When the NBA was King 3 part series

Collapse

Recommended Videos

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • SPTO
    binging
    • Feb 2003
    • 68046

    #16
    Re: When the NBA was King part one

    Originally posted by KDRE_OS

    BTW TO, you should've made all of these all seperate topics
    Sorry bout that Dre. Next time I have a multi-piece to share with the OS community i'll definitely break it up.

    Thanks for the feedback and the tip
    Member of the Official OS Bills Backers Club

    "Baseball is the most important thing that doesn't matter at all" - Robert B. Parker

    Comment

    • Dispatch
      MVP
      • Jan 2006
      • 2339

      #17
      Re: When the NBA was King part one

      Very good read. I agree with pretty much all of it. Back in the 70's and 80's my parents were die hard Celtics fans but a few years ago they stopped watching because of all the rule changes and the flashy players. If you ask my dad to name you 5 people on the Celtics today he probably couldn't because he's just not interested in the NBA anymore. I wish I could have been around 30 years ago to watch some of the best times of the NBA.

      Comment

      • 23
        yellow
        • Sep 2002
        • 66469

        #18
        Re: When the NBA was King part one

        Originally posted by SPTO
        Sorry bout that Dre. Next time I have a multi-piece to share with the OS community i'll definitely break it up.

        Thanks for the feedback and the tip

        I think they were all great enough to warrant their own seperate discussions at once.

        These are some pretty good topics. Nothing to be sorry about. You could have three of your own threads at least 3 pages a piece.

        Comment

        • WTF
          MVP
          • Aug 2002
          • 20274

          #19
          Re: When the NBA was King part one

          Excellent SPTO... I really enjoyed the read.
          Twitter - WTF_OS
          #DropMeAFollow

          Comment

          • Muzyk23
            MVP
            • Feb 2003
            • 4192

            #20
            Re: When the NBA was King 3 part series

            Nice job
            NBA

            Comment

            • motorcrossman1
              Banned
              • Oct 2005
              • 1976

              #21
              Re: When the NBA was King 3 part series

              Originally posted by SPTO
              OK this is the first part in what will likely be a 2 or even 3 part posting on my blog. I'm gonna put up this first part and hopefully when the 2nd and 3rd parts are on my blog you guys can just click the link to read it. Hopefully this will generate interest:

              When the NBA was king (part one)

              There are many people of my age bracket that remember those weekends watching some of the greatest basketball in a generation. We had the pleasure of watching Magic, Bird, Jordan, Ewing, Stockton and Malone just to name a few. It was a time when the NBA was the hottest pro sports league in existence. It seemed that David Stern could do no wrong. Stern had the same kind of profile that Paul Tagliabue so rightfully deserved but in the end the end of a dynasty, the retirements of legendary players all within a few years and last but not least the over-reliance on the Greatest Player of All Time has put the NBA in a bad situation.

              It's hard to believe that in the late 1970s the league was on the verge of collapse and the NHL had a higher profile in the U.S. The use and proliferation of cocaine and other drugs made the stars of the NBA into unmarketable, volatile nutcases for the most part. Of course there are exceptions like Dr. J but for the most part the NBA was a barren wasteland.

              Just when the league was on the edge of oblivion two new stars joined the L and totally changed the league forever. The two men couldn't be more different. One was outgoing, gregarious, photogenic and could play the uptempo game that defined his generation. The other star was a country boy hick from the basketball mad state of Indiana. He was shy, awkward looking but had an amazing ability to shoot the lights out. They were Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird.

              They saved the league from oblivion and opened the door to what would be the most interesting and competitive 15 or so years in NBA history. One could argue it was the period from 1979-1998 that made the NBA THE talk of the sports world. The talent was far more spread out and the players were actually "gasp" REALLY talented. You had Ewing and Starks in NYC, Jordan, Pippen and later Rodman in Chi., Stockton, Malone, Hornacek in Utah, Bird, McHale, Parrish in Bos., Hakeem in Houston, Alex English in Denver, Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Scott etc etc in LAL.

              Hell, even the lesser teams had some good talent during that time frame like Golden State having Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and a young Latrell Sprewell. The Clippers had Danny Manning for crying out loud!

              The other thing that made the NBA so great was NBC and this is where I think a lot of the problems with the NBA come in today. Oh i'm sure we'd still complain about the lack of talent which i'll get into but David Stern has put his hand in the cookie jar one time too many. NBC was a very loyal broadcaster to the league and basically helped to make it as widespread as it is today. Remember when NBC lost the NFL rights? That was a huge blow right? Well yes but it wasn't so bad because NBC had the NBA which NBC had made into the crown jewel of their sports division.

