₦airaland Forum

But we dey underrate AD too much o. I know the age difference matters but AD is a top 3 two way player in this league. Add a first and Max Christie to it. Na that Max Christie even pain me pass sef. That kid was becoming a fine rotation player for us .

birdman:
This feels like a post Lebron Laker move, a superstar for the future. I felt like Lakers should be going big, not small

Same here. That's why there's is rumour of LeBron wanting out too

Another thing to note is the Jazz got Hood-Schifino and a couple of 2nd round picks in this trade. They can't be receiving all that if they're not giving something out. My guess is we'll hear the Kessler to Lakers news in a couple of hours to days. The Lakers still have a 1st to make this work. And a guard or wing might be coming with him. Sexton??

I like this trade, but If the Lakers don't add a legit big man that can anchor the defense, then this season is over. This is a trade for the future, whether or not LeBron is a part of it.

But by and large, LA would be LA, and we'll always be able to attract the biggest superstars. Never forget that.

Siakam made all-star over Trae Young, Jalen Johnson and Franz Wagner. Omo

Trae Young is the most disrespected player in the league.

Warriors therapy in 1...2...3

larride:
This year MVP is locked down for Jokic.

You spelt SGA wrong

greypencils:
I will be the one. All stars for the East is on point. The West is Shyte. Curry, KD & Bron have got no reason to be first team. AD should have been. Not Bron. Doncic too instead of Curry.

By the way, Shai has got a big obstacle on his road to being MVP.

Lol. But you really can't blame the OGs for dropping all-star performances. My only issue here is Steph. Steph has largely been shite this season. And his team has been shite as well. I guess we can just agree it's a legacy all-star selection. Superstars are usually afforded one or two selections after their decline.

I ain't gon be the one to say it

Well that felt good. Always nice to beat the boys in green.

Hohenheim:
Nah, but imagine Jokic having the same number of MVPs as LeBron tho.

He already has more than Steph, KD, Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, Hakeem, Giannis, Big O, and same amount with Bird and Magic. So LeBron won't be the first

birdman:
This has nothing to do with the commissioner. The players, by branching into social media are keeping NBA alive in popular culture. It wasnt the commisioners idea.

As for the money you are talking about, that is easy to explain. One local fortune 100 company can buy season tickets to cover price of every other seat in the arena. So you have the revenue, yeah, but lost viewership. The corporate execs dont even like the game like that, they use the tickets to woo investors and keep up company morale when needed. Those seats will be empty sometimes sef.

I will say again, nobody cares about midseason tournament or whatever. Who won last year? If not that you are a laker fan, you will struggle to remember. At best, Silver is a game manager, nothing visionary about him.

I'm just giving you reasons why fans would want ho watch them

Hohenheim:
SGA for MVP, not trying to hear no Jokic nonsense

You fed up of the triple dubs?

birdman:
Reread what I wrote baba. Almost everything you just listed is exactly what I was talking about. In the middle of triple or quadruple revenue, the core fan base is not able to watch as many games, and they are complaining about 3pt spamming, etc.

As I said earlier, the commissioner is marketing the NBA as a safe product for corporations with deep money. But the grassroots appeal has taken a hit. Oga commissioner even tried to take off the iconic NBA on TNT, in other words, dollars over culture. These things you listed, 90% of them are not bold moves, just revenue making opportunities. Who cares about in season tournament? If they stopped doing play-ins today, nobody will cry.

They cant even market the new superstars properly, because they have to consider if it is safe for corporate eyes. You chase money long enough, you get a watered down product, and then the money eventually dries up.

Statitistics show the in-season tournament and play-in has drawn more viewership, so I say it's a bold move.

Who would want to put his money into something that isn't fruitful? It all start with viewership. If no one is watching, big businesses wouldn't put their money into it. The eyes bring the money. I can guarantee you there are more illegal streamers of the NBA in China than there are legal watchers in America. You yourself, how many times have you watched the NBA legally this season? Do you have league pass? Even if you do, how many people do? Me I don't have. Bro, the NBA themselves know illegal streaming is good for their business in terms of popularity, maybe not in terms of finance. The NFL, with all their ratings, is not as global as the NBA. And the reason is simple...American football is a very boring sport. Only Americans enjoy the NFL. It's harder to get an illegal stream for an NFL game than it is for an NBA game.

You have to understand that marketing the NBA doesn't end on the court. It's in the lifestyle too. The paparazzi. The merchandise. NBA players are the most popular athletes out of America. They have the loudest voice and largest following. All these things are why companies are putting their money into the game

birdman:
Name them, lets see what you mean by large scale. Large scale for who? is another way to summarize what I said

In-season tournament, Play-in tournament, coaches challenge, new CBA, 67 games minimum to qualify for awards, on-court rule changes like take foul, etc

All these changes mentioned have improved the NBA in one way or the other. The NBA' s revenue has tripled during Silver's 10 year tenure, and teams values have increased 8 folds

birdman:
The current commissioner was a safe pick when the old one (RIP) retired. The NBA finally had the same rep with corporate america like NFL and MLB, leaving NHL behind . They had weeded out the Allen Iversons, Jailblazers etc. Adam Silver was the right man to keep that ship in the right direction, dont rock the boat and lose billions in sponsorships.

