Instead of the usual trade rumors and marquee signings, basketball fans had to deal with complicated legal jargon all summer long. One of the main reasons for the battle was a result of the lack of success for NBA teams. The franchises in the large markets had no problem building title teams and making profits, but teams in smaller market had trouble breaking even.
The league wanted to help alleviate the burden for the franchises losing money and also put them on an even playing field with teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks. Commissioner David Stern loved the fact that a small market franchise like the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl and he wanted the same thing to happen in his league.
Stern had this magical fantasy made up in his mind, but at the end of the day, everyone knew that some teams just have all the luck. No matter how hard Stern pushes for reform, the NBA will be a large market driven league. Stern and the league did whatever they could to fix the issue, but the Lakers’ 2012 off-season just proves that the rich get richer.
Next Page: Large vs. Small
Let’s face it, everyone in LeBron James’ shoes would have made the same decision that he made in 2010. Although not many would have opted for the hour long special, almost 100 percent of you reading this would have taken your talents to South Beach also. Yes Cleveland was his home, but who would want to spend an entire career in a cold city surrounded by nothing but farms?
Miami offered LeBron no income tax, beautiful weather all season long and an opportunity to play with a title contending team. Miami is a major market city and a place that would offer him a plethora of marketing chances. The switch from small market to large market by LeBron James was just another example of the NBA’s inevitable transition to a league of super-teams.
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However, James wasn’t the first player to make such a move. Shaquille O’Neal made the switch from the Orlando Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers back in 1996, and it is safe to say that it was a successful choice.
After the ‘Decision’ players like Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams also broke away from their small markets. Anthony left the snowy city of Denver after a stressful “Melo Drama” and found himself in the USA’s biggest market, New York City. Williams was traded from the Utah Jazz to the New Jersey Nets, a team now in Brooklyn ready to make their point guard the face of the franchise hoping to make a splash in New York City’s borough.
As you can see, superstars want to move to cities that can manage their egos. Let’s face it, the media, the fans and the atmosphere in cities like New York and Los Angeles are in completely different worlds than those of Denver or Salt Lake City. With the salaries of these players, why wouldn’t they want to live in the country’s marquee areas?
Not many people would pick spending time with cows and cattle over sight-seeing in beautiful New York City or attend movie premieres in Los Angeles.
And thus a super-team forms. A group of players from medium to small market teams get tired of the lack of talent on their team and finally jump the bandwagon so many NBA stars have joined. Leave their previous franchise and go join up with other skillful players in hopes of having fun both on and off the court.
Next Page: The Lakers are the newest super-team
Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. This sounds like a team you would put together in NBA 2K12 with the salary cap restrictions off. However, in this case the front office pulled the right cards and of course the Los Angeles Lakers are the ones claiming the prize.
The Lakers lost out on Chris Paul, who also moved from a small market, but ended up keeping Pau Gasol and adding Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.
In the Fantastic Four, the Lakers only drafted one player and rest of them were trades that were executed with precision. No where in the NBA can a team with so much talented be assembled in a city like Charlotte or Milwaukee. The Oklahoma City Thunder have a nice group of players, but they were all drafted. Don’t be surprised to see either Serge Ibaka or James Harden end up somewhere else where a higher salary can be earned.
Even though everyone loves the Thunder players for staying put in Oklahoma City, it shouldn’t be shocking to have some of the stars head off to cities more desirable.
Dwight Howard wanted to get out of Orlando as fast as possible and Steve Nash had the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers on his list of possibly destinations. These players know what the NBA will turn into and as they see their friends make their way to large cities, they want to do the same.
The NBA wants to have a nice balance of talent, but eventually the talent will eventually find its way to major cities. Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Miami and Chicago will the hubs of the NBA and there is nothing the league can do about it.
So David Stern, what do you think of that lockout? Was it worth losing all those days of NBA basketball in an effort to help save the small market teams? At the end of the day, we all know the NBA has turned into a league where the rich just keep getting richer.