Despite claims from baseball fans who were born before the Super Bowl ever existed, the biggest sport in this country is football. If you look at television ratings, it is easy to see how popular the sport is, even though it seems like there is some sort of new controversy involving the league going into each new season. The United States is still a football-first country. However, the NBA has been steadily growing, and at this point, I think it would be fair to say that it is the second most popular league we have, obviously behind the NFL.
There are many different reasons for this rise in popularity, depending on how you want to trace the steps of its growth. Some might say that the emergence of a coast-to-coast rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers was essential in making the NBA a nationally interesting league. Those two teams do have a rivalry dating back to the 1960's, but in my opinion, the rivalry did not truly advance the popularity of the game until the 1980's, when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were at the forefront and were the faces of those two organizations.
You could also point to the greatness of Michael Jordan and the rise of the Chicago Bulls in the 1990's. It was then that young kids throughout the country really became interested in replicating their favorite players by wearing their jerseys or their signature shoes.
Now, as the game continues to grow, I think one of the biggest factors in allowing it to do so is the willingness of the league to allow its players, and most importantly, its superstars, to express themselves on social media and connect with the fans and with other players, all in the public spotlight. The old school mentality of guys hating their opponents, for better or worse, is really almost non-existent. There are no Denis Rodmans or Rick Mahorns anymore. While some people miss those days, I personally do not. There is nothing wrong with going out on the court and competing and fouling someone hard when they try to get to the basket, but doing so during a game does not mean that you have to meet an opposing player after the game and fight them. And for the most part, I think that present day NBA players feel the same way.
Thanks to Instagram and Twitter, and even more so, thanks to plain old cell phones and text messages, NBA players interact with one another on a daily basis, whether they are teammates or opponents. Not only is the league aware of it, but in many cases, I believe that the league encourages it. So, when LeBron James makes some comments about thinking how nice it would be to play with Anthony Davis, NBA General Managers and owners should not be surprised. However, that was apparently the case recently after James said those exact things.
While we aren't sure exactly what general managers made the claims, reports were that some small-market GM's were upset after hearing James say how he would love to play with Davis if the opportunity presented itself. The unnamed GM's claimed that James was violating the league's rules against tampering, since it seemed as though he were trying to persuade a fellow player, currently under contract with an opposing team, to join his team in Los Angeles. They claimed that what made it even worse was the fact that Davis is still under contract in New Orleans through next season, so Davis is not even an impending free agent, and in order for him to get to Los Angeles this season, a trade would have to happen. That meant that the Pelicans would be forced to make a deal they might not otherwise make if they knew that Davis really did have plans to leave the organization in the summer of 2020. And in all honesty, these claims are actually 100% accurate.
Maybe Davis wants to stay in New Orleans for his entire career. They did acquire DeMarcus Cousins last season, and that seemed to show the rest of the league that they might be willing to bring in pieces to help Davis win a title. However, Cousins is now a member of the Golden State Warriors, and Davis is surrounded by a cast of players that most would consider mediocre at best.
So then, maybe Davis has plans to leave New Orleans when his contract expires, and maybe he actually wants to try to get out of there even before that happens. We have seen Kyrie Irving and Jimmy Butler make moves to get themselves traded before they hit free agency, and now both of them are playing for contending teams in a very winnable Eastern Conference. So whether it is Irving and Butler trying to get to another place, or James trying to get someone else to come to him, it seems as though what many people would consider tampering is in fact not only occurring, but it is working as well.
Now that James is a member of the Lakers, he has the perfect person to speak to when it comes to the punishments that result from tampering with players on other teams. Magic Johnson, who is currently the head of basketball operations for the Lakers, has been fined multiple times by the NBA for what the league described as tampering. The Lakers were fined over a half million dollars for engaging in such activity, and the GM's who made these recent claims were calling for more fines this time as well. Since the Lakers are one of the most prominent teams in the league in one of the most prominent markets in the league, the narrative was that they were giving themselves an unfair advantage in recruiting Davis, who is one of the best players in the NBA. Following the game between the Lakers and Pelicans, James and Davis were seen dining at a restaurant in Los Angeles, and this only added fuel to the tampering fire. And really, what was going on probably was tampering, and the team probably was attempting to get the upper hand in recruiting Davis to Los Angeles.
