The Ringz Culture Issue
In lieu of what is one of the worst All-Star games in years, with ratings falling directly in line with the performance shown last weekend, conversations surrounding the issues with the All-Star Game have inevitably made their annual appearance.
There are plenty of issues, along with plenty of suggested solutions. The Elam Ending seemed to be a small solve. Money at stake continues to be a talking point. Some have called it a lack of respect for the game, pointing to the games of old. Nihilistic “defenders” have argued that the game is simply for kids. Or for agents, players, and other NBA front-office personnel to get together now and during summer league and play the inevitable politics wrapped around the business of the sport.
None of these talking points are wrong. But to me, there is one overriding factor contributing to the boredom of the All-Star Game itself:
The players don’t attach meaning to the game, because no one else will.
No one gives any historical credence to players who have won, or performed well, in the NBA All-Star Game. Regardless of your quibble on with that being a “good” thing or not, we can likely both agree. To dig deeper on why that is, I will cast the first finger, and hypothesize that this is the media’s fault. To be clear, I don’t think there is any nefarious business going on here. Yes, we are inundanted with NBA media more than ever before. Yes, there are issues with many of these platforms, with talking heads drumming up talking points and creating straw men that don’t exist.
I don’t attribute any of these issues to any one person or outlet. I’ll also say, the inherent format of the four major North American sports, is one that naturally celebrates who won at the end of the season. It makes a lot of sense that the culture evolved this way. However, we see in other sports — mainly soccer — that there is a much greater emphasis on other aspects of the season. Again, the set up is such that because only a handful of teams ever win, importance is attributed on a relative level elsewhere. Same goes for college football, where a Big10 championship can be a huge deal. Players and teams can win something other than the final boss battle, and still go home with some pride, and some credit.
There is a built-in culture here already. The reality we’re living in happened organically. These awards, and the cultural importance surrounding them, take time to instill. I hate to admit it, but the media has a massive influence on how we think. They have a major trickle-down effect on what society considers important. That’s not wrong either. Many of the media is former players. We should give them respect about their sports opinions. Even Shaq.
In my opinion, if the media were to place more importance of other aspects of the season, then it would be beneficial to the NBA. As of right now, reducing the entire season down to something only 1 singular team can accomplish is not ideal for the sport. For the past decade, two of the major issues in the NBA have been:
A) player movement
B) load management
To me, it is extremely underdiscussed how heavily related these two problems are to the broader rings culture.
If players without rings, and players who don’t qualify as “best player on a championship team” (about 6 people on the planet at any given time), got more respect, I am confident there would be less movement. The disaster super-max — which has destroyed many of the teams it was trying to protect — wouldn’t need to exist.
If winning the 1-seed, or the conference meant something beyond home court advantage, there would be much more competitive games. All of that would naturally trickle down, and there would be more than a handful of games a season that felt truly intense.
The league has done a great job preventing tanking the best they can. Something that is very difficult in a sport where your best player can play 95% of the game. They deserve more credit. The anti-tanking rules in the draft lottery, plus the play-in, have changed many games this time of year for the better.
The idea of an in-season tournament has obviously been heavily discussed, and has been shelved for the time being due to the pandemic. It would also add necessary juice to slower winter months of the NBA season. These dog days have always existed, and the NBA has of course flourished in spite. But isn’t it funny that right when the NFL season ends and NBA shifts into the primary focus for many, it’s displaying the worst of its product? The in-season tournament could quell this lull. As many have rightfully asked; what is motivating the players to play hard in this, rather than just take the time off? It’s a great question.
I will assume that most people reading this have a broad understanding of the intertwined relationship between the NBA media and the NBA league itself (as in the organization run by Adam Silver). Obviously they help each other out. Obviously the media has a duty to report things honestly. As mentioned earlier, the trickle-down effect of what the media focuses on and says, has massive influence. If the media were to make a conscious effort to place importance on the in-season tournament, it would be a great benefit to the league.
It’s constantly discussed that the NBA season is too long. Often in the context of load management. Naturally, the more games played, the less individual importance each one has. Cynics quickly chime in that no player, or any NBA employee, is going to want to lessen the number of games, thus lessening revenue and the size of the proverbial pie. I agree. An in-season tournament would lessen the number of regular season games, thereby giving them more importance. While also of course offering a different opportunity for a team to win something. If the NBA media were to get behind the importance of this tournament — the legacy points it could provide, I truly have no doubt it would quickly disseminate to fans and players alike.
What if Dame Lillard won the first in-season tournament? What if Anthony Davis retired as the all time leader in tournament points, blocks, and rebounds? How does the Doncic versus Tatum rivalry change if the Celtics win 4 tournaments to the Mavericks 1? What if Donovan Mitchell provided the best “winning performance” of the year, closing out against his rival shooting guard Devin Booker, and having a better performance than any player in the Finals? What does a 1-and-done March Madness style bracket format even look like in the NBA? Is there separation by conferences? All of these questions are tantalizing. I can feel your heartbeat rising. But ONLY if the NBA culture at large gives credit to them.
Otherwise, it becomes another All-Star Game, with depressingly nihilistic conversations overriding any fun that even the best of a 3-point or dunk contest could have held.
My overriding point is less that the media is “to blame” for this issue, and more that they have some power to fix it. Unfortunately, players scroll Twitter. They watch what people say about them after a poor performance.
As I said, I think other issues plaguing the league right now fall away if this culture shift is able to take place, even to some degree. The in-season tournament is a great start, and I do believe it will come. This really is the first “normal” season post-pandemic. These things move at a glacial pace to begin with. Importance on regular season banners, conference or division banners, and other accolades such as those, of course have an effect as well.
Praise a team for being the best in franchise history. Praise the Clippers for getting to a conference final. Praise the Hornets for best regular season win total, and getting to the second round. Praise the T-Wolves for making the playoffs, not clowning them for celebrating something “so trivial. ” Make other things important. LeBron made 8 straight Eastern Conference Finals. Everyone would be more happy if their own teams achievements were celebrated. Including the fans.
There are many people more creative and knowledgeable than me that could come up with other ideas. The NHL’s World Cup of Hockey has always enticed me in a basketball context. Mixing players and teams of different nationalities, in a tournament run by the league itself is very intriguing. You could have multiple US teams. Eastern and Western Conference USA teams. LeBron and KD could have been captains. But now, is Tatum the captain? Aren’t these conversations fun? An under-25 team. Multiple blends of Euro teams. Balkan, Western Euro, etc. An African team. Get creative with it. Instill some pride.
The nature of basketball is one that will always allow the teams with the best players to win a lot. It takes very high level teams to win. Fluke championships don’t happen like they do in the other three sports. Because teams have to be so good to win, the consequences are that great players who don’t get lucky enough to find a great situation, are unduly punished. Structures surrounding drafting, salary caps, shared equity, player rights, super-max contracts, and trades, are forces that influence the dominance of teams — but that is a discussion for a different day.
When it comes to discussing accolades and legacies, I would personally prefer a more level-headed approach than just rings, and celebrate the historic breadth of talent in the league today.