              My generation fondly remembers growing up hearing the John Tesh music and getting geeked up for NBA basketball. We'd marvel at the tough and at times chippy basketball you'd get from time to time. We all laughed at the silly arguments between Bill Walton and Snapper Jones and rolled our eyes at Peter Vecsey's attempts to throw out breaking news.....

              and who can forget "YESSSSSS" from Marv Albert

              In short, NBC made fans out of even casual sports fans. I can tell you this from experience. I distinctly remember in 1991 my whole family sitting around the TV watching the series clinching game between the Bulls and Lakers. It was a rite of passage every spring/summer to watch the playoffs on NBC. You didn't have to fret about whether the game was on this network or that. Even if NBC split the broadcast rights during the playoffs at least you knew it would be TNT and that's it. Sone nights these days you have to switch from TNT to ESPN then back to TNT. It's just far too confusing.

              Finally, there's the thing we all remember most, the double and triple headers during the weekend, for that one brief moment in time the NBA almost had an NFL-like following because of those double/tripleheader games.

              It's all gone now because Stern wanted the upfront money and he thought the exposure of ESPN would trump any kind of revenue loss. What he didn't bargain for was the casualness of the fanbase that the NBA had built up over the last decade and a half. Sure ESPN goes to a lot of homes but for the most part not everyone is a sports nut. You need to market the game to the outsiders because you're ALWAYS going to get the core audience. Stern went back-to-front with the cable only broadcast deal.

              My next post will talk about the players, lack of talent today and the ill effects of the Bulls and to a lesser extent Laker dynasties.





              Please click the link to my blog when parts 2 and 3 are up. I will also think about posting them on here as well if this first part gets some interest.
              Lesser teams today have good talent, the NBA is better now then it was in the 90's or 80's, but the media only hypes what they want to...

              and on NBC and ESPN thing.... this is business, money talks

              Comment

              • tenth
                MVP
                • Dec 2002
                • 1109

                #22
                Re: When the NBA was King part one

                Originally posted by KDRE_OS
                Stern didn't market those teams
                Sorry for seemingly picking on you, but I've seen a fair amount of comments here and elsewhere about Stern's marketing tactics, and I'm wondering how much of NBA marketing is Stern and the NBA actually responsible for?

                Ignoring the broadcasting, merchandising and individual teams that promote their own interest in the NBA, the primary visible marketing I can come up with is the "i love this game" type of advertisements, which seems like an extremely small portion of the overall marketing.

                So I guess I'm asking is what I'm missing, or on the odd chance that I'm not, does it make business sense for the league to attempt to gain greater control of marketing the league?

                Comment

                • 23
                  yellow
                  • Sep 2002
                  • 66469

                  #23
                  Re: When the NBA was King part one

                  Originally posted by tenth
                  Sorry for seemingly picking on you, but I've seen a fair amount of comments here and elsewhere about Stern's marketing tactics, and I'm wondering how much of NBA marketing is Stern and the NBA actually responsible for?

                  Ignoring the broadcasting, merchandising and individual teams that promote their own interest in the NBA, the primary visible marketing I can come up with is the "i love this game" type of advertisements, which seems like an extremely small portion of the overall marketing.

                  So I guess I'm asking is what I'm missing, or on the odd chance that I'm not, does it make business sense for the league to attempt to gain greater control of marketing the league?
                  LOL, if you think the NBA has nothing to do whatsoever with its marketing then you are sadly mistaken.

                  Who is it that makes sure noone says anything about its refs?

                  Who was it that came out and did an interview about how he's tired of people complaining about the refs?

                  Do you honestly think he isnt in those meetings when they change the rules of the game?

                  IF you dont think he doesnt say anything to the likes of ESPN you are mistaken. Charles Barkley even talked about it about a year ago when everyone kept comparing Lebron to MJ whne him and Magic had to shut that stuff down, on national tv.

                  Stern himself goes on record in interviews about how he wants to incorporate the European players much more into the nba.

                  It was stern who changed the way the game was marketed from teams to "Magic and Larry" in the 80's.

                  Comment

                  • tenth
                    MVP
                    • Dec 2002
                    • 1109

                    #24
                    Re: When the NBA was King part one

                    Originally posted by KDRE_OS
                    LOL, if you think the NBA has nothing to do whatsoever with its marketing then you are sadly mistaken.

                    Who is it that makes sure noone says anything about its refs?

                    Who was it that came out and did an interview about how he's tired of people complaining about the refs?

                    Do you honestly think he isnt in those meetings when they change the rules of the game?

                    IF you dont think he doesnt say anything to the likes of ESPN you are mistaken. Charles Barkley even talked about it about a year ago when everyone kept comparing Lebron to MJ whne him and Magic had to shut that stuff down, on national tv.

                    Stern himself goes on record in interviews about how he wants to incorporate the European players much more into the nba.

