Video Beat - NBA PLAYOFFS PERMITS THE REAL GAME 2 RETURN

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

For a television viewer watching an NBA game can be a chore. Too many stoppages are devoted to looking for flagrant fouls. One has to wonder if it isn't OBVIOUS why STOP a game TO LOOK… FLAGRANT… MEANS… OBVIOUS! The process drags the game on. Also the players are now more focused on their hair style and apparently trying to sell an image to the TV audience than playing basketball. Really… who cares about their hair style, tattoos and various colored neon sneakers? The NBA has lost the plot

THE NBA HAS LOST THE PLOT & LACKS DISCPLINE

Wednesday June 23, 2021

Hey, I'll tell you true as was said to me on a trip in Asia, the seventh game of between the Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks is reminiscent of how the game should and was played. The teams actually played defense and placed more effort on taking it to the rim or getting inside.

There was no instance of sissy ball here since the referees let some contact between players go by. The game went to overtime with the Bucks winning 115-111. The question is why can't the game be called the same way DURING THE REGULAR SEASON?

In today's game it seems the refs are looking for flagrant fouls since they STOP THE GAME to review a play to see if it's flagrant. Ohhhh pleaseeee! It's not brain surgery if it's not obvious then WHY LOOK FOR IT?

Out of frustration I reviewed the infamous game six of the 1980 playoffs between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers. The then Lakers rookie Magic Johnson played center, guard and forward. The situation came about due to an ankle injury to the Lakers then 7' center Kareem Abdul Jabbar in game five. Johnson turned in a stellar performance leading the Lakers to a 123-107 win and the NBA title. Johnson scored an amazing 42 points in his triple position role and was the series MVP.

It was refreshing to see the refs not calling a foul on 7' Daryl Dawkins aka Chocolate Thunder, when he backed into the Lakers forward/center Jim Chones, knocking Chones flat on his back. The players never stopped to cry, make LeBron James faces and complain… they simply continued to play the game as in NO WORRIES MATE because that's the way the game should be played. Basketball is a contact sport and not supposed to be a ballet. It's one thing to protect players it's another thing TO RUIN THE GAME.

One of the most obvious foul that WAS NEVER CALLED was when Kevin Garnett then of the Boston Celtics would stand behind an opposing player and wrap his arms around the opponents stomach. The next move was to pull the opponent down on top of him and get a foul called on then opponent for BACKING INTO Garnett. Garnett was a master of this move.

When you hear ex NBA players, now assuming the role as TV analysts, repeatedly say THE WAY THEY PLAY THE GAME TODAY, one has to wonder WHY they aren't calling out the abuse of the sacred game of basketball and letting things go by. The answer is they DON'T WANT TO BE FIRED FROM THEIR JOB. The bottom line is THEY LACK BALLS.

A point of interest came about when I was watching a game and the analyst was spot on with his analysis. When you've had my experience of interviewing NBA players during the golden era of the game from 1988-1998 I can hear a voice and recognize who it is. This analyst I couldn't identify but he was amazing and sounded like a coach with his analysis. He never talked about himself or related to his playing days he simply did the job of being an analyst and left his ego at the door.

The twist is his identity was revealed at the closing of the game and it was Greg Anthony who was a member of the 1990 NCAA champion Nevada Las Vegas team. The reason I couldn't identify his voice was because he refused to do an interview with me. The same was for his teammates Larry Johnson and Stacey Augman. All of them played in the NBA. I never had the warm and fuzzes for any of them.

The strange thing is I field produced features for the half-time radio show of the NCAA tournament games. A year later I got the job done with their college coach Jerry Tarkanian who was a really nice man who invited me to his office for the interview and was generous with his time.

Too many former NBA players now analysts forget the job of an analyst. It's not about them IT'S ABOUT THE GAME. Some of them talk about their experiences while ignoring analyzing the game. What they need to do is leave their egos at the door and take a course in broadcast journalism and then apply again for the job to get it right.

While watching the 1980 Lakers vs. 76ers championship game there were three former players that worked the game as analysts and courtside reporters. Bill Russell did an excellent job as a game analyst. Rick Barry and Hot Rod Hundley were excellent in their courtside reporting. That was then, but this is now... the I, ME, MY generation.

With that said today the NBA game in general is losing the plot. It should be about the game and not about fashion, hair styles, tattoos and acting. The league intends to review some of its rules to cut down on the acting by players to draw fouls. Hopefully they'll review more of parts of the game that have been lost to ego and by letting the inmates run the asylum. The league needs to make the game a game not an exercise in acting and EGOS. The TV viewer needs to see THE GAME.

Be Healthy... Be safe… and stay home…

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