It's time for NBA marketing to switch gears.

[nickagneta]

Everything in life is cyclical. What comes around goes around. History repeats itself. Etc, etc.

Well, now is the time for the NBA to recycle itself and how it portrays itself to the public. Now is the time for the NBA to move away from a tired old marketing philosophy and to move toward a new but also old one. It is now time for the NBA to de-emphasize  the I and me in the NBA and to reemphasize the us and we.

The Boston Celtics are about to win their second championship in 3 years. No one is going to tell me different. Once they beat Cleveland, I knew it was just a forgone conclusion until banner 18 was going to be raised. It will, IMHO mark the 6th time in the last decade where the best team won the NBA Finals. And by team I mean best collection of players that played as a cohesive unit and won over other groups that may have had a superior player or two on the team.

The Spurs' championships, the Pistons' championship and the Celtics' championships are returning the NBA to a team first will win and not me first will win league. All to often over the last 20 years it has been the group of players that had the greatest player in the game and maybe a sidekick that won it all. The Jordanaires, the Hakeem Rockets, the Shaq/Kobe Lakers, the Kobe/Gasol Lakers and the Shaq/Wade Heat made up 13 of the last 19 NBA title winners.

To me, these were all teams based on the concept of the best player in the game paired with a sidekick player and a bunch of others. These "teams" were dominated on both ends of the court by one or two players only. It worked and the NBA front office saw it was working.

So they switched their marketing campaigns and made the NBA a game about superstars above teams. No longer was Sunday NBA basketball about the 76ers versus the Celtics or the Pistons versus the Lakers. It became Michael Jordan versus Charles Barkely, Shaq versus Hakeem, Kobe versus Lebron. The teams they played for became afterthoughts in the grand scheme of things.

And the NBA made sure when they released video of games to be played for highlights, that those highlights pushed the accomplishments of the individual over the accomplishments of the team. Rules of the game became ever more so relaxed to ensure individual star players prospered at the expense of the team game. Everything the NBA did was geared towards marketing and hoisting upon the basketball world the individual over the team. The name on the back of the jersey became way more important than the name on the front of the jersey.

And ultimately, I believe it has hurt the NBA in the long run. Players no longer practice the skills needed to become a great team player. They practice the skills needed to win dunk contests and three point contests. Players are now much less polished products when they get to the NBA and the NBA has to invest needless millions into players teaching them stuff they should have figured out in high school ball and before simply because they have made the idea of being a great NBA superstar more important than being an NBA player on a great NBA team.

But history does repeat itself and now we are beginning to understand that great teams will beat groups made up of a couple of individual great players almost all the time. The Spurs, Celtics and Pistons have relied on the concept of team and have shown that great teams are near impossible to beat with a great superstar or two. Lebron's failures to win an NBA title also illustrate the point as does the fact that it is now going to be looked upon that if the Celtics hadn't gone through an enormous amount of injuries last year, Kobe and Gasol wouldn't have gotten their rings last year.

I think it's time for the NBA to return to the time when the name on the front of the jersey mattered more than the name on the back of the jersey. It's time to remove the superstar calls and protection. It's time to advertise the Celtics versus the Lakers and the Bulls versus the Spurs and the Suns versus the Magic. The product on the floor is taking a swing back to the time before Jordan when teams got the job done and individuals were a part of the team. It is time for the NBA offices to see this and to adjust the way they do business. It's time to take the me out of team, Mr Stern, and it's time to do it across the board in the way you market, advertise, enforce the rules and highlight yourself.

That's because everything old is new again and you can thank your league's most successful franchise for that. The franchise who's best player ever ranks 131st on the all-time scoring list, not because he couldn't score a lot more, but because it wasn't in the best interest of the team.

[fairweatherfan]

Great post, TP.  I agree in general that the game seems to have shifted toward a more team-oriented concept, but I think the "superstar goes it alone" model was kind of an illusion to begin with.  Bird and Magic don't win any titles without multiple HOFers at their sides.  Hakeem had Drexler, Cassell, Horry, Smith, and Elie all making big plays.  Shaq and Kobe had Horry and Fisher save them multiple times.  Only Jordan and Wade* could arguably be said to have single-handedly led their teams to titles, and they had quite a bit of help too. 

