Нью-Йорк Никс цувралын тав дахь тоглолтод Сан-Антонио Спөрсийг буулган авснаар 1973 оноос хойших анхны аваргын цомоо хүртлээ.
НБА-гийн финал сүүлийн 30 жилд байгаагүй өндөр үзэгчтэй, ширүүн өрсөлдөөнтэй болж өндөрлөлөө. Нью-Йорк Никс цувралыг 4-1 харьцаатайгаар тэргүүлж аваргалсан бөгөөд шийдвэрлэх тоглолтод Жэйлен Брунсон 45 оноо авч, цувралын үнэ цэнтэй тоглогчоор тодорсон юм. Спөрс цувралын турш олон удаа хоёр оронтой тооны зөрүүгээр тэргүүлж байсан ч туршлага дутсанаас болж хожигдлоо.
Лигийн удирдлагууд энэхүү эрч хүчийг үргэлжлүүлж, улирлын тоглолтуудын чанарыг сайжруулах томоохон сорилттой нүүр тулж байна. Сүүлийн жилүүдэд тоглогчдын ачааллыг зохицуулах нэрийн дор гол одод тоглолтыг өнжих нь үзэгчдийн сонирхлыг бууруулах гол шалтгаан болж байгааг мэргэжилтнүүд онцолж байна. Кэвин Дурант улирлын урт хугацаанд зарим тоглолт үзүүштэй бус байх нь жам ёсны зүйл хэмээн байр сууриа илэрхийлсэн ч лигийн ирээдүйн төлөө одуудыг талбайд тогтмол гаргах нь нэн чухал байна.
Одоогийн байдлаар лигт бэртэл гэмтлийн улмаас тоглолт өнжих явдал дээд цэгтээ хүрээд байгаа нь шүтэн бишрэгчдийн сэтгэл дундуур байх гол шалтгаан болж байна. Адам Силвер болон лигийн удирдлагууд энэ асуудлыг шийдвэрлэхийн тулд олон талт арга хэмжээ авч байгаа боловч тоглогчдын эрүүл мэндийг хамгаалах болон үзэгчдийн хүлээлтийг хангах тэнцвэрийг олох нь хамгийн хүндрэлтэй даалгавар болоод байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
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The NBA is on a mini heater. The interest in the NBA Finals was off the charts —as evidenced by the fact that it was the highest-rated series in nearly 30 years. The games were competitive, the intensity on the floor was palpable and the play was captivating. Most importantly, fans all over the world were entertained by the product.
It was a far cry from the slog of the regular season.
While the NBA can’t guarantee that the New York Knicks are going to snap a 53-year championship drought every year, the finals were a reminder that the league, at its best, can captivate a global audience and produce joy for millions of fans. They were also a reminder of just how dull the regular season has become. The intensity generated throughout the last two months of the postseason can’t be expected every single night all year, but if the NBA can’t capitalize on the energy the Knicks’ title run created and narrow the gap between playoff excitement and regular-season apathy, much of the goodwill the league has built up recently will fade quickly.
The NBA must take advantage of this rare momentum.
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Intensity radiated throughout the playoffs. There was legitimate buzz — much of it centered on 22-year-old San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, who appears destined to become the next face of the league when LeBron James and Stephen Curry retire. TV ratings are up year over year, thanks in large part to the league’s renewed partnership with NBC and regular appearances on network television every week. Billions of dollars are flowing into the game through the NBA’s new TV deal, with even more money likely on the horizon thanks to expansion fees.
That hot streak should gain even more steam in a couple weeks when commissioner Adam Silver welcomes a talented new draft class into the league — followed by the interest that surrounds a possible Giannis Antetokounmpo trade — and what could be the final year of James’ legendary career next season.
All of it comes after a regular season marred by a tanking epidemic so widespread that Silver implemented new rules going into next season, an ongoing gambling saga and a controversy surrounding the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard. The league has to find a way to fix an issue that has been hovering around it for several years: How do you make 82-regular season games feel more meaningful?