                    It was stern who changed the way the game was marketed from teams to "Magic and Larry" in the 80's.
                    I never suggested the NBA had nothing do with marketing. I questioned the amount of impact Stern has on marketing the game, but I guess I was primarily thinking in terms of promotional/advertising impact, and as you've pointed out marketing does go far beyond that. I've seen a lot of talk trashing Stern for things like promoting individuals over team, but it's ultimately sponsors and teams that go out and do it, and so long as those responsible for the promotional material are attracting interest and aren't bringing any negative attention (criticizing the ref), there's no reason for Stern to get involved.

                    Comment

                    • 23
                      yellow
                      • Sep 2002
                      • 66469

                      #25
                      Re: When the NBA was King part one

                      Originally posted by tenth
                      I never suggested the NBA had nothing do with marketing. I questioned the amount of impact Stern has on marketing the game, but I guess I was primarily thinking in terms of promotional/advertising impact, and as you've pointed out marketing does go far beyond that. I've seen a lot of talk trashing Stern for things like promoting individuals over team, but it's ultimately sponsors and teams that go out and do it, and so long as those responsible for the promotional material are attracting interest and aren't bringing any negative attention (criticizing the ref), there's no reason for Stern to get involved.
                      I get what you're saying, but im speaking generally on the changes that the NBA has seen as a result of the NBA itself. Sort of what the topic was about.

                      It wasnt MJ's fault that he was put in the public as a high flier on ESPN, when he was simply a competitor(sp?). It was teh fault of the NBA though because they took what ESPN did and ran with it to milk as much as they could from it.

                      Comment

                      • X*Cell
                        Collab: xcellnoah@gmail
                        • Sep 2002
                        • 8107

                        #26
                        Re: When the NBA was King 3 part series

                        You said this in Part 3:

                        Originally posted by SPTO
                        So here lies the problem, the league and the media hypes up the dynasty team to such an extent that they become bigger then the league itself. What do you expect to happen when that dynasty is over?

                        The casual fans who only watched the sport to see that team, whether it be to win or lose will no longer have any real interest and stop watching. Of course some will become geniune fans of the game and stick with it but not enough to make the whole hoopla worth it.
                        I agree with it, but then, what about when the league was nearly abandoned in the 70's... the whole 70's era lacked a dynasty... no team was winning consecutive championships.

                        I think the 80's "dynasties" were the best... because the two major teams involved (Lakers vs. Celtics) won a fair share of championships, but didn't run some kind of crazy streak with them (Bulls winning 6 in 8 years)... that way, when it was all over, casual fans didn't flock away...

                        I think the biggest reason to the NBA's lack of popularity (compared to the 90's... cause its still pretty popular)... is no NBC... ABC Sucks!!!
                        SAN ANTONIO SPURS

                        Comment

                        • 23
                          yellow
                          • Sep 2002
                          • 66469

                          #27
                          Re: When the NBA was King 3 part series

                          hahaha, believe me, its far more bigger than just ABC

                          Comment

                          • SPTO
                            binging
                            • Feb 2003
                            • 68046

                            #28
                            Re: When the NBA was King 3 part series

                            Originally posted by xcelldarim31



                            I agree with it, but then, what about when the league was nearly abandoned in the 70's... the whole 70's era lacked a dynasty... no team was winning consecutive championships.
                            Well there were other factors, one of which I just lightly touched on in that posting was that there was a huge perception problem of players being cokeheads and generally unmarketable. You also have the ABA for a time in the '70s adding new (and exciting) rules at the time which siphoned fans away from the established NBA. That's probably why some of the more legit ABA teams were absorbed into the NBA.

                            The NBA also had a horrible financial structure what with playing in mostly dingy arenas, with a bad tv contract and little exposure. As I said in the '70s the NBA had a lower profile then the NHL did at that point in time.
                            Member of the Official OS Bills Backers Club

                            "Baseball is the most important thing that doesn't matter at all" - Robert B. Parker

                            Comment

                            • Air23
                              Banned
                              • Feb 2003
                              • 2502

                              #29
                              Re: When the NBA was King 3 part series

                              Originally posted by motorcrossman1
                              Lesser teams today have good talent, the NBA is better now then it was in the 90's or 80's, but the media only hypes what they want to...

                              and on NBC and ESPN thing.... this is business, money talks

                              Please tell me you're kidding. The NBA better today than in the 80's or 90's.

                              Seriously?

                              Comment

                              • Sarah
                                MVP
                                • May 2003
                                • 2609

                                #30
                                Re: When the NBA was King 3 part series

                                Originally posted by Air23
                                Please tell me you're kidding. The NBA better today than in the 80's or 90's.

                                Seriously?
                                He probably did not know that Julius Erving was the first NBA player to dunk from the FT line in the slam dunk contest.

                                Comment

                                Working...