You can make the argument that Jordan hurt the quality of play in the league going forward, because everybody wanted to copy the Bulls model - they won a half-dozen titles and made a TON of money.  But Jordan was one-of-a-kind; we may never see a player able to have that much success with that little talent around him again.

One thing I've noticed lately is that the superstar calls seem to be fading away, especially in the playoffs.  Kobe has gotten 5 fouls in 3 of the last 4 games - several have been the kind of play where "superstar calls" would usually dictate he should get the call, and some have just been plain bad calls.  Howard was in foul trouble for a lot of the playoffs.  LeBron still doesn't get many fouls, but he doesn't play very physical defense either since he's quick enough to stay with any 3 in the league.  I think the ugliness of the 06 Finals has really led to the refs dialing back their pro-superstar bias going forward.  And I'm happy with a lot of the younger refs and their approach to the game - calls still get blown, but I don't see the deliberate double standards nearly as much anymore.

I think this series is showing people around the league that tough-minded, defensively oriented teams with a lot of offensive weapons but no one dominant player win championships.  If we win this series, everybody's going to be looking to copy our model, because it worked.  That's more important to the game than marketing I think.


*Shaq contributed very little in the 06 Finals, and definitely didn't play at a superstar level.

[celticsclay]

Great post, TP.  I agree in general that the game seems to have shifted toward a more team-oriented concept, but I think the "superstar goes it alone" model was kind of an illusion to begin with.  Bird and Magic don't win any titles without multiple HOFers at their sides.  Hakeem had Drexler, Cassell, Horry, Smith, and Elie all making big plays.  Shaq and Kobe had Horry and Fisher save them multiple times.  Only Jordan and Wade* could arguably be said to have single-handedly led their teams to titles, and they had quite a bit of help too. 

You can make the argument that Jordan hurt the quality of play in the league going forward, because everybody wanted to copy the Bulls model - they won a half-dozen titles and made a TON of money.  But Jordan was one-of-a-kind; we may never see a player able to have that much success with that little talent around him again.

One thing I've noticed lately is that the superstar calls seem to be fading away, especially in the playoffs.  Kobe has gotten 5 fouls in 3 of the last 4 games - several have been the kind of play where "superstar calls" would usually dictate he should get the call, and some have just been plain bad calls.  Howard was in foul trouble for a lot of the playoffs.  LeBron still doesn't get many fouls, but he doesn't play very physical defense either since he's quick enough to stay with any 3 in the league.  I think the ugliness of the 06 Finals has really led to the refs dialing back their pro-superstar bias going forward.  And I'm happy with a lot of the younger refs and their approach to the game - calls still get blown, but I don't see the deliberate double standards nearly as much anymore.

I think this series is showing people around the league that tough-minded, defensively oriented teams with a lot of offensive weapons but no one dominant player win championships.  If we win this series, everybody's going to be looking to copy our model, because it worked.  That's more important to the game than marketing I think.


*Shaq contributed very little in the 06 Finals, and definitely didn't play at a superstar level.

I agree with most of this post, but disagree on the Rockets. Here is their roster. Sam Cassell and Horry were very young players on that team. Although they had their moments they were definietely not stars. Otis Thorpe was actually their second best player. That team was pretty much all Hakeem and it was an amazing feat.

Hakeem Olajuwon | Otis Thorpe | Vernon Maxwell | Robert Horry | Mario Elie | Sam Cassell | Chris Jent | Carl Herrera | Scott Brooks | Larry Robinson | Matt Bullard | Richard Petruska | Earl Cureton | Roy Wills | Kenny Smith |

[wdleehi]

To me, the issue isn't so much the marketing, but the league shifting how games are officiated to make the individual more important then the team.  


When Bird, Magic and even Jordon played, the marketing was about them, but the game was still about team.

