National Basketball Association - 1949-2004 - RIP

The NBA is dying a slow death. Ron Artest asks for 2 months of vacation, in the beginning of the season, so he can promote the release of his rap album. Vince Carter is told he can no longer wear his IPOD during warmup. And most recently, the Pistons and Pacers - and the fans - are involved in perhaps the most vicious brawl in sports history. So who is to blame? The millionaire athletes for behaving like children? The coaches for failing to properly punish their players? The owners for encouraging such behavior with big dollar contracts to accused criminals? The league for allowing the problem to fester for this long? College coaches for encouraging this behavior at a young age? The fans for continuing to shell out dollars despite the rapidly declining value of the product?

While it would be easier to find one scapegoat on which to lay all of the blame, the answer is - all of the above.

COLLEGE COACHES

Imagine, for a second, that you have spent the first 18 years of your life in a lower -to-middle class urban neighborhood. Your high school was underfunded; half of the teachers had been let go and the textbooks were outdated and falling apart. Luckily for you, your basketball coach saw to it that you'd graduate on time, despite missing loads of classes for practice and road trips. A few months later, after being heavily recruited by a dozen schools, you begin life as a college freshman on a full basketball scholarship. You are given a class schedule, but all of your teammates have told you not to bother worrying about such trivial things like homework and exams. "They'll pass you," they whisper during practice. You are given odd jobs, for which you are rewarded with cash, cars, and jewelry. You are being treated like royalty, all for playing basketball.

And we expect these kids to say no? "No thanks, coach. You keep that hundred thousand dollars. I'm here to go to class and graduate in four years." That's asking a bit much. These college coaches play a key role in shaping the futures of these young men, but when it comes right down to it, they'd rather win.

ATHLETES

Of course, laying the blame on the college coaches shouldn't take away from the fact that these athletes are adults, and they should be expected to act like it. Sure, the fans are wrong to throw anything onto the court, but barreling into the crowd and throwing punches is not an appropriate response. These guys are biting the hand that feeds them, and if they don't improve their behavior, they'll be left wondering what happened to a once flourishing franchise.

OWNERS/LEAGUE OFFICIALS

A central factor behind many of the NBA's problems is that the people running it (ie: rich white businessmen) can't identify with the people playing in it (rich black men). You can govern a people that you don't understand. Instead of wasting your time - and ours - fussing over a player listening to his IPOD during practice, perhaps you should be worrying about the well-being and maturation of your players. They are the business' biggest asset - without them, the owners have nothing. Wouldn't it be smart to treat them like equals instead of children?

These days, the league seems to have all of their priorities out of whack. Players can return from rape trials and murder trials and be treated like basketball royalty. But don't you dare think of disagreeing with the ref on the court or you'll be tossed from the game. Inconsistencies like these makes the current incarnation of the sport nearly unwatchable.

COACHES

Like college coaches, NBA coaches' ability to properly punish their players is clouded by a desire to win. While fans would prefer to see Ron Artest on the floor, it's for the betterment of the league if he is properly punished for stepping out of line. Too often coaches let despicable behavior slide because a punishment would hurt the team's chances. But to save their team, they just might be killing their sport.

FANS

Yes, fans. We share a bit of the blame here as well. We still buy Artest jerseys. We still buy overpriced tickets to go watch our favorite team. We bought Denis Rodman's book. By opening our wallets, we're sending the message that their behavior is acceptable, and for this reason, we must be held accountable.


Here's the part of the article where a call to action is described and a solution is laid out. If only it were that simple. The aforementioned parties have let things get out of hand on their end, and after the way events unfolded on Friday night, it appears as though it's too late.

The NBA is survived by commissioner David Stern and a lot of disappointed fans.