The NBA playoffs are once again upon us, and frankly I could care less. Each year the NBA tries harder and harder to drive away fans by making it blatantly apparent that they love money first, image second and somewhere down the line the game itself.
With a new seven-game format for the first round, the association has found yet another way to get more out of its already-lengthy playing season. There’s no need for a seven-game series in the opening round of the playoffs. It’s just another way for Commissioner David Stern to balance his ever-growing head with a bigger wallet.
The playoffs used to be a special time of year, a time when nothing else mattered, a time when true fans would rather die than miss their teams play. It used to be a time when a college student would forget about finals and an accountant would forget about work. But in recent years I’ve found myself wanting to read about some philosopher named Brad something-or-other instead of tuning in to see how the playoffs are shaping up.
As a youth, I thought it was always the regular season that didn’t matter. As a Bucks fan, the season didn’t matter because you could instead focus on one game at a time and come out feeling like a winner five times a month. For half of the nation, however, the regular season was simply a prelude to a time of do-or-die in the playoffs. As a fan, you could look forward to the playoffs as a time of intense competition.
More than just rooting for your team, you could root against your rivals. You could take pride if you made it to the second round because there weren’t 10 teams expected to win the championship each year. It was a disappointment to lose, but just making the postseason was an accomplishment.
A seven-game series in the first round provides a multitude of problems. If a team sweeps they will have a lengthy break before they play again which in all likelihood will promote disinterest. If all the series extend past five games, I know I won’t have the time to watch many.
It’s almost as though the NBA has found another way to promote the favorite and prevent the underdog from having a legitimate chance at victory. The league needs this predictability to maximize its marketing and merchandising profits. But in all honesty, it’s taking away from the game.
In the NBA, the bank accounts are large and the egos are even larger. Imagine the dismay of NBA owners if there were three-game series or, better yet, a single-game tournament like the NCAA. I’m not saying they should completely reformat, but seven-game opening-round series are a bit much.
I find the voice of my father echoing through my head about how crappy the NBA is. It’s simply not interesting any more. I’d rather watch the women’s crew team chase a national championship, or watch UW’s mock-trial team bring home a third-place trophy.
The NBA’s only point of interest is rooting for the underdog, and this new format is attempting to take that away from me, too. I remember when an underrated Bucks team made the playoffs in the ’98-’99 season. Those Bucks played with passion and enjoyment; they played for pride, and the effort was what mattered.
This season, the Bucks are a game under .500 and yet still hold the final playoff spot. The playoffs are supposed to be for those teams that excelled in the regular season. It’s supposed to be a reward, not a hand out. If you can’t muster a winning season, then you deserve to go home for the summer, and these are my feelings for even the team I love.
The NBA playoffs need to be reconfigured for the sake of the game not for the sake of money. When this happens, then I can see myself caring again — but maybe a nine-game series wouldn’t be a bad thing either.