Unfortunately, his strength is also his weakness. He is not the big bold ideas kind of guy like David Stern was. A liitle adjustment here, a tiny rule change there, thats what he is comfortable with. Even when he goes big, its corporate big, playing games in London and the likes. I am yet to see him do something that the basic, regular NBA fan is really enthusisatic about.

Bro, there have been literally more large-scale changes in Silver's era than Stern's.

What are the Kings cooking?

larride:
After going 2/12 from 3s when he had 5/7 from the rim. Classical example of what A40 was saying. 2/12 is diabolical.

Nice how you sidestep the 3point argument to talk about rebound.

What is he averaging for the season is the question. We've seen players shoot poorly even when they're shooting only 2s.

greypencils:
So to you, when a player is fouled, the ref should swallow the whistle. That is you. Fouls are part of basketball. The player expends energy and effort to get to the rim hence the foul. It is that energy & effort viewers want to see. It's fun when the 3s are made. It's a nice rush of adrenaline. But if you know you can't shoot 40% and above. Bleep it! Get to the paint to get your team going.

I don't see this same energy when the Lakers get a ton of FTs against the Warriors or any other team for that matter

greypencils:
That is why Shai is the reference and rallying point for basketball right now. Shai would thoroughly entertain you by getting to the rim,
his midrange and spicing it up with a sprinkling of 3s. He could spam 3s if he wanted to. [b]HE CAN. But he doesn't because it just doesn't make sense. [/b]Your 3s are not falling yet you keep throwing them. Fuckin get to the rim.

It doesn't make sense to who, you?

Shai averaged 3.6 3pt attempts per game last year. This year he's averaging 6. Can you see the trend? Jokic is up to 4.7 from 2.9 and is shooting 48% up from 36%. Now if it were you, would you shoot more 3s or less. The game is all about analytics these days. You can't find a clear advantage and not leverage on it as much as you can. There's so much money involved these days to not take any advantage you see.

It's aimple. If you don't want to watch the NBA because they're taking too many threes according to you, go watch the NHL. Or better still, go watch the National Lacrosse League. I can't understand why you can't go with the times. 3pt is part of the game, so if a team decides to take half of its shots from the 3pt line, it's all fair game. Teams are looking for ways to win games and championships, not to appease the detractors. A lot of money is at stake here.

PS: Charles Barkley has no right to be criticizing today's game because his style of play didn't give him any championship

birdman:
Lebron, leave dis thing for the young kids na. Even Curry and Durant don comot. Haba, this is some Mugabe type runs

Lol. One last start. Just because he's the king

birdman:
One bad game, you dropped the guy with vexation. Sometimes you have to forgive and forget

Nah. I looked at the whole thing and I realized he wasn't giving anything I couldn't get from the others.

Any objections?

birdman:
We are the new grizzlies, I like that . But we wont crash and burn, because we got rid of our only knucklehead KPJ. We look forward to upsetting one of these old teams come playoffs!

With VanVleet that can go 2/15 without blinking

SGA is coming. He should win the MVP this season.

greypencils:
You mean Hartenstein on AD. Go through that OKC squad again. These boys are younger. LA is old & banged up. No way Lebron & AD winning OKC even with the younger role players.

We have young role players too bro. Max, Reaves, Dalton, Rui, Hayes, Vando, Reddish. All these guys are 26 or younger. Gabe is 28 which is youngish.

I didn't say Chet would guard AD, I meant he won't out-produce AD on the offensive end.

DLo to the Nets. Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton to the Lakers. Don't know what to even feel about this trade. Who is now our playmaker off the bench, Shake? Gabe? I like DFS though.

birdman:
One good note here, previously in this type of high profile Laker games, at the end, its all on Lebron. Much props to a semi-rookie taking the opportunity this time around. These are the type of teams Lebron excels on. He is not a Jordan or Kobe type player. and will never be. His greatness comes through making others step up.

For example you cant forget that Chris Bosh rebound, that Ray Allen 3 in the finals. That moment is immortal in this game. Yet Lebron was on the court, and that is the reason that team was even in this position.

Long story short, Lakers are a sleeper team to surprise folks this year, if yall can keep the circus under control. Just avoid OKC. Otherwise

Lol. I know what this team is. 2nd round at best, especially with the injuries to our frontcourt and lineup inconsistency.

I would take OKC over Denver. There's too much trauma in Colorado. I think OKC though they're young and good, they still lack some experience. And this Lakers team, if they get some frontcourt legs back, we have some size and young legs that can match the youth of OKC. Obviously Shai would eat, but apart from that, Chet ain't outplaying AD, Dort ain't stopping Bron.

Damn that was close. What a classic Christmas game. It would have hurt if we bottled that

birdman:
Its a good opportunity for someone else to start a different league. We used to watch all these games on over the air TV as well. Now you need like 3 subscriptions if you want to catch all games. Hence the low ratings. Adding color to the floor and graphics for kids does not fix the underlying issue that is is a subpar product.

Football/soccer ends goalless at times. But they have generational fans. American football has low scoring games as well, and they also have generational fans. NBA is approaching this wrong.

This is the NBA you want us to go back to? Nah, I'll pass

I miss the days when the NBA was watchable pic.twitter.com/kD4pW66YXH

— NBA Shane (@Shane00) December 22, 2024

What really happened to the Warriors though? 51 point loss??!! Steph 2 points in 24 mins? Come on bro

But they got Schroder now so I think they'll be better.