So then the question is, what should be done to prevent this? In what I think clearly could be described as tampering, aren't the Lakers, and James in particular, violating league rules? Yes, they probably are. However, over the past decade, as the NBA has encouraged its players to voice their thoughts publicly and engage with one another publicly, I don't think it is possible to stop this stuff from happening.
Guys work out together in the offseason. They have the same agencies represent them. They play alongside each other on the international stage. They even have dinner together after games. If you want to believe that they never talk about playing together during those interactions, then you are kidding yourself. And the general managers who claim they are at a disadvantage when this happens are kidding themselves as well.
How else do contracts get signed at 12:01 AM on the day free agency begins? How else does Kevin Durant sign with the Warriors? Is it because he just happened to choose them blindly? Or is it because about half the team went to meet with him privately before he signed the deal?
The fact remains that the Lakers likely do have an advantage in acquiring Davis, either through free agency or through a trade, and part of it surely is because of LeBron James and Magic Johnson. If I had to bet on where Davis would be playing two seasons from now, I would be much more likely to put my money on the Lakers than the Hawks or the Suns.
But then, maybe New Orleans knowing Davis wants to eventually leave is actually better for them. If they were to trade him before he became a free agent, they could get something in return, instead of losing him for only money they did not have. You can really spin this however you want depending on your point of view.
One thing I do know though, is that as the NBA has encouraged its players to speak their minds about anything and everything, and it has played a huge part in the growth of the league. However, the league may not have foreseen this alleged tampering occurring because of that, and until they crack down on it, I'm not sure they can stop it. If they want to be like the NFL, and suppress the voices of its stars, then maybe Anthony Davis will play in New Orleans for his entire career, but I'm not sure that fans of the league, or Davis himself, would like that.
If Davis does end up playing with James in Los Angeles, one thing I think we can all count on is television ratings and revenue increasing every time the Lakers play. While it will likely be at the expense of teams in smaller markets, there has always been a sizeable gap between the top and bottom of the NBA standings.
From 1990 through 1999 the Chicago Bulls were 558-230. Over that same time, the Vancouver Grizzlies were 56-240. That would place the Grizzlies 512 games behind the Bulls over that span.
From 1960 through 1969, the Celtics record was 546-260, while the 76ers/Nationals record was 314-492. That puts the Celtics 232 games ahead of the 76ers.
From 2010 through present day, the San Antonio Spurs are 511-211. The Sacramento Kings are 248-474. That puts the Spurs 263 games ahead of the Kings.
The point is, the gap between the top teams in the NBA and the bottom teams in the NBA has always been large, and it will always be large. So Anthony Davis playing for the Lakers will not drastically change the course of history in the league.
General managers and owners can claim that tampering between players goes on off the court, and they would be correct. However, they also have to accept the fact that these players are the prime reason the league has exploded in popularity, and therefore, exploded in profits. Are some teams making more money than others? Yes. But with the league arguably as big as it has ever been, I think it is impossible to prevent players from talking to one another and dreaming about playing together. It may not have been anticipated by owners a decade ago, but in the long run, I think it is better for them as a whole, and certainly better if they want their teams to continue to grow.
Daily Giants Update: The Giants season will be over this Sunday after a home game against Dallas, but there have been some positive signs during the second half of the season that can bring about some optimism heading into the offseason. It will be very interesting to see what direction the team moves in as the draft and free agency approach.
Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers are not realistically contenders to make serious noise in the postseason this year, but they have been pretty fun to watch anyway, with a roster of mostly young players who continue to improve.
Daily NBA Update: Speaking of the Lakers, they are coming off of a very impressive Christmas Day win on the road against the Warriors, but I still do expect Golden State to come out of the Western Conference by the end of the season. The East is much more wide open, and you have to believe that at least five teams can legitimately claim they have NBA Finals aspirations.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: I don't even want to talk about it.
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