Read the opposing argument from Babe Ruthless.
As soon as you get finished reading this fine argument, call up your friends, who may be casual sports fans, and ask them if they have been following the NBA playoffs closely. As you are taking out your trash when you get home after work, you may notice Joe the Plumber mowing the grass next door. Go over and ask him if he’s been watching the NBA playoffs. I can say with some certainty that you are going to not get an affirmative response. If you’re reading this debate, you probably are watching the NBA playoffs. All of the writers here at TSD are certainly following along. Bleacher Fan and Sports Geek are losing sleep over the status of Lebron’s elbow. But certainly not everyone feels that way. An answer I often get when asking someone if they are watching the NBA playoffs is, “Man, those guys aren’t nothing but a bunch of thugs. Josh Smith, Ron Artest, Kevin Garnett, all of them.” Or, “Man, it’s nothing but street ball. It’s not like it used to be.”
Fair or not, the NBA’s overall image took a serious hit on November 19, 2004. That was the night of altercation between the Pistons and the Pacers in which, among others, the infamous Ron Artest entered the crowd during a brawl. Many people became disenchanted with professional basketball that night because of the violence that took place. How could anyone want the threat of violence to even enter the picture during a basketball game?
It has been well-documented that Lebron and Doc Rivers enjoy bitter rivalries, and they miss the “glory days” of the battles in the 1980s that featured the Celtics, the Lakers, and the Bad Boys of Detroit. But those battles took place over 20 years ago. It’s a different league now. It’s a different society now. Heated situations in the NBA are more likely to get out of hand. Unfortunately, I believe that’s the overall reputation among common folks regarding the NBA.
What happens if Anderson Varejao and Kevin Garnett start pushing and shoving in game three in Boston this weekend? Pushing and shoving is going to take place, and who knows where that could lead, as both of those players are known for getting under the skin of the opponent. Before you know it, a fight could break out, players could get thrown out of the game and suspended, and the brawl would overshadow the game itself.
Some may say, “Well that’ll bring publicity to the sport.” There’s no doubt, it would definitely do that. But it would be the wrong kind of publicity and attention. David Stern and other NBA officials have worked to clean the game up, by setting up automatic suspensions for anything from throwing an elbow to not abiding by the cleaned up dress code (which I was highly critical of at the time, but I think was a wonderful idea in the long run).
No one is ever going to mistake the NBA for the PGA Tour. Basketball isn’t a gentleman’s game by any stretch. But it’s not a good thing for the NBA when the threat of a violent incident looms over a series. It’s bad for the overall image of the league, and while it could provide some short term buzz, it would provide long term damage.