The NBA has spent years searching for answers. It acknowledged the issue, in part, almost four years ago when it introduced the NBA In-Season Tournament and tried to drum up interest into early regular-season games. The Knicks recently became the first team to ever win the NBA Cup and finals in the same year this season. But the results of the tournament itself have had mixed results to this point, with many league observers wondering if the logistical issues created by the tournament, specifically the schedule issues it creates for many teams, is doing more harm than good to the league’s calendar. The league deserves credit for identifying the problem and trying to do something about it. But the larger questions about the product remain. Every problem that Silver and his team continue to try and find an answer to is laced with the undertones of two words: load management.
The resting of players isn’t going away, particularly as sports science continues to emphasize recovery and injury prevention. The impact of load management on the NBA has been long-lasting and harmful to the product. The league is littered with examples of how load management has changed the game ever since longtime San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich rested Tim Duncan and several of his team’s top stars before a nationally televised contest in 2012.
After nearly 20 years covering the NBA, one game sticks with me. It came in December 2022, on the second night of a back to back for the Brooklyn Nets. After a tough home win the night before over the Atlanta Hawks, the Nets traveled to Indianapolis to face the Pacers the following night.
The next morning, they surprised everyone by revealing that eight players would sit out, including stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who didn’t even travel with the team . The Nets were ultimately fined $25,000 for the decision, but the damage had already been done.
The atmosphere inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse that night dimmed. There wasn’t much excitement in the building, despite the fact that the game was close until the end. Fans had paid to see Durant and Irving play in their final regular-season trip of the year through Indianapolis. When neither player took the floor, it felt like air had been let out of the arena.
I’ve asked Durant several times over the years whether the league should do more to improve the regular season. Each time, he has been steadfast in his feeling that he believes the product itself is in a good place. I asked him the same question earlier this season and got a similar response.
“Hell nah, man,” Durant told The Athletic. “We’re playing so many games, man. There’s gonna be times, there’s gonna be some tough games, there’s gonna be some unwatchable games. It’s just the grind of basketball, you know what I’m saying? It’s going to be some tough games. It’s going to be some times when guys get injured. It’s going to be where your favorite players might not be in the lineup. It’s a six-month season. We play a high intensity, the highest level of basketball. I would just tell the fans to just go through the journey with us. Understand that it’s gonna be some ebbs and flows and understand that it’s not gonna all be perfect.”
Durant’s point is fair. NBA superstars aren’t machines. They aren’t superhuman. They have ups and downs just like everybody else. The schedule is packed, especially considering the game is played at a faster pace than even a decade ago.
But the answer in trying to figure out the way in which to get the regular season back on track is for the league to do everything it can to keep its biggest stars healthy and on the floor. The game is faster, the players are more explosive and soft-tissue injuries have become increasingly common. It’s why Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has been outspoken about his desire to see the NBA cut down the amount of regular-season games to try and better preserve player health.
Injuries will always be part of the sport. But injuries to marquee players are what the league can’t afford in order to change the tenor of the regular season. Stars sell the tickets, drive the story clicks and generate the most interest. Michael Jordan, regarded by many as the greatest player who ever lived, averaged 38.3 minutes a game and 71.5 games a year over his 15 NBA seasons, according to Statmuse. For comparison’s sake, Durant is averaging 36.7 minutes a game and 66.7 games a season as he enters his 19th NBA year next season. James has averaged 70.5 games per season and 37.6 minutes a game after 23 years in the league.
The greats are often defined by their consistency — and their durability — although both the 37-year-old Durant and 41-year-old James have dealt with a variety of different setbacks as their respective careers have wound down. The larger issue for the league is that other star players are dealing with more injuries than ever before. Big names like Antetokounmpo and Wembanyama missed significant time this year due to injuries. Earlier this year, the league was on track to set a new record for games missed.
The league has taken steps to address tanking, but curbing that problem alone won’t stop injury issues that are just as much a part of the growing apathy that many fans feel towards the regular season. If star players continue to miss stretches due to injury, fans will still feel disconnected from the final product they see. And why not? They spend their time and money to watch the league’s biggest stars.
If those stars can’t stay on the floor consistently, the momentum the NBA has built over the last two months could disappear far more quickly than it arrived.