[fairweatherfan]

I agree with most of this post, but disagree on the Rockets. Here is their roster. Sam Cassell and Horry were very young players on that team. Although they had their moments they were definietely not stars. Otis Thorpe was actually their second best player. That team was pretty much all Hakeem and it was an amazing feat.

Hakeem Olajuwon | Otis Thorpe | Vernon Maxwell | Robert Horry | Mario Elie | Sam Cassell | Chris Jent | Carl Herrera | Scott Brooks | Larry Robinson | Matt Bullard | Richard Petruska | Earl Cureton | Roy Wills | Kenny Smith |

Good point, I forgot Clyde didn't show up til the 2nd ring.  Still a much better collection of role players than anything Jordan ever had, but more of a one-man team than I'd remembered.

[MBunge]

I think the ugliness of the 06 Finals has really led to the refs dialing back their pro-superstar bias going forward. 

You might be on to something there.  I've especially noticed that Pierce the last two seasons hasn't been getting the calls he used to get when he drives to the rim.

Mike

[papa shuttlesworth]

Only Jordan and Wade* could arguably be said to have single-handedly led their teams to titles

Well, technically, Wade did have 3 teammates with whistles.

[Finkelskyhook]

Why would Stern want to switch gears or address officiating when the league is doing so well financially?

[fairweatherfan]

Only Jordan and Wade* could arguably be said to have single-handedly led their teams to titles

Well, technically, Wade did have 3 teammates with whistles.

I actually feel kind of bad for Wade - all anyone remembers about that series was the bad officiating (and it was really bad). 

But Wade stepped up his game over the course of those playoffs like no player I've ever seen.  Heck, he developed a 3 pt stroke for the first time in his career halfway through the 2nd round.  By the end of the Finals dude was utterly dominant with or without the whistles.  Closer to a Jordanesque Finals performance than Kobe's ever had.

[papa shuttlesworth]

No, I agree with you.  Wade was awesome in those Finals and has had incredible stretches since them.  It IS too bad that that accomplishment will be marred by the refs.  Hopefully he gets to do it again, maybe in green.

[blackbird]

The Boston Celtics are about to win their second championship in 3 years. No one is going to tell me different. Once they beat Cleveland, I knew it was just a forgone conclusion until banner 18 was going to be raised.

Can't believe this hasn't gotten a comment yet.

I mean, things look good right now, but none of these games have been blowouts, the Lakers have been great at home, and Jellybean's kid has had me screaming "Holy &#!%!" at my TV for about a month now. It's not over by a long shot.

[PosImpos]

Well..uh...I guess stars win championships after all, huh?

Team play is very important but nothing is more important in the NBA than transcendent talent.  Very, very difficult to beat a team that has the 2 best players on the floor in a 7 game series.

[houseonfire09]

Well..uh...I guess stars win championships after all, huh?

Team play is very important but nothing is more important in the NBA than transcendent talent.  Very, very difficult to beat a team that has the 2 best players on the floor in a 7 game series.

Also impossible to win playing 5-on-8 in the 4th quarter of game 7 of the Finals.  In a year, everyone except us will forget that Kobe was awful in that game and didn't really deserve the series MVP.

[PosImpos]

Well..uh...I guess stars win championships after all, huh?

Team play is very important but nothing is more important in the NBA than transcendent talent.  Very, very difficult to beat a team that has the 2 best players on the floor in a 7 game series.

In a year, everyone except us will forget that Kobe was awful in that game and didn't really deserve the series MVP.

Yeah, Gasol was the best player on the floor for large stretches of the series.  The Lakers usually played their best basketball when Gasol was dominating the game.  Not the case when Kobe was in superhero mode.

[guava_wrench]

Everything in life is cyclical. What comes around goes around. History repeats itself. Etc, etc.

Well, now is the time for the NBA to recycle itself and how it portrays itself to the public. Now is the time for the NBA to move away from a tired old marketing philosophy and to move toward a new but also old one. It is now time for the NBA to de-emphasize  the I and me in the NBA and to reemphasize the us and we.

