Back in December when the NBA lockout ended, I said something that it seems other people are starting to realize as well now. I hadn't started writing this blog yet so I guess there isn't any proof that I actually did, but I really did! I said that the NBA pushed this new collective bargaining agreement through without getting all their details figured out, and that the league would pay down the line.
Christmas is the biggest day of the NBA regular season as far as television goes. The league gets to broadcast every big market in the league throughout the course of the entire day. Families spend the day together, and I would guess that the basketball games are on at some point during most Christmas celebrations. People may not be sitting in front of the TV watching every second of every game, but I would bet that the televisions are tuned to ABC or ESPN for people to watch at various times during the day. After all, you can only watch "A Christmas Story" so many times before you need a break from Ralphie and the Bumpus' dogs.
As far as attendance at the games, places like Madison Square Garden and the Staples Center and the United Center will sell out, the celebrities will be out, and the cash will be flowing into the league offices. The fact that this season started on Christmas day was no coincidence. Both the league and the players knew that if there was no NBA on December 25th, everyone would be losing a lot of money. The two sides were far apart as the months went on, and when late December rolled around, it still seemed like a longshot that an agreement between the NBA and the Player's Association would be reached. However, as if the magic of the Christmas spirit became the mediator between the two sides, a deal just happened to be finalized in time to start the season on Christmas. I guess David Stern and Billy Hunter were behind on their Christmas shopping, because the deal getting finalized when it did was no coincidence. In deciding how the profits from the league would be split, the two sides could not agree. The one thing they could agree on though, was that having no profits on Christmas day would really hurt everyone at the negotiating table. So, as though Santa Claus gave us all a present on Christmas morning, we had basketball on December 25th.
I thought that the league would pay a few years down the line when this new CBA expired and we would be in the exact same position when that happened. Once again, the two sides would be light years apart in their negotiations, and we wouldn't get a full season because David Stern and Billy Hunter refused to give up basketball on December 25, 2011, even if it meant guaranteeing more of the same trouble in the future. What I didn't anticipate was the effects we would see by the time the playoffs rolled around.
Instead of a normal 82 game season spread out over about seven months (an average of about one game every 2.5 days), we got a condensed 66 game season that took about four months (an average of about one game every 1.8 days). Now that may not seem like a big difference, but by the beginning of April, it was obvious that the difference was huge. Players were getting injured more frequently, and consequently, they were playing less. It started with minor injuries or just off-days for some older players like Tim Duncan and Paul Pierce (among many others). Coaches wanted their teams to be rested when the playoffs rolled around, and from the perspective of the coaches, that is very understandable. Once they are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, they want their team to be at full strength. However, towards the end of the season, it became somewhat ridiculous in some circumstances. On April 24, two of the marquee teams in the league, the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics, played a game in which LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Ray Allen all sat out. No offense to JaJuan Johnson and Dexter Pittman, but the fans don't watch the NBA to see those guys play. The fans want to see all of those guys that didn't dress for the game.
Now the fans still choose to buy their tickets knowing that because of the shortened schedule they might not see some superstars, but the point to be made from this is that the compacted season had an obvious impct on the basketball we saw on the court. Any slight bump or bruise meant a player would sit for a game or two. The teams wanted to take no chances that their stars would injure themselves playing in the third game, in three nights, in three cities. While some freaks of nature like LeBron James and Kevin Durant could go the entire season without injury because of their supreme talent and conditioning, that was not the case with most of the league.
Despite that, the league wasn't drastically changed due to any of this. The teams we thought would be good were good, and the teams we thought would be bad were bad. However, within the past two weeks, that has changed. Dwight Howard announced not long ago that he needed to have surgery on his back and would miss the rest of the season. With him gone, the Orlando Magic probably have no legitimate shot to win the Eastern Conference. Kobe Bryant has been bothered by a shin injury that seems more serious than originally thought, and without him the Lakers chances to win the Western Conference are greatly diminished (although if Andrew Bynum dominates like he did today for the next month that might not be the case). The Celtics stars are still not fully healthy, as Ray Allen will miss Game 1 tonight against the Hawks. The Spurs seem to be staving off injury despite the age of some of their stars, but we can't be sure that will be the case for the entire postseason.
However, the biggest loss of all occurred yesterday in Chicago. Derrick Rose had been banged up the entire year, but he was on the court for Game 1. With about a minute and a half to go, Rose took the ball to the basket, took off, came down while hardly being touched, said he heard a pop, and went down grabbing his knee. For anyone that is a fan of football, that can only mean one thing, and that thing is not good. Rose tore his ACL, and the Bulls can only cross their fingers that he will be back in time to start next season. As he went down, the chances of the number one seeded team in the Eastern Conference to win a title may have went as well. The Bulls played surprisingly well without Rose during the regular season, but in the postseason you don't get games with the Raptors or the Bobcats. The teams are better, the games are closer, and you need to be at your best every night you take the court. The Bulls will not be at full strength now, and the feeling around Chicago is that the Bulls may already be done as far as a championship run goes despite the fact that they are up 1-0 in their first round series.
On the same day only a few hours later, Iman Shumpert of the Knicks went down with the exact same injury. Now he is by no means close to the level of Derrick Rose, and the Knicks weren't going to win anything if they were at full strength or not, but he still suffered a serious injury. Ricky Rubio, one of the brightest young stars in the league on an exciting young Minnesota Timberwolves team, also suffered a torn ACL earlier this year.
Now if this were the NFL, it wouldn't sound out of the ordinary because of the physical nature of football. But this is the NBA. Players don't go down with torn ACL's very often, and yet within the last four months three teams have lost their best point guards to the same injury. Just like I do not believe the collective bargaining agreement being finalized at the time it was was a coincidence, I don't think these injuries can be a coincidence either. More games in less time means more injuries, and the NBA is learning that the hard way. I knew that the way the CBA was reached would come back to bite the league eventually, I just didn't think it would be at the expense of the health of some of the best players in the league. We should be talking about what is great about the NBA right now, but a black cloud has already covered the skies over the playoffs. On December 25th, we were able to see some of the best the game has to offer. But now, when the games matter most, we won't see some of those players and it's a shame that that has to be the case.
Daily Rangers Update: Game 2 will be tomorrow night. A win tomorrow means we can go back to Washington with a chance to win once on the road and end the series in five games. That can't happen if we lose tomorrow though, so that needs to be taken care of first. Let's Go Rangers!
Daily Diamondbacks Update: The bullpen couldn't hold the lead last night and the Marlins walked off with a 3-2 win. This afternoon was much better though. Wade Miley was sensational, and has now beaten the Marlins and the Phillies in the first two starts of his career. And as if that isn't enough, more young and talented pitching is on the way, as Patrick Corbin makes his major league debut tomorrow in the final game of the series with Miami. It seemed like only a matter of time before Josh Collmenter lost his rotation spot, and the time has come. We'll see how Corbin looks tomorrow, I'm excited to see him finally get his shot.
Daily Giants Update: No undrafted free agent signings yet, but there will be some soon. Now, it's not likely that any of them will make an instant impact, but you never know. The team is starting to take shape so we will know how it all looks sooner rather than later.
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