How to fix the NBA

[bdsulliv]

After suffering through two years of unbelievably biased officiating ending the Celtics' season (37-17 in free throws in Game 7 2010, 38-20 in free throws in Game 5 2011), it became blatantly obvious not only that the NBA is rigged, but that the game has changed to adapt to the David Stern marketing rules - i.e., let's make sure that whichever team guarantees the most television dollars will win. Put simply, the game has devolved into "superstars" creating contact (which used to be an offensive foul), getting bailed out by the refs, followed by an incessant march to the free throw line. Sheer strength and marketability have replaced grace, speed and ingenuity in the game of basketball as a result. True teams like the Celtics who win through hard work and communication on defense and ball movement on offense lose out to ugly isolation teams with players like Kobe, Wade and LeBron. Stern has basically sacrificed the long-term health of basketball for short term profits. Like all government subsidy, manipulation of the freedom to create through central control punishes those who work hard in favor of those who are well-connected. NBA referees, more than any other professional sport, control the outcome of the game.

That said, I have a radical, although I think ingenious suggestion. Just like in real life, the solution is freedom - GET RID OF THE REFEREES. Give the players the responsibility to call their own fouls and own violations on the other team.  Ask them to be men and be honest for the love of the game. To prevent the game from being bogged down by too many foul calls (as if that doesn't already happen), give the opposing team the ability to contest a call. If a contest is made, the offensive team gets the ball back with 14 seconds on the clock. No arguments. In the last two minutes of a half, you get only 2 contests and 2 fouls each, which would eliminate teams from fouling incessantly. Basically you'd have to earn your points. So the game gets more physical. I think that's great. Good teams would figure out how to adjust, which would likely lead to faster passing, more breaks, and less arguing with or whining to officials. This type of system works very well with sports like Ultimate Frisbee, which, even at elite levels of world competition, has minimal outside help in calling the game. They have observers to assist with contested calls, but that's it. Everything else is based on honesty, responsibility and pride - things sports are supposed to teach us about.

The game can still have officials to do jump balls, mediate free throws, make out-of-bounds calls, judge whether a foul was flagrant, manage the clock and time outs. However, that's it. No more crying (well, except when the Heat lose), and no more ugly isolation ball that is the equivalent of athletic fascism.

Who is with me?!

[MBz]

We can't get rid of the officials.  They are definitely needed.  Now to fix the NBA, we need officials who will follow the rule book and implement those rules.  The travels and superstar calls have gotten to an all-time high and those need to change. 

[PosImpos]

[bdsulliv]

We can't get rid of the officials.  They are definitely needed.  Now to fix the NBA, we need officials who will follow the rule book and implement those rules.  The travels and superstar calls have gotten to an all-time high and those need to change. 

That's what everybody says about financial regulators too, and look where that got us! Freedom always works better than regulations, because 9 times out of 10, the regulators end up working for the connected people, just like Wall Street. The NBA referees are no different. They've become corrupted by Stern and the marketing dollars. So, the way I see it, since there are no perfect referees (well, maybe Earl Strom), just like there are no perfect regulators, the only answer is to change the system to make the people who play the game responsible for it themselves.

[barefacedmonk]

Put a bounty on Stern's head.

[OsirusCeltics]

The way to fix it
Get rid of touch fouls on the perimeter and in the paint!!
Give technicals for flopping!

[bdsulliv]

All we've seen in the past few years is the addition of touch fouls as part of the game, so that on every play the Refs can claim that they "made the right call." The problem is systemic, therefore the system needs to be changed. Changing the rules will only distort the game again towards the new rules. From that standpoint, I'd rather change the game to let players play and be at their most creative and athletic.

[Celtics18]

Interesting idea.  Unfortunately, a 48 minute game would take about 6 hours to complete what with the players having to argue every call for about 5 to 10 minutes. 

[BballTim]

no more ugly isolation ball that is the equivalent of athletic fascism.

  Now *there's* a slogan.

[action781]

I've seen players walk off the court in pickup games because of disagreement over making too many calls that the player didn't like.  Imagine if an NBA player just walked off the court?  What would stop a player from calling a foul every single play?

[Marcus13]

God, this is embarassing.

Nobody on here was saying the league was rigged when we won in 2008.  Go figure

[Tgro]

God, this is embarassing.

Nobody on here was saying the league was rigged when we won in 2008.  Go figure

Yeah, I don't think the NBA should be reduced to just pick up games at the local court. You have to have some enforcement of the rules by a supposedly impartial law enforcer. The trick is to not have a bias for one team.

I kinda miss the days when it wasn't a foul unless you kinda got clobbered. Fouls need to be a bit more blatant. The NBA needs to "Man Up".

Basketball today is like "stop whining" because you got touched.   

[slamtheking]

After suffering through two years of unbelievably biased officiating ending the Celtics' season (37-17 in free throws in Game 7 2010, 38-20 in free throws in Game 5 2011), it became blatantly obvious not only that the NBA is rigged, but that the game has changed to adapt to the David Stern marketing rules - i.e., let's make sure that whichever team guarantees the most television dollars will win. Put simply, the game has devolved into "superstars" creating contact (which used to be an offensive foul), getting bailed out by the refs, followed by an incessant march to the free throw line. Sheer strength and marketability have replaced grace, speed and ingenuity in the game of basketball as a result. True teams like the Celtics who win through hard work and communication on defense and ball movement on offense lose out to ugly isolation teams with players like Kobe, Wade and LeBron. Stern has basically sacrificed the long-term health of basketball for short term profits. Like all government subsidy, manipulation of the freedom to create through central control punishes those who work hard in favor of those who are well-connected. NBA referees, more than any other professional sport, control the outcome of the game.

That said, I have a radical, although I think ingenious suggestion. Just like in real life, the solution is freedom - GET RID OF THE REFEREES. Give the players the responsibility to call their own fouls and own violations on the other team.  Ask them to be men and be honest for the love of the game. To prevent the game from being bogged down by too many foul calls (as if that doesn't already happen), give the opposing team the ability to contest a call. If a contest is made, the offensive team gets the ball back with 14 seconds on the clock. No arguments. In the last two minutes of a half, you get only 2 contests and 2 fouls each, which would eliminate teams from fouling incessantly. Basically you'd have to earn your points. So the game gets more physical. I think that's great. Good teams would figure out how to adjust, which would likely lead to faster passing, more breaks, and less arguing with or whining to officials. This type of system works very well with sports like Ultimate Frisbee, which, even at elite levels of world competition, has minimal outside help in calling the game. They have observers to assist with contested calls, but that's it. Everything else is based on honesty, responsibility and pride - things sports are supposed to teach us about.

The game can still have officials to do jump balls, mediate free throws, make out-of-bounds calls, judge whether a foul was flagrant, manage the clock and time outs. However, that's it. No more crying (well, except when the Heat lose), and no more ugly isolation ball that is the equivalent of athletic fascism.

Who is with me?!

Do you honestly believe this collection of overpaid whiners and chronic rulebreakers would suddenly grow an honest streak?   

With their patented crossovers, "crab-dribbles", palming, traveling, over-the-backs, etc...  there's no way there'd be an honest player in the game that would call themselves on a violation.