Five Issues to Modify to Improve the NBA in the Near Future
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Bruno Altieri
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- He is responsible for the basketball section at ESPNdeportes.com. He has been working for ESPN since 2003. He covered, among other tournaments, the 2013 NBA Finals, the 2011 FIBA ​​Americas Pre-Olympic, the 2009 NBA All-Star, the 2009-10 League of the Americas, 2011-12, Argentina’s preparations for the 2004, 2008 and 2012, and for the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. He is also a regular columnist for NBA and FIBA ​​topics. You can follow him on Twitter.
Jun 26, 2023, 11:45 AM
It is the offseason, a time for reflection. In this weekly installment for ESPN.com, I present an analysis of five topics that need modification to improve the NBA in the near future.
Are you ready? Let’s dive in.
Competition Format Needs to be Changed
Let’s address the obvious: there is too much emphasis on the regular season and not enough on the playoffs. My solution? Two short tournaments with postseason play. Two champions and a superfinal. As I have mentioned before, many fans lose interest halfway through the regular season and only resume when the playoffs approach. We live in an era where attention spans are shorter, and people prefer series over long games. Therefore, a play-in tournament followed by the playoffs seems more appealing.
Shorten the Regular Season Length
We need to reduce the number of games in the regular season by at least a quarter. Additionally, we should minimize back-to-back games. The current load management strategies employed by coaches, advised by medical bodies and general managers, are detrimental to the league. It is disappointing for fans to buy tickets to see star players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, only to find out that they are being rested. To compensate for the shorter regular season, the idea of a mid-season cup is worth exploring, but the rewards for the winning team must be carefully considered to ensure its sustainability.
Revamp the Series Regular MVP Award
It’s time to reconsider the Series Regular MVP award. It becomes outdated within just two months! The recent playoffs demonstrated this flaw. After leading the Denver Nuggets to a championship, Nikola Jokic proved to the world that he is the best player in the league. However, he was not chosen as the Series Regular MVP for that season. Instead, the award went to Joel Embiid. The NBA regular season differs significantly from the playoffs in terms of intensity and style of play. Therefore, it is time to replace the regular-season MVP with a full-season MVP, awarded after the Finals.
Make the All-Star Game Fun Again
The All-Star Game has lost its appeal in recent years. The main game lacks competitiveness, with players not giving their best effort. It has become a showcase of dunks and lacks excitement. To revive the event, I suggest bringing back the conference games, but with a twist: Americans versus international players. This change will add spice to a game that has become bland.
Punish Tanking More Severely and Implement Changes
Tanking goes against the core values of the sport, yet it continues to happen. The NBA fined the Dallas Mavericks $750,000 for intentionally losing a game to improve their draft position. However, this punishment is not severe enough. Tanking should be met with more serious consequences, including future sports-related penalties. One interesting proposal is to have seven direct qualifiers per conference and a sixteen-team tournament for the last two playoff spots. This would also change the current draft system, giving higher chances of securing the top pick to teams with lower rankings. It may be controversial, but it ensures that teams always have something to play for.