Ron Hartman: Who Needs The NBA

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

Ron Hartman: Who needs the NBA anyway?
                                                                                    
Saturday, November 7, 1998                                              
                                                                              
Daily News
                                                                          
This used to be one of the best times of the year. The                              
start of the NBA season. Hoops, hoops and more hoops. A                  
basketball junkie's delight.
                                                                             
Those days are long gone.                                                    

Having already endured more greed-oriented work
stoppages than we care to remember, America's sports
fans are saying "uncle." They've had enough.

That's why they've adopted the attitude that the NBA
owners and players can go stuff their disagreements,
and not into a basket.

After all, we still have the aftertaste of a savory
baseball season, and football is serving up its usual
amount of drama and excitement. Hockey season is in
full swing now and college basketball - which is far
more entertaining than the NBA anyway - begins today.

So who needs the NBA? The lockout now is in its 130th
day, but does anybody really care if a settlement is
reached soon?

Gee, just think of all the great storylines this NBA
season will have to offer, if and when it ever starts.

Won't it be interesting to see who wins the Latrine
Sprewell Sweepstakes? A number of teams, including the
Miami Heat, are said to be in the hunt for the services
of the poor, misunderstood Sprewell, who still can't
believe that the league had the audacity to suspend him
for trying to choke his coach.

Of course, part of the problem was Sprewell's agent,
Art Tellem, who was sued by Sprewell last week because
- get this - Tellem failed to include a personal
conduct insurance clause in Spre's contract.

Had such a clause been written in, Sprewell could have
attacked his coach in good conscience, knowing that he
had a get-out-of-jail-free card at his disposal.
                                                       
Sprewell might be an extreme example, but the NBA in
recent years seems to have become a breeding ground for
spoiled jerks who think they can live above the law and
laugh all the way to the bank.

To the league's credit, there are several great players
who just happen to be terrific human beings. David
Robinson, Michael Jordan, Grant Hill, Karl Malone and
John Stockton not only are among the game's top
players, they're also the kind of role models we're
glad to have our children looking up to.

But then's there's the Allen Iversons, Nick Van Exels
and Chris Webbers of the world. They see the NBA as
their playground, and their only interest is showing
the world their playground skills.

Because of guys like that, the game really has gone
downhill. It's not basketball the way the game was
meant to be played.

With few exceptions, teams no longer work the ball
around, setting screens and running plays in an effort
to get high-percentage shots.

How many times lately have you watched an NBA game that
looked like a bunch of 1-on-1 games within the game?
Everybody wants to Be Like Mike, and style points seem
to matter more than the actual points on the
scoreboard.

Who needs that?

So let the players and owners continue to slug it out.
Everyone's predicting a settlement before Christmas,
but who knows? Maybe the whole season will have to be
scrapped.

It would serve them right.

Entire contents © 1998 Naples Daily News. All rights reserved.
Published in Naples, Florida. A Scripps Howard newspaper.