Everyone has to remember....

[Oz Referee]

After reading the various posts about the "Star System" and how NBA referees conspire to not call fouls on MJ (and others), I think there is something that everyone here needs to remember:

The NBA is not about basketball - it is about entertainment

Lets face it, people pay good money to go to games, the networks pay millions to broadcast them and fans want to see the best entertainment possible. Why else has the NBA consistently changed and developed its rules over the years to make the game more exciting? Fans don't want to see MJ foul out in the first quater - even if he maybe does push off with his bar arm, and they don't want to see Shaq foul out because he uses a little too much contact/strength on the post.

The NBA is getting closer and closer to the Harlem Globetrotters - and have you ever heard anyone complain about the calls that those guys get?

[LarryS]

Good point about it being entertainment. To a certain extent, every "sport" but baseball is heading that direction (baseball is simply trying to implode). I know it is the wrong sport, but take Michael Irvin when the Cowboys had their run in the 90's...he pushed off on almost every pattern but was rarely called. I doubt the officials had decided they wanted the 'Boys to repeat. Instead, the understood his style of play and knew the people paid to see him, not listen to the referee explain the penalty.

[Hawks Coach]

I do not think it is simply a question of entertainment. If it was, we would script the outcomes of baskeball games and plan our overtimes for the right day and time so the network can win the sweeps. No doubt the entertainment factor plays a role, and a pro game is an event that sometimes transcends the competition on the floor. But pro basketball is first and foremost a sporting contest, with athletes deciding the result.

Arguably, the best active player in basketball has won every championship since Jordan's Bulls started win them (MJ, Hakeem, and Kobe/Shaq - a dual MVP if there ever was one). And some of the pro ball I have watched this year has been unbelievable - the number of players who can post their man 16 feet from the basket and hit the turnaround fadeaway is amazing to behold. These are truly fantastic athletes. When you actually watch a game between two teams that play solid defense, you see what it takes to score at that high level and how talented the scorers really are. And I also believe that the refs are amazingly talented and have an unfathomable ability to control a game that is faster and more powerful than any hoops on the planet.

I can't stand the marathon that a baseball game has become. I think the problem with baseball is exactly the opposite - it has less and less entertainment value every year. Although the homer fest is I guess an attempt at entertaining the fans.

[Peter Devana]

Hawk Coach,
I agree with you totally!!!!
pistol