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Never will I understand why that bothers people.

The Third Man wrote:Never will I understand why that bothers people.

Arrogance? I find it highly annoying.

Players do cocky, arrogant garbage in every sport. Come on. Our best player is Albert Pujols, on of the most on-field cocky players in baseball. If player celebration after a score is what is ruining the spectator experience for you, I suggest you watch more golf.

That said, I agree that the NBA has become very popular recently in part due to individual popularity vs. team popularity. It's regrettable. I think it's in part due to the general culture of basketball swinging more toward individual skill and accolade vs. sacrifice for team winning. But, marketing has a large factor, more than other team sports, in my opinion. Lebron's jersey would have been the #1 seller in the league even if he'd signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. ... Alright, that one's arguable!

So, yeah, there's a point to be made for individuality and personal accolades versus championship teams. Which is why it's so terrific that a team with no selfish players, who was the underdog in every round of the playoffs, who had obnoxiously bad refereeing in all four rounds, won it all.

I think with less players staying in college, I'm finding myself drawn to the NBA more to see the talent. My interest has been picking up over the past few years, and I watch a few games a year. If a lockout scrubbed the whole season, it would suck...but I don't think I would lose any sleep over it.

Socnorb11 wrote:

The Third Man wrote:Never will I understand why that bothers people.

Arrogance? I find it highly annoying.

i agree. ultimately the players *dominance* is more entertaining but when guys (in any sport) are grandstanding for themselves it not only, in my opinion, takes away from what they've just accomplished, its [expletive] annoying and childish. i really dont know what is wrong with a little humility.

The posing, flexing and gesticulating is very annoying. Anyone that isn't put off by Kevin Garnett's foaming at the mouth is probably the one who gave him rabies in the first place. I hate it an awful lot. But I still watch (mostly just the Blazers, though).

I find my attitude about this kind of strange. I'll miss my Zers, but I won't be devastated by any means, not even that upset, really. I may even need a break from this exhausting franchise. I'll find myself being more productive. But I only have this attitude because I know they'll be back if not this year than next. (And, dare I say it, a 50 game season sounds appealing to me).

MrSaigon wrote:The posing, flexing and gesticulating is very annoying. Anyone that isn't put off by Kevin Garnett's foaming at the mouth is probably the one who gave him rabies in the first place. I hate it an awful lot. But I still watch (mostly just the Blazers, though).

That's where I'm at. I still follow, but mostly because my Nuggets are a fun team to watch right now (and I enjoyed the Mavericks run, as well). The overall vibe of the league doesn't excite me that much, though.

I will concede that a poorly played NBA game is really hard to watch. It happens from time to time.

Man, I have no idea how they're gonna work this stuff out. I haven't seen a lick of optimism from just about any commentator, blogger, or official spokesperson.

57% of revenue going to players seems so large. Is it that high in other sports as well? Not that I'm supporting billionaire owners. God, I have no idea who I want to support, or what I want to happen. The whole thing makes my head hurt.

Maclowery wrote:57% of revenue going to players seems so large. Is it that high in other sports as well? Not that I'm supporting billionaire owners. God, I have no idea who I want to support, or what I want to happen. The whole thing makes my head hurt.

Well, the players are providing the entire product that people are paying for.

I'm never going to side with owners crying "Save us from ourselves." The salary cap in the NBA is already absolutely ridiculous, insuring that crap like the Heat's offseason continues because when a fifth of the league is getting paid the same max amount, why the hell not try to form the dream team? I haven't watched basketball since Jordan retired and I'm not going to watch the NBA either way, so I'm hoping the players hold firm until the successful owners force the lockout to stop and the unsuccessful owners have to rely on non-idiotic management instead of salary caps to save their teams.