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Bill Simmons on Chris Paul

Did this really need its own thread? It couldn't go in the multi-page Chris Paul thread?
 
For the right players, it's not about cities as much as teams, uniforms, histories, owners, fans, titles … and Chris Paul cares about the right things. He's the best teammate in the league. As much as it killed me that my least favorite team landed him, the "basketball fan" side of me loved it. Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant … together? Playing across the street from my office? How cool was that? I remember when KG landed on the Celtics, one of my Lakers-fan buddies told me, "I hate KG and I hate the Celtics, but this is going to be cool."

Yes it did.
 
But BKF said that he was selfish and didn't think of other people...
 
The best point guard of his generation was switching teams, in his prime, to the Los Angeles Lakers … and only after the Celtics and Knicks failed to get him. Read that sentence again. It's what Dan Gilbert and the other Overpayers Anonymous owners will never understand. In professional basketball, history trumps everything else. It's not just about playing in Los Angeles. It's about playing for the fucking Lakers. It's about following the footsteps of Magic, Kareem, Wilt, West, Baylor and Shaq. It's about Showtime, Nicholson, the yellow jerseys, the Laker Girls, even that awful Randy Newman song. It's about that buzz before a big Laker home game, when the place is packed with celebs and eye candy, when you're the best guy on the team, when you might as well be the king of the world. When these idiots complain about a "big market/small market" disparity, it's almost like they never followed the league before they bought their teams. Of course there's a disparity! What kid doesn't grow up wanting to play for the Celtics, Lakers or Knicks?
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This pretty much incapsulates the NBA fan. This is the way the league has grown. You can like or dislike it. But every kid grows up a psuedo Laker/Celts/Knicks fan. My generation were Bulls fans.

I personally hate it, because I really can't get in to a sport if I dont have a dog in the fight. Sorry. I dont have any warm feelings for the history of the big franchises. I just don't. I would like to think that my local team may have a fighting chance in hell some day. But the NBA is constructed to kill that notion. And that keeps me very much disiniterested in the NBA.

Imagine if NFL fans were saying, wow can you imagine Peyton, Calvin Johnson, and Adrian Peterson together in New York? I'm defintiely going to root for that team!..or something to that effect.
 
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TwentyONE said:
This pretty much incapsulates the NBA fan. This is the way the league has grown. You can like or dislike it. But every kid grows up a psuedo Laker/Celts/Knicks fan. My generation were Bulls fans.

Imagine if NFL fans were saying, wow can you imagine Peyton, Calvin Johnson, and Adrian Peterson together in New York? I'm defintiely going to root for that team!..or something to that effect.
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That's just not true. And the NFL thing, that'd be horrible. I would root so hard against that team, just like I have against the Heat.

I enjoy seeing AP just bulldoze through people, and occasionally carry his team to victory. I love seeing Megatron come up big for the Lions, and help them with the run they've had this year. But put them all together and I'd want to gag.
 
Well, I'm with you. But Bill Simmons, not unlike many "true" NBA fans, is not. Thats exactly what they want to see. Even at the expense of their own team's chances to win.

And he says it right there: "what kid doesnt want to grow up playing for the Lakers Celts or Knicks."
 
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TwentyONE said:
This pretty much incapsulates the NBA fan. This is the way the league has grown. You can like or dislike it. But every kid grows up a psuedo Laker/Celts/Knicks fan. My generation were Bulls fans.

I personally hate it, because I really can't get in to a sport if I dont have a dog in the fight. Sorry. I dont have any warm feelings for the history of the big franchises. I just don't. I would like to think that my local team may have a fighting chance in hell some day. But the NBA is constructed to kill that notion. And that keeps me very much disiniterested in the NBA.

Imagine if NFL fans were saying, wow can you imagine Peyton, Calvin Johnson, and Adrian Peterson together in New York? I'm defintiely going to root for that team!..or something to that effect.
Click to expand...


Hmmm NFL is an oddity. I actually liked it better when we had stacked teams playing each other. Those 90s NFC Championship games battles with the Boys, 9ers, and Packers were awesome. The NFL is border line unwatchable these days. I don't know if it is the new rules they've instituted, or the watering down of the league, but if not for fantasy football I probably wouldn't follow it.
 
DiegoTiger said:
Hmmm NFL is an oddity. I actually liked it better when we had stacked teams playing each other. Those 90s NFC Championship games battles with the Boys, 9ers, and Packers were awesome. The NFL is border line unwatchable these days. I don't know if it is the new rules they've instituted, or the watering down of the league, but if not for fantasy football I probably wouldn't follow it.
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You may have liked it better but the ratings show that its the NBA that is now borderline unwatchable, not the NFL. The NFL keeps more markets interested longer in the season than any other sport. Thats why it is king.
 
