Hey, did you guys hear about Chris Paul? According to Adrian Wojnarowski’s reports from last night (probably via Paul himself or his agent if I had to take a wild guess) the Clippers and Golden State Warriors could “significantly raise their chances of keeping” Paul past this season if they also sign center Tyson Chandler. For Wojnarowski and the rumor loving NBA twitterati it is business as usual. They’re eating it up because this is just the type of “action” that they’ve been missing since the league was locked out.
Vince McMahon would be so proud. Everyone thinks he is in the wrestling business, but so little of his hours and hours of programming is actual action taking place in the squared circle. Yes, sometimes the fans are blown away by a “Hell in the Cell,” “Loser Leaves Town,” or “Ladder” match that sets the world on fire because it is such a spectacle, but without behind the scenes drama and serious mic time, there’s no way The Rock would have an acting career in Hollywood today. Really, that was the only way for wrestling to go once the illusion of competition was dashed by the name “Sports Entertainment.”
The NBA relies on this non-action type of action as well. Over the last decade the NBA has placed more and more emphasis on the off-season, trade deadlines and draft. I’ll admit I’ve played with ESPN’s NBA Trade Machine too. It culminated in this lockout which was supposed to be at least partially about competitive balance. To me, that meant doing away with some of the wilder and more brash kinds of player movement. Say, the kind where a superstar player holds the league hostage by demanding a trade and then placing additional demands for the promise that he might just sign a long-term deal for the team that is willing to pay the price to bring him in.
It’s a spit in the face to fans. Those same fans were used like pawns by players and owners throughout the lockout in order to garner sympathy. Look no further than Hornets fans today to see just how little fans matter to NBA players.
It isn’t a spit in the face to this new breed of “NBA fan” though. There is a type of fan that just loves player movement and superteams. Not to pick on one person, but on Twitter last night someone proclaimed to me that CP3 holding the league hostage is preferable to watching him “waste” his career with Hornets teammates like Aaron Gray and Trevor Ariza. I can’t even comprehend that kind of thinking.
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