch? What if Chris Paul didn't throw that sweet alley oop to the back door cut?

Let me take it a step farther, how exciting would it be to watch the official call traveling each time Vince Carter took that extra step as he approach the rim for a windmill? Or Derrick Rose was called for a carry as he made his cross through the legs just before exploding to the basket. Well those of you that aren't convinced yet, fine. Most likely you are the ones that could care less about the lack of the game in todays pro world anyway.

The rest of you are noticing the sad truth of this modern source of entertainment we call the NBA. The pure love of the game is a side note to the never ending need to be entertained. I for one miss the pureness of the game. Back when the name on the front matter more then the name on the back. Before the seven and eight digit salaries that determined whether or a player would play for his career team or not. Yet, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. The game still lives in the high school and college world. It lives in the hearts of those who love this game.

Although the main bulk of todays NBA is more about the money and the owners care more about the business rather then the basketball. There still are some players, coaches, and owners that are in it for the game. The simple truth is that the NBA has only tramsformed to what the fans have tramsformed it into. The modern players are just people in todays society. Can we really ask for anything but what people in all other careers are doing themsleves?

I love this game. I dream that at some point we all can get back to the root of the game and enjoy it for the simple fact that it's basketball and that is all we need from it.