TwentyONE said:
You may have liked it better but the ratings show that its the NBA that is now borderline unwatchable, not the NFL. The NFL keeps more markets interested longer in the season than any other sport. Thats why it is king.
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I would argue that fantasy football is why the nfl ratings are as high as they are now. Literally everyone plays it. I have buddies that don't watch any sports asking who to draft....then, since money is on the line, they tune in to see how their ray rice pick is doing.
 
that's why i don't play fantasy football. don't want to have sports related conversations with douchebags who only want to yammer about stats.
 
Wow, this article even came in at under 100 pages. I generally enjoy Simmons' stuff but his pieces have gotten so long I lose interest. This was a good read.
 
TwentyONE said:
This pretty much incapsulates the NBA fan. This is the way the league has grown. You can like or dislike it. But every kid grows up a psuedo Laker/Celts/Knicks fan. My generation were Bulls fans.

I personally hate it, because I really can't get in to a sport if I dont have a dog in the fight. Sorry. I dont have any warm feelings for the history of the big franchises. I just don't. I would like to think that my local team may have a fighting chance in hell some day. But the NBA is constructed to kill that notion. And that keeps me very much disiniterested in the NBA.

Imagine if NFL fans were saying, wow can you imagine Peyton, Calvin Johnson, and Adrian Peterson together in New York? I'm defintiely going to root for that team!..or something to that effect.
Click to expand...


I disagree with part of this statement. The nba is set up so all teams actually HAVE a chance. Who was one of the hottest, most popular teams in the NBA last year? OKC. Is OKC like LA? Or Boston? All teams live by the same cap rules. Local teams (small towns) don't have a chance is an MLB notion, but in the NBA, if the Cleveland Cav's had Lebron and the cap space to sign 2 more top tier players, guess where Lebron is playing last year? Teams will become popular when they have a chance to win a title. Is Philly small market? Nope. Is Philly as desirable as the Knicks or LA? Nope. Would Philly be more desirable if they had a top tier player, a top draft pick, and money to add 2 more top players? Yes. The owners of sixers screweed themselves out of top talent not because they are less desirable than LA, but because they chose to give their top dollars to Elton Brand and Andre Igudala.
 
Terrific article.

Really bummed for CP3.
 
Great article. Thanks for starting a thread -- I prob wouldn't have dug through the CP3 thread looking for it...honestly.
 
My point is that some of these owners need to take accountability for how their team is run, who they give major deals too, etc. It's not LA or NY's fault for being 'bigger'
 
TwentyONE said:
This pretty much incapsulates the NBA fan. This is the way the league has grown. You can like or dislike it. But every kid grows up a psuedo Laker/Celts/Knicks fan. My generation were Bulls fans.

I personally hate it, because I really can't get in to a sport if I dont have a dog in the fight. Sorry. I dont have any warm feelings for the history of the big franchises. I just don't. I would like to think that my local team may have a fighting chance in hell some day. But the NBA is constructed to kill that notion. And that keeps me very much disiniterested in the NBA.

Imagine if NFL fans were saying, wow can you imagine Peyton, Calvin Johnson, and Adrian Peterson together in New York? I'm defintiely going to root for that team!..or something to that effect.
Click to expand...

Load of bull. History isn't some all important factor. Sure some cities have an edge in free agency because they're better places for a young guy with money to live. No doubt about that, but the small markets aren't choked by the might of the large markets in the NBA. Dumb GMs get owned by smart GMs. Dumb GMs aren't willing to trade Steph or Gordon to get the best PG of his generation. Smart GMs find a way to make it happen and give up good parts to do so.

In the NBA, every several years, a franchise gets a fair chance to redefine itself and get on the right track. The smart GMs take advantage of it. The Spurs had the #1 pick and decided it was worth it to wait on David Robinson. A lesser GM may have decided it was better to get Armon Gillam, Dennis Hopson, or Reggie Williams right away. Years later, Robinson got hurt and the Spurs wisely (although classlessly) tanked the season to improve their odds of getting Tim Duncan. Lesser GMs would have considered getting multiple high picks from the Celtics instead.

Look at the 2003 draft. The Cavs took Lebron. Gilbert didn't win championships because they didn't realize Lebron needed to not be the best player. They went after several complementary players instead of going all out to bring in another star.

The Pistons needed to keep their run going. They took Darko.

The Nuggets needed a breakthrough player. They took Carmelo.

The Heat took Dwayne Wade and made him THE MAN of that franchise and brought great players in to play with him.

Do you want to know why the Bucks always suck and the Mavs had an amazing resurgence? Good ownership and the Bucks traded Dirk Nowitski and Pat Garrity to get Tractor Traylor.

The Clippers have perennially sucked because they make horrible picks. Now they have made some good picks and they're getting decent.

The Lakers/Celtics/Knicks aren't guaranteed to be great. The Knicks have been in a rut for most of my lifetime. The Lakers and Celtics had extended stretches of mediocrity. Good management trumps all else in the NBA.
 
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