For NBA fans

[The One]

This isn't really a problem for the NBA. It's always been this way. 80's you had Celtics and Lakers, with the 76ers and Pistons sprinkled on the outside.

90's you had the Bulls and the 2 years the Rockets won without MJ.

00's you had the Spurs and Lakers, followed by the birth of Superteams in the Boston Celtics.

2010's you had the Heat/LeBron era mixed with the Warriors.

The reason the NBA has soared regardless of little parity is because individuals matter 20x more compared to other sports, especially the NFL. Dont get me wrong, there are quite a few (including prognosticators and analysts) people who thought the season was boring, but there were many people who still liked to watch greatness (however it was formed). Curry, Durant, Kyrie, LeBron...average fans care more about them than their teams. The NBA knows this, and while they would like more parity, at this moment they don't need it.

Precisely. I couldn't have said it any better.

[Hulky]

Another noob NBA question, but how is this different than before mid-1990s NFL? 49ers, Cowboys, and Steelers monopolized talent. NBA is just amplified because there is only 5 guys on the field. But peak NFL 49ers had Montana (MVP) with Young (MVP) backing him up with Rice (GOAT) catching. Then shit like Haley flipping sides threw off the balance between the superteams. Then Cowboys/Steelers in the 70s was like every superbowl unless the Raiders from the AFC or Vikings from the NFC could slip in over the Steelers/Cowboys in the championship game.

[Blexican]

Another noob NBA question, but how is this different than before mid-1990s NFL? 49ers, Cowboys, and Steelers monopolized talent. NBA is just amplified because there is only 5 guys on the field. But peak NFL 49ers had Montana (MVP) with Young (MVP) backing him up with Rice (GOAT) catching. Then shit like Haley flipping sides threw off the balance between the superteams. Then Cowboys/Steelers in the 70s was like every superbowl unless the Raiders from the AFC or Vikings from the NFC could slip in over the Steelers/Cowboys in the championship game.

The simplest way to answer this question is the spending of money vs. draft and develop.(in some situations.) The gathering of players from separate teams to all sign to one team. For the example of Jerry Rice/Montana/Steve Young this wasn't the case. Montana and Rice were drafted by the 49ers while Steve Young came in via trade when he wasn't MVP yet.

This(would be more like if Tom Brady and Antonio Brown signed with the Dallas Cowboys, forming a big 3(or big 4 if you like Dez) with Ezekiel Elliot. The "this" is referring to the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics situation of a "Big 3".

The Warriors to me are a completely different situation. They drafted and developed a lot of guys that didn't simply just get signed there. The one exception being KD, which I personally have no problems with. Thats another whole discussion.

[Hulky]

The simplest way to answer this question is the spending of money vs. draft and develop.(in some situations.) The gathering of players from separate teams to all sign to one team. For the example of Jerry Rice/Montana/Steve Young this wasn't the case. Montana and Rice were drafted by the 49ers while Steve Young came in via trade when he wasn't MVP yet.

This(would be more like if Tom Brady and Antonio Brown signed with the Dallas Cowboys, forming a big 3(or big 4 if you like Dez) with Ezekiel Elliot. The "this" is referring to the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics situation of a "Big 3".

The Warriors to me are a completely different situation. They drafted and developed a lot of guys that didn't simply just get signed there. The one exception being KD, which I personally have no problems with. Thats another whole discussion.

How is it different than Charles Haley, Deion Sanders, and Ken Norton Jr flipping sides to throw off the balance of the NFC then?

[bludhoundz]

The reason the NBA has soared regardless of little parity is because individuals matter 20x more compared to other sports, especially the NFL. Dont get me wrong, there are quite a few (including prognosticators and analysts) people who thought the season was boring, but there were many people who still liked to watch greatness (however it was formed). Curry, Durant, Kyrie, LeBron...average fans care more about them than their teams. The NBA knows this, and while they would like more parity, at this moment they don't need it.

I wasn't saying they were gonna go out of business or lose fans in any significant way.

