First it was the NFL turning into the No Fun League; then the NBA followed with it’s mandatory dress code. The fear of having over a hundred plus millionaire ballplayers walking around with warm up suits, tattoos, throwback jerseys, baggy jeans, and jewelry were just too much to continue entertaining. After all, they tolerated it for over a decade, because the face of the NBA was exactly that. He sported cornrows, defied authority, didn’t bow down to the legends before him (see killer crossover on Michael Jordan), and wore his clothes two times his regular size. Allen Iverson had forced the powers that be once too often but, David Stern and his henchmen had to wait until Iverson’s star power decreased before they were able to execute their plans.
After a series of trades and his skills on the basketball court began to erode, the NBA put their “cleanup” plans into action swiftly and imposingly. A plethora of other rules and changes followed and the NBA culture would never be the same again. Enter the flopping rules and the latest fiasco to hit the league, since long range shooting big men; technical fouls for men being men amongst themselves.
After a couple of weeks digesting some very exciting basketball action for work and pleasure, I could not help but notice the travesty taking place throughout the league. The first injustice took place in Oklahoma City, where the Washington Wizards were visiting the Thunder. Russell Westbrook was whistled for a charging foul and after attempting to get up from the floor, he was pushed backward by Washington F/C Nene. After Westbrook retaliated with just a push to Nene’s chest, he was instantly ejected from the game while Nene was allowed to continue playing. WHAT?!
Courtesy: Washington Post
Since when is pushing another player an automatic ejection? Do we really have that short of an attention span as fans of the game of basketball? Fast forward a week later out at the Staples Center, where the Thunder were battling the Los Angeles Clippers in a game of Western Conference powers. Thunder PF Serge Ibaka got tangled up with Clippers forward Blake Griffin and tossed Griffin to the floor. Clippers forward Matt Barnes interjected and promptly shoved Ibaka. Ibaka retaliated with a push to Barnes’ chest and their teammates intervened before it turned into a full blown melee.
However, the ensuing actions by the referees left me and my family at a loss for words. Since when does the guy that gets tossed to the floor and doesn’t retaliate (Blake Griffin), get hit with a technical foul and the other two players who actually were physically involved, both get ejected without ever throwing a single punch at each other?
As I stated earlier, is our attention span really that short to where we’ve forgotten why we loved NBA action? Whatever happened to the days of the Chicago Bulls visiting the New York Knicks during the regular season, and every member of the media stating how the atmosphere is eerily similar to a playoff game? Jordan or Pippen driving the lane only to run into several brick wall like defenders, and getting knocked to the floor with extreme force. Anthony Mason, Charles Oakley, Xavier McDaniel, even guards Greg Anthony and Derek Harper laid the wood to defenders who dared to enter the lane at their own risk. We NEVER deemed it dirty play! Not even non-Knick fans complained because they understood the culture of Knicks basketball. We labeled it as a hard foul by guys who would elbow their own grandmother if she were an opposing player attempting to drive the lane against them. It was accepted because that was clean, professional, proud, team spirited basketball.
The sensitivity being placed in sports have begun to reshape the game we’ve loved for many years. The game we grew up cherishing and worshipping. It has been reduced to twitter monitoring, sensitivity workshops, and AAU(Amateur Athletic Union) style rules and regulations. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!! What the league doesn’t realize is that once you start to take away a player’s ability to play instinctively, you’ve created a watered down, emotionless drone! Guys grew up playing their hearts out not because they could envision the millions of dollars that would be awaiting them in the pros, but because for many of them it was their only way out of a tough life. You had to be tough and play with that arrogance and bravado or you were labeled as weak or soft.
I’m not just speaking as a journalist, but as a former player as well. I grew up in the rough and tumble ghettos of New York City, Brooklyn to be exact. When you went into someone else’s neighborhood to play in a tournament, you better be prepared to have a few calls go against you, as well as receiving some of the worst treatment from complete strangers. Being strong willed and tough minded got you but so far on the court inside a hostile environment. You also had to be tough physically because you never knew when someone from the home crowd may attack you! Sounds barbaric but that was life on the blacktop in the inner city and we knew the rules.
We embraced that “tough guy” mantra and most of us carried it with us onto the high school level, and played with that arrogance and swagger. The same swagger and arrogance that makes college coaches flock to tiny neighborhood gymnasiums, to get a glance at the next big thing. Once a player transcends the college level, he is expected to abandon what it was that got him to the professional level. I totally disagree!
Courtesy: Sports Illustrated/CNN
Does anyone remember the “Brawl at the Palace”? Fans can be just as unruly as opposing players and security can’t be everywhere as we witnessed in Detroit on that incredible night. I think the authority figures in the NBA are silently hoping that players quickly transform into choir boys when they sign their contracts. How quickly they forget what made them salivate after certain players in the first place. Former players like Ben Wallace, Anthony Mason, Xavier McDaniel, Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, Rick Mahorn, and current players like Kenyon Martin, Chris Andersen, Kendrick Perkins, Jermaine O’Neal, Metta World Peace, Matt Barnes and a host of others, were not sought out by their respective teams for their sparkling personalities. They were wanted for the physicality and toughness they bought to the court on a nightly basis.
In my opinion, there should be more emphasis placed on restructuring the rules of the game and preserving the integrity that has always been associated with the National Basketball Association. That’s just my opinion people. Just my opinion.
