From the cheap seats

Give the NBA a chance

Romer Bautista, staff

A Feb. 15 poll by Harris Interactive showed that, among Americans who follow more than one sport, professional football (read: the NFL) is considered by most to be their favourite. It was considered the favourite sport by 30 per cent of those who participated in the poll.

This comes as no surprise. Pro football replaced pro baseball as America’s pastime in the mid-1980s and has been the country’s favourite sport since.

Pro baseball (MLB) still holds a place close to America’s heart, however, as it came in as America’s second favourite sport, with 15 per cent of the vote. College football was third (12 per cent), auto racing was fourth (10 per cent), and hockey rounded out the top five with five per cent of the vote.

Then, finally, came men’s pro basketball (the NBA), at four per cent, just slightly ahead of men’s college basketball and men’s golf.

So, in terms of resonating within the American conscience, the NBA is on the same level as the PGA tour. I find this to be a startling result, especially considering that the NBA is showcasing a stretch of some of the best basketball in years. And what’s even greater is that the league’s top stars are all genuinely likeable. The NBA’s current ensemble of young stars — the likes of LeBron James, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard — don’t have the checkered pasts as the stars of years past. They aren’t being charged for carrying around handguns like Allen Iverson, or beating their wives like Jason Kidd, or choking their head coaches like Latrell Sprewell.

The actions of those players, along with the “Malice at the Palace” (the infamous on-court mêlée between the Detroit Pistons, the Indiana Pacers, and a bunch of drunken fans), have apparently soured the NBA’s image to the casual fan, despite occurring years ago. ESPN: the Magazine conducted a poll recently, to which 50 per cent of the respondents thought that “it’s a shame, what’s happening to the league.” The same poll also showed that casual fans feel that NBA players are less likely to respect the fans and more likely to use recreational drugs.

Yet, in the case of the MLB, at a time when both the greatest hitter and the greatest pitcher of the past two decades have surrounded themselves in a cloud of question marks and asterisks over steroids, human-growth hormones and alleged cheating, only 38 per cent feel that what’s going on in that league is a shame. Even less, 21 per cent, have the same perception on the NFL, despite actions of Michael Vick and Pacman Jones.

What worries me, however, is that, because of this undeserved, yet unshakeable misconception about the association, fans are going to miss what could be the greatest era in league history. The NBA, right now, has as much star power as ever before. We get to see some veteran superstars playing at the tail end of the peaks of their careers. We get to see players like Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash and Kevin Garnett, who in searching for their first championship rings, are playing with more fire then ever — and Tim Duncan, who, with one more ring, could cement his one of the greatest big men of all time. And we also get to see Kobe Bryant, arguably the best player of the last couple of years, and will likely continue to be in the discussion for years to come.

All likeable players, all with interesting sub-plots.

And with the crop of future super stars shining brightly already, the outlook keeps getting better. “Superman” Dwight Howard showed off his unbelievable abilities at the all-star weekend this year, while Chris Paul continues to play at an MVP level. And you’ve also got the likes of Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Yao Ming, who should continue to represent the NBA exceptionally well both on and off the court. Even Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, the two gifted rookies who were hyped to death at last year’s draft, have come off as likeable people.

And then there’s LeBron.

If there is one reason to watch the NBA for the next few years, do it so that you could be a witness. Not only is he meeting the high hopes that everyone set for him when he entered the league in 2003, he is surpassing them. He has gotten better every year; and last year, he took a sorry excuse of a supporting cast and led them to an NBA finals appearance. This year, he has evolved into a nightly triple-double threat and the most feared crunch-time scorer in the league. Trust me, I watched LeBron drop 24 on the Toronto Raptors in the fourth quarter of the Cavaliers’ 93-90 come-from-behind win. There was nothing the Raptors could have done to stop him. When LeBron wants to score, he will score.

It’s scary to think that LeBron could get even better, but the likely reality is that he will. If he adds a couple more things to his game — a go-to low-post move, for example — he will be even more unstoppable.

Just like anyone who saw Michael Jordan play in his prime is proud to say that they saw MJ in his prime, I think we’re going to reach a point where we’ll be saying the same thing about LeBron. And if that’s the case, then it is definitely something that any sports fan will not want to miss.