But it is a problem to some extent, even if they're still doing great by all the measurables and metrics. How many people were salty when KD went to the Warriors (and still are)? Greatness is cool and all, but it sorta just sucks that a ton of the games during the regular season have almost no significance at all. You can argue this is the same in other sports, but it certainly isn't nearly as drastic. And it's hard to argue that that doesn't make a season more boring than it would be if there was greatness contained but there existed more competition.

[Hulky]

'88 Charles Haley 49er SB Champ
'89 Charles Haley 49er SB Champ
'92 Charles Haley, Ken Norton Jr Cowboys SB Champs (49ers lost NFC Championship to Cowboys)
'93 Charles Haley, Ken Norton Jr Cowboys SB Champs (49ers lost NFC Championship to Cowboys)
'94 Ken Norton Jr, Deion Sanders 49er SB Champs (Cowboys lost NFC Championship to 49ers)
'95 Charles Haley, Deion Sanders Cowboys SB Champs

[Spencer 555]

Hulky. The gsw in comparison to the NFL is like having prime Walter Peyton at rb, prime jerry rice x3 (however many wr on a team there are) at WR, Tony Gonzalez at TE, a bunch of solid players at every other position and then prime tom Brady signs with the team to replace the mediocre quarterback.

1 mvp basketball player is worth several mvp baseball, hockey, football players because of the influence they can have on the game. In every single basketball game, there are hundreds of possessions and each star player can play up to 90% of those possessions.

[Blexican]

Hulky. The gsw in comparison to the NFL is like having prime Walter Peyton at rb, prime jerry rice x3 (however many wr on a team there are) at WR, Tony Gonzalez at TE, a bunch of solid players at every other position and then prime tom Brady signs with the team to replace the mediocre quarterback.

1 mvp basketball player is worth several mvp baseball, hockey, football players because of the influence they can have on the game. In every single basketball game, there are hundreds of possessions and each star player can play up to 90% of those possessions.

The difference is that the GSW built the splash brothers and draymond green through good drafting and development. Not their wallets. This is not a situation where multiple stars agree to sign to one team. It was one star who made a FA decision to join an mvp player in his prime. People are overreacting by saying GSW "paid" for a championship.

Spencer makes a solid point about influence. Not being on the field equals to 0 influence during roughly half the game in the NFL. In the NBA a star plays as much as 90%+ of the game and influences arguably every single possession in a giant way. Including when the other team has the ball.

[Spencer 555]

Ya in my example I was pretending everyone other then tom Brady was under contract and home grown

[The Professor]

I wasn't saying they were gonna go out of business or lose fans in any significant way.

But it is a problem to some extent, even if they're still doing great by all the measurables and metrics. How many people were salty when KD went to the Warriors (and still are)? Greatness is cool and all, but it sorta just sucks that a ton of the games during the regular season have almost no significance at all. You can argue this is the same in other sports, but it certainly isn't nearly as drastic. And it's hard to argue that that doesn't make a season more boring than it would be if there was greatness contained but there existed more competition.

It's only a problem if the NBA starts losing money, and that doesn't look to be happening anytime soon. The NFL has a bad image problem right now with some of its players, not to mention concussions. MLB is Americas pastime and clearly the third most popular sport in North America.

You may have been bored as were others, but so many more were entertained at the prospect of seeing LeBron lose, GS go through the playoffs perfect, or just as enanmored in seeing their favorite players. The NBA is about players, not teams as weird as it sounds. It wasn't the Chicago Bulls that made the NBA popular, or Celtics/Lakers, it was Michael, Larry, and Magic.

The NBAs worst problem right now is GS being so good, yet that leads to discussions about best team ever and how good is Kevin Durant really or Steph Curry etc etc. Pretty soon we're going to have the draft and Free Agency which is arguably the best offseason period of any sports because again, players matter so much more in the NBA than players do in Football or MLB.

If you're argument at the end of day is that it's a problem because some fans don't like it, then yeah it is. But the NBAs popularity will continue to rise, not fall. It will continue to make money, not lose it. So in the end it's not really a problem.