9 Ways To Improve The NBA

I love basketball. I love the NBA. I think NBA players are the world’s greatest athletes. But the NBA still has room to improve. These are my suggestions to make the NBA a better and more appealing league.

1. Blocking/Charge Call

They should ban the restricted area, ban the blocking call under the basket. If it isn’t a charge, let them play. Why? Because the refs can’t consistently make that call. Even when watched in replay, those plays remain a 50-50 call. It slows down the game and it kills momentum for both teams. AND…We wouldn’t have to see Joey Crawford gettin’ busy anymore

2. Double Technicals

You know what I mean: The referee sees two players bickering and gives a double technical, because he’s not sure who got the argument going. If you’re not sure, why call it anyway? In case the situation got out of hand, use the monitor and see who started it. Give the technical to the a-hole who deserves it. In case of doubt, just give it to Kevin Garnett. You know I’m right.

3. TV Time-outs

A basketball game isn’t supposed to last three hours. Every four years, we get treated to fluid, uncommercialized basketball during the Olympics and we’re reminded how good that feels. Although it’d be nice if the NBA scratched tv timeouts, the likeliness is 0. Money rules everything.

4. Technical Free Throw

I stole this idea watching an ABC broadcast where Jeff Van Gundy said it. This rule would speed up the game if opposing teams were just awarded one point when someone gets a technical foul, that means scratching the freethrows. The best freethrow shooters (85-90 FT%) take those free throws anyway. The points would be awarded to the team’s captain. Same goes for Illegal Defense Technicals.

5. Taunting

Remember when players used to dunk on someone and stared him down? Because of a couple of clowns who overacted, it was banned. I think it’s time to bring it back, because it gives the game a bigger emotional dimension. Although I have to say, when I watch those BallIsLife highlights, there’s too many young players thinking they’re THE man after a big dunk. That isn’t ‘swag’, that’s ‘douchebag’. Everybody remembers Shawn Kemp pointing right?

6. Superstar Calls

We all know they exist! The sad part is, those guys don’t need it. Over the course of a 10 year playing career, some of the NBA’s brightest stars expect calls to go their way. That’s something that needs to go, because it hurts the credibility of the game.

7. All-Star Game

With this years All-Star snubs, forget the EAST vs WEST thing, here’s my take on it:

1. Let the fans vote for the starters
2. Player  most votes: Captain of team Blue | Player 2nd most votes: Captain of team Red
3. 3rd most votes goes to Blue, 4th to red, and so on…
4. Reserves get chosen by the coaches and uses the same system as for the Starters
5. Winner of the game gets cash to donate to charity of choice

8. Small Market – Big Market teams

The salary cap in the NBA is a great thing and should be adopted by every sport in every country, because it’s fair. There’s still room to improve though! As of right now, big market teams get more revenue because of bigger tv deals (i.e.: Lakers get $ 200,000,000 for their television deal with Time Warner, so they don’t care about going over the salary cap). The NBA should make the salary cap more strict, without the many exceptions. Simply don’t allow teams to go over a certain amount. That way, teams in smaller markets will get a better opportunity to compete for a championship.

9. Guaranteed Contracts

How many times have we seen a player produce exceptionally well in a contract year and the year thereafter fall into oblivion? Non-guaranteed contracts would put a stop to these lazy players. I think a maximum length of only 3 years instead of 6 years would do the trick.

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So vote Nick for Commissioner of the NBA!