The Boston Celtics are about to win their second championship in 3 years. No one is going to tell me different. Once they beat Cleveland, I knew it was just a forgone conclusion until banner 18 was going to be raised. It will, IMHO mark the 6th time in the last decade where the best team won the NBA Finals. And by team I mean best collection of players that played as a cohesive unit and won over other groups that may have had a superior player or two on the team.

The Spurs' championships, the Pistons' championship and the Celtics' championships are returning the NBA to a team first will win and not me first will win league. All to often over the last 20 years it has been the group of players that had the greatest player in the game and maybe a sidekick that won it all. The Jordanaires, the Hakeem Rockets, the Shaq/Kobe Lakers, the Kobe/Gasol Lakers and the Shaq/Wade Heat made up 13 of the last 19 NBA title winners.

To me, these were all teams based on the concept of the best player in the game paired with a sidekick player and a bunch of others. These "teams" were dominated on both ends of the court by one or two players only. It worked and the NBA front office saw it was working.

So they switched their marketing campaigns and made the NBA a game about superstars above teams. No longer was Sunday NBA basketball about the 76ers versus the Celtics or the Pistons versus the Lakers. It became Michael Jordan versus Charles Barkely, Shaq versus Hakeem, Kobe versus Lebron. The teams they played for became afterthoughts in the grand scheme of things.

And the NBA made sure when they released video of games to be played for highlights, that those highlights pushed the accomplishments of the individual over the accomplishments of the team. Rules of the game became ever more so relaxed to ensure individual star players prospered at the expense of the team game. Everything the NBA did was geared towards marketing and hoisting upon the basketball world the individual over the team. The name on the back of the jersey became way more important than the name on the front of the jersey.

And ultimately, I believe it has hurt the NBA in the long run. Players no longer practice the skills needed to become a great team player. They practice the skills needed to win dunk contests and three point contests. Players are now much less polished products when they get to the NBA and the NBA has to invest needless millions into players teaching them stuff they should have figured out in high school ball and before simply because they have made the idea of being a great NBA superstar more important than being an NBA player on a great NBA team.

But history does repeat itself and now we are beginning to understand that great teams will beat groups made up of a couple of individual great players almost all the time. The Spurs, Celtics and Pistons have relied on the concept of team and have shown that great teams are near impossible to beat with a great superstar or two. Lebron's failures to win an NBA title also illustrate the point as does the fact that it is now going to be looked upon that if the Celtics hadn't gone through an enormous amount of injuries last year, Kobe and Gasol wouldn't have gotten their rings last year.

I think it's time for the NBA to return to the time when the name on the front of the jersey mattered more than the name on the back of the jersey. It's time to remove the superstar calls and protection. It's time to advertise the Celtics versus the Lakers and the Bulls versus the Spurs and the Suns versus the Magic. The product on the floor is taking a swing back to the time before Jordan when teams got the job done and individuals were a part of the team. It is time for the NBA offices to see this and to adjust the way they do business. It's time to take the me out of team, Mr Stern, and it's time to do it across the board in the way you market, advertise, enforce the rules and highlight yourself.

That's because everything old is new again and you can thank your league's most successful franchise for that. The franchise who's best player ever ranks 131st on the all-time scoring list, not because he couldn't score a lot more, but because it wasn't in the best interest of the team.

Shouldn't we blame Magic and Bird for this? The whole Magic and Bird saving the NBA is as good an example of this as any of the examples you mentioned.

I don't think it is a marketing issue anyway. It is a problem with the fan who buys the jerseys. The networks advertise in ways that increase ratings.

Look at ticket sales when San Antonio came to town at their peak and when Kobe came to town and his team was barely making the playoffs. The problem isn't marketing. The problem is spectacular players are just more entertaining to the average person.

I'm not even sure what marketing you are referring to now that I think about it. Perhaps you are thinking of Gatorade or Nike.

When the NBA has action shots in their Where ____ Happens ads, should they put bench warmers in the ads? What sport does that?