Even true NBA fans have to admit there are moments during the season (like early December, late January, and March) that it is easy to lose interest. I want to respect the integrity of the game (and the money) for a long regular season. However, the problem for the NBA and all professional leagues minus football is how do design a structure to keep fans and players interest from October through April. Similar to the NFL the goal should be to have activity in all months with highlights that jump off the table. Let’s take a look.
October – Opening Week
The NBA already does a good job of kicking off the season with a series of games to open the season. In many ways the opening week should sell itself and doesn’t need extra bells and whistles to kick it off. Let’s not screw it up.
November – Commissioner’s Cup
I am just going to build on the idea from Commissioner Silver. The first two division games are played in November. The best record in those division games only makes the tournament and games are part of regular season. The week after thanksgiving, the top 2 teams get a bye and the other teams host first round games on Tuesday. Thursday games hosted by top 2 teams then championship game held the following Tuesday. First Tuesday in December there is nothing on the calendar now we NBA games get a feature game with nothing else on the calendar.
Will the first year feeling like we are celebrating the sun coming up in the summer. Probably. But give it a chance to build. The concept of multiple trophies works in soccer and over time can have a similar impact. Winning the end of year title will always be better but this can mean something. I think golf is a great model to follow here. With the Ryder Cup, President’s Cup, Players Championship, and Tour Playoffs they have added other items on the calendar besides the majors to care about. This gives a great push at the beginning of the season and interest in November games like never before.
And one last thought for motivation. Winner gets the #10 pick in the NBA draft along with additional compensation for the winning organization and team. Now we might have the players and fans attention. This gives a championship caliber team the ability to add a top 10 pick and pick 15-20 spots earlier in the draft. Sometimes we should reward being a good competitive organization.
December – Christmas Day Spectacular – again it works let’s not screw it up.
New Years Single Elimination Tournament (Title to be named later but open for ideas)
Top 6 teams from previous season with 2 wildcards make a single elimination tournament hosted in Las Vegas for first 5 years then adding other host cities to bid after that. Picture future sites like San Diego, Seattle, or Nashville dipping their feet in the water for NBA basketball. Also, the key is getting players to want to attend. One further bonus, for all other NBA teams this becomes a bye week. As soon as I wrote this LeBron, Kyrie, and Kawai already agreed and will start lobbying not to play while enjoying the week-off at the 1/3 mark of the NBA season.
As the NFL regular season is wrapping up and the college basketball season is not in full swing this is another perfect time to own the calendar. By closing the NBA season it becomes a travel opportunity for the NBA family for those not enjoying the family time. My money is 90% make it to Vegas similar to the NBA summer league. Quarterfinals on Tuesday and Wednesday, Semifinals on Friday, championship game on Monday night with literally no other sporting event on the calendar. Tell me the ratings are not through the roof. If this is 2022, picture an early preview of the NBA finals of Nets/Lakers. Or 76ers (still trying to trade Ben Simmons) win 2 games and playing the Suns will all trade rumors circulating.
February – All-Star Game, Slam-Dunk, 3 point contest, Rookie game, and whatever else they add that year
March – the special location games weekend
Each team forfeits one game every other year for a special location game. As we have seen in recent years with MLB going to the Field of Dreams and Williamsport and NHL outdoor games everywhere opens up the numerous possibilities. How about the Sixers playing a game at the Palestra, Charlotte playing at Cameron Indoor or the Dean Dome, Toronto playing at the Forum in Montreal?, Detroit playing at Michigan or Michigan State, Outdoor game in LA, Thunder at Phog Allen not sure anything can top Pacers playing at Hinkle Field House. To expand further. Outdoor game in LA? I think every team can find a special place.
How would it work. After the first week of the NCAA tournament, the NBA starts 2 weeks of these games at special sites. Every night has 2 sites of action. Fans would not watch every game but the curiosity factor would bring in casual fans along with college fans excited to see the venues and the diehards looking for something different. I would be pumped to see the raucous environment at all of these places. The key is also the calendar. Baseball still in spring training, brackets already busted at Sweet 16, NFL Draft 2 months away, and hockey playoffs still weeks away.
Beg April – Play in Tournament – absolutely keeps interest in the last 2-3 weeks as teams make the final drive to the play-offs.
I think these ideas keep the integrity of the regular season while also driving us to the action. Although playing for the NBA championship is still the ultimate goal, these adaptations can keep the modern day consumer passionate about the games. We need to remember the NBA is entertainment to 98% of the audience and we have many options. Rather than binge watch programs we can stay glued to the sets. And the true test of it working will be when teams get measure by doing the Triple Crown of the seasons titles similar to soccer in several countries. Trust me LeBron would want it.
Hoops With Holly 