NBA players are entertainers, and they need to perform for their audience
3:37PM EST November 30. 2012 - At least Adam Duritz was sick on that miserable, memorable night when my view on consumer confidence was forever crystallized.
The San Antonio Spurs who headed home on Thursday night rather than face the Miami Heat on TNT's grand stage can't claim the same, having done so only because coach Gregg Popovich went rogue and decided it was time for his stars to rest up for Saturday's game against Memphis. Too many games in too few of nights, he decided, only to have commissioner David Stern quickly follow with a cryptic statement about forthcoming sanctions that have yet to be announced.
It was at a Counting Crows concert, circa early 2000s - expensive tickets, rain coming down that didn't stop us from making it out to the outdoor venue, and the lead singer, that being Duritz, was a no-show. He had an excuse, not to mention a great backup plan as Matchbox 20 became the main attraction, and the experience is still remembered bitterly as a bait-and-switch.
Like it or not, folks, the NBA is entertainment - a $5 billion business in which the average player makes approximately $5 million and expectations are changed as a result. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili - understated and under-the-radar though they may be - are still nothing short of hoops rock stars.
LeBron James, for example, has a reported net worth of $110 million that surpasses that of rapper Kanye West (reportedly $90 million). Look no further than the fact that the Heat started calling themselves the Heatles last season when they put their boy band of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh together. As for the Spurs, Ginobili will make approximately $14 million this season alone, followed by Parker at $12.5 million and Duncan around $10 million.
And while this is no direct parallel, with the nature of sports inherently meaning coaches will rest players from time to time, this was simply too much. Doing this in early April with the playoff seedings already set is one thing, not to mention the more-excusable practice (that Popovich utilized three times) of sitting players in 2011-12 when there was no training camp and 66 games were jam-packed into the post-lockout schedule. But not in late November, and definitely not in a TNT game that is the basketball equivalent of a Sunday afternoon showdown in the NFL.
The hoops-loving masses tuned in to see the champs from the East take on these ageless wonders from the West, and instead saw the Heatles take on Spurs players who can actually claim anonymity. It was a good game, to be sure, but it wasn't what the fans who paid their hard-earned money came to see.
Even Adam Duritz wouldn't have let his fans down like this.
Source : http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/spurs/2012/11/30/nba-teams-owe-their-fans-the-courtesy-of-showing-up-to-play/1737809/