I feel like an old man as I write this article. I remember waiting all day for All-Star Saturday night to begin and watching old All-Star games in preparation for the weekend with my brother. The weekend was like basketball Christmas to us. On tv, they would play highlights from Dunk Contests past all week leading up to whatever this new year would bring. They would show MJ versus Dominique, Isiah and Magic going at it during the All-Star game, Shaq bringing the ball up the court, and Ray Allen, Larry Bird, and Peja Stojakovic draining 3s.
There are still great dunks and guys make a lot of 3s and the 4th quarter of the Sunday night game is still pretty entertaining, but something is missing. I’m not sure what it is either. I used to really look forward to this weekend and now I just don’t care. I scrolled through the winners and highlights the day after the events took place. Luka made a half-court three. Aaron Gordan got robbed of the dunk contest and is maybe not human. The new fourth-quarter format is fun. Who cares, you know?
Maybe I am just old. Maybe all of my favorite players have retired and I just don’t care about the new ones. The players are harder to root for now. Everybody used to be so competitive on the court and now it seems the competition has moved off the court. It’s all about social media presence, woke-economics, and shoe deals. Alright, shoe deals have been the biggest part of basketball since Michael Jordan came around, but still, the point remains. The weekend has become bland to me.
Perhaps, because they are all paid so much and are interested in things other than basketball, the competitive nature of pro-athletes has diminished? I think that’s plausible. They have all become so comfortable that they are playing to make more money rather than win games. Fair enough. They have a right to do that.
Maybe it is the marketing. Maybe the players were never that competitive and never had a fire in them to go out and destroy their opponent. Is it possible that the NBA marketed that because that seemed to inspire fans? And, is it possible that they market the NBA as a bunch of friends hanging out living millionaire lives now because that inspires fans? Who knows?
Maybe watching millionaire buddies hanging out inspires some, but it doesn’t inspire me. The narrative of some kid from nowhere who has worked his whole life joining with others and inspiring and leading them to win the title inspires me and has always captivated audiences. Now, the NBA seems more like an MTV reality show. Not that I have anything against watching those types of shows. It just seems like the NBA has lost what made it unique.
Perhaps that is the great lie in our society right now. Maybe the NBA is just being honest about it. Maybe, the players are all just friends hanging out in every sport. Maybe the Democrats and Republicans in Congress put on an act like they hate each other and then go home and send each other funny emails. Maybe everything we watch is just WWE. All the drama is fake and we help millionaires get richer by watching their plays all while we sit around and anticipate what will happen next.
Now, that could be a cynical view of the situation. Maybe people can compete and be civil with one another, but that doesn’t make for good television. I’d rather they all hate each other so I can sit and enjoy the show. I get it. “They are human too!” Except, we don’t get paid to be human, we get paid to do the job we were hired to do. They are hired to entertain, just like actors and musicians. I empathize with the athletes though. It’s hard to fight like mad when you are still a millionaire after the game. That’s the most human thing about pro sports now.