There are lots of changes the NBA could implement to make games interesting. However, not all of them are realistic. For example, we’re never getting those moving hoops from the All Sport commercials feature Shaquille O’Neal. But let’s do something already.
The NBA has more talent than at any other point in its 75-year history. It is also brutal to watch. Just like in baseball, analytics has essentially created a game which is outcome driven. And since there is a finite way to reach those outcomes, most teams styles and strategies are all quite similar.
Sure, you have some unique players out there, but homogenization across basketball is a real problem. Especially with LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry all on the wrong side of 30. Nobody wants to watch a sport in which everyone does the same things. It is why nine of the ten most viewed NBA games in 2021 feature at least one of the Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets or Los Angeles Lakers.
For the sake of the league, changes need to be made by the NBA immediately to make games interesting. If not, well at least MLB will have some company.
3 changes the NBA should implement immediately to make games interesting
1) Make the court wider
The width and length of an NBA court is the same today as it was in the 1940s. That is freaking stupid. No one back then knew how far players would develop in terms of talent and athleticism. Just about everything in basketball has evolved over the years apart from the court dimensions.
There isn’t really much of a reason to increase the length, but NBA courts desperately need to be wider. For starters, this would eliminate the cheap corner three and maybe even allow for the three-point line to be moved out further. More importantly, faster and more athletic players would have more room to operate. That would, in theory, require new offensive and defensive strategies as team recalibrate what was value.
2) Make the regular season matter
Adam Silver has floated a ridiculous mid-season NBA tournament for a while now, but all the proposal does is highlight a much larger problem. The regular season doesn’t matter. Not only that, but the league seems to have no idea on how to make people care about it.
Instead of contriving a new competition no one is asking for, how about giving purpose to the 82 games each team must play every season? There is no clear answer to solving this problem so the league may need to get creative, such as offering a financial incentive to teams for each win.
Related: The NBA mid-season tournament is an unbelievably dumb idea
3) Get rid of the gather step
If you have ever watched an NBA highlight featuring a dunk on social media, you already know what happens in the comment section. Half of the commenters point out how the player traveled, and the other half tries to explain what the gather step is. It’s obvious that no one knows what the hell is going on.
Just get rid of the gather step and make the rule on travel clear. Right now, refs don’t call it because they don’t understand it. That is not a good rule.
Also Interesting: The one play that sums up everything people hate about the NBA
