The NBA has become an annual multimillion-dollar game of musical chairs. Stars, as is their right, get to choose their free agent landing sites, and the drama that precedes their decisions tugs at the heartstrings of fan bases the league over.
There are rumors and drama — and deals agreed to before such talk or affirmation can legally transpire.
And Mark Cuban is cool with it.
“I like it,” the Mavericks — and maverick — owner told the Herald. “I mean, what makes us special versus other professional sports leagues is we’re a player-driven league.
“That connects us to kids. They have social media presence. They’re influencers. Kids follow them. They follow them on every platform — except for Facebook, because kids aren’t on Facebook. But that’s huge for us. So a kid comes into the league with a big social media following, and we don’t have to market them. They’re marketing for us, other than vice versa, and you can’t really say that about any other sport.”
One also cannot say about any other sport that the movement of one player can so drastically change the fortunes of two teams. The NBA has long tried to fashion its rules to maintain consistency at the top of rosters. I was chatting with David Stern once about whether it was worth keeping the salary cap. His response was, “Who did Dave Winfield play for?”
The commissioner wanted to, as best he could with free agency, keep teams together. That led to clubs being able to go over the cap to keep their own players. The impetus was wanting to keep the Larry Bird-Robert Parish-Kevin McHale Celtics intact.
Players seem more willing to sit back, work the system and create so-called superteams now, much like AAU squads gather top players from different areas.
“You just have to work differently than before,” Cuban said. “But, you know, players have been leaving for years. Look at Shaq, you know. Look at Tracy McGrady. Look at Grant Hill. It’s not like they were staying with their incumbent teams. You always had to work to keep your best players. Now you’ve just got to work a little harder, because the away-from-the-court earning and visibility and influence is that much bigger.
“And kids 20 years ago, their parents were career-oriented. Now kids don’t go to a company in a regular job thinking about a career, right? They’re there to learn something and then move on to the next best opportunity. Millennials and Gen Z were born to be free agents, and that’s just the way it is. So you have to recognize that it’s a different world, and we have to act differently and we have to be better.”
As for the overall state of the NBA, Cuban is comfortable with the operation — even as the league ponders mid-season tournaments and other tweaks.
“There’s always socioeconomic and political dangers that affect all businesses, but not specific to us,” Cuban said. “I think we’re in great shape. I think people are really connecting to the NBA, and they’re connecting at younger ages.
“I guess, if anything, we just have to make sure we connect to fans younger, as opposed to, in the past, you grew up with your parents watching your team. And that’s becoming less prevalent today. When we were kids, every kid played multiple sports, and you had your favorite teams and you watched sports a lot. And that’s just not necessarily the case now.
“My kid is 10 years old now. He doesn’t naturally just watch sports on television like we did. He’d rather watch Ninja and talk about Fortnite. He watches (NBA) highlights. He keeps up with it. But he’s waiting for the highlights, you know. He loves playing basketball, he likes soccer, but he’s not as big into football or baseball. So we have to make a different type of attempt to capture those kids at a young age so they become lifelong fans.”
Irreplaceable
A belated condolence note today for Al Bianchi, who passed away last month.
I first got to know the former NBA player, coach and executive, in his late-1980s, early-’90s days running the Knicks. To chat with Al into the night at Runyon’s in New York was to be gifted good conversation and ladles of hoop knowledge.
One of his prized possessions was a ring with a turquoise stone. He called it, “My championship ring.” Bianchi had it made after being an assistant coach for the Suns in the 1975-76 season when the Celtics, coached by Tommy Heinsohn, defeated Phoenix in six games.
Al blamed a certain referee, and he often removed the ring to show the inscription on the inner band: “(Expletive) you, Richie Powers.”
Bianchi lost the ring several years ago, but he had it replaced.
Al, on the other hand, is irreplaceable.
Celtics timeline
Sunday at New York, 3:30 p.m. — The Knicks have been in the doldrums for quite some time, and the Celtics have no desire to let them see the light of day as they close out their weekend in New York that began with Friday afternoon’s game in Brooklyn. The C’s bounced the Knicks by 23 a month ago at Madison Square Garden and slipped past them by two points a week later in Boston. Old friend Marcus Morris had 29 points in the latter meeting.
Wednesday vs. Miami, 7:30 p.m. — The Heat have been one of the NBA surprises this season. Kendrick Nunn, an undrafted rookie, has been starting for them — and starring. Jimmy Butler came down from Philadelphia as a free agent to lead things, but Miami has gotten a number of big contributions while making its case with a reworked roster after the retirement of Dwyane Wade.
Friday vs. Denver, 8 p.m. — A rematch of the Celtics’ two-point loss in Denver a week ago Friday. That one was, of course, more notable for the Kemba Walker injury that thankfully didn’t turn out as bad as it looked when he was taken from the court on a stretcher. But in basketball terms, it was sort of a rough night for the C’s, despite the final score. They trailed by as many as 19 and never once led, though they did get within a point late as Brad Wanamaker fueled a big run. The Nuggets are one of the league’s better teams, and the Celts will have to tighten their game considerably to deal with them, even on the Garden floor.
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December 01, 2019 at 03:00AM
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Mark Cuban fine with NBA player movement, drama - Boston Herald
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