Kleeman's Jump Hook: 10 Ways To Improve The NBA

With the NBA's offseason stalled, hoops writers have resorted to outlandish speculation, premature predictions, and cop-out top 10 lists to cure their hardwood cravings.

Well God knows I'm no better than any of them. So, here's a top 10 list!

Consider this a hodgepodge of rule changes, player and team improvements, league policy alterations, and personnel decisions I think would improve my sports association of choice in the short and long terms.

Some of these ideas will spur heated debate, while others should not stir any controversy.

As I write this, I wonder if any frequent NBA TV viewers have called for their $200 discount certificate and free awning idea kit.

Who does not have a deck they would like to keep 20 degrees cooler?

The above picture has nothing to do with this list, but I included it because of its greatness. Doesn't Kobe's facial expression encapsulate both the euphoria and anxiety that accompanies a longer than usual offseason?

Then again, perhaps the better indicator of my offseason boredom is that I gleaned the above hogwash from a photo of the Lakers star having a blast at Disneyland.

Yikes.

Less Injuries, Better Basketball

My first suggestion should also be the easiest for fellow fans to stomach.

It's more of a wish than a suggestion, since the injury bug attacks players without reason and at the worst times.

Kevin Garnett may look dapper in a suit, but he can't help the Boston Celtics much as a glorified cheerleader.

His defensive intensity and presence in the post helped the franchise snag its 17th banner in 2008.

His nagging injury—sustained during a game in Salt Lake City—derailed the Celts' repeat hopes. Boston's chance to deliver on Garnett's guarantee to Wyc Grousbeck of winning the next two titles hinges on the forward's health and productivity.

The San Antonio Spurs were headed for basketball's abyss when Manu Ginobili re-aggravated an ankle injury in Beijing. After a season-ending stress fracture discovery destroyed false recovery hopes, the Spurs hopped on the express train to nowhere.

The vapid Dallas Mavericks bushwacked the banged-up Spurs in the first round, prompting the costliest roster overhaul in team history.

How much better would the Orlando Magic have been in the final months and first three playoff rounds with a healthy Jameer Nelson?

Chris Paul missed several games with a groin injury, Tyson Chandler sat out 29 contests with foot ailments and Peja Stojakovic missed more games than he choked away.

You think that had any bearing on why the Hornets finished the season in such disappointing fashion?

The Houston Rockets' run of bad luck speaks for itself. Yao-ch. Knee-Mac. You get the idea.

The list of championship race-altering injuries could continue at length.

Instead, I'll use the remainder of space here to wish for none of that in the 2009-2010 season.

After such a ridiculous offseason arms race—in which those who spent, spent a lot—it would be a shame to see next year's intriguing title chase marred by stars in street clothes.

At least four teams have made expensive bids to knock off the Los Angeles Lakers, while others just hope to reach the next rung of the NBA's shaky stepladder.

Every team, especially the defending champion Lakers, is susceptible to a serious injury to one of its stars.

Such distractions and setbacks would damage the quality of what is shaping up to be one of the greatest regular season and playoff competitions in league history.

Here's hoping the injury bug takes a long vacation, as long as possible.

David did not beat Goliath with a gimpy leg, you know.

A Fit For Every Offseason Acquisition

I expect some venom after this one, because, well, most of this site's members are fans with a vested interest in a team.

Why would you root for a competitor to experience projected success?

Laker fans would just assume see Rasheed Wallace foul out of his declining career.

Celtics fans would not cry if Ron Artest brought the bubonic plague with him to L.A.

This wish serves the NBA's greater good, not individual interests—deal with it.

Wouldn't it be something if all of these trigger-happy teams were rewarded for having owners willing to pony up payroll and significant luxury tax dollars?

By my estimations—and those of experts who actually did the math instead of guessing—every team in serious title contention (and the Dallas Mavericks—zing!) will fork up at least $10 million in tariffs.

Only one team can win it all next year, and there is no objective way to determine who deserves it or wants that golden trophy most.

However, it is possible that every front office that spent serious dough will be satisfied with the return on its investment.

What if Otis Smith proves right in thinking Vince Carter was an upgrade over Hedo Turkoglu?

What if Rasheed Wallace solidifies the Celtics frontcourt as the toughest to score on in the NBA?

What if Richard Jefferson changes the Spurs the way Pau Gasol changed the Lakers?

What if Ron Artest upgrades the defending champions on both ends of the floor the way most think he will?

What if Shawn Marion works in a Mavericks uniform the way Mark Cuban and Rick Carlisle pray he will?

What if Shaquille O'Neal decides to think of someone other than himself and makes the 66-win Cavaliers better?

All of this could happen, and I'm rooting for it.

Come playoff time, the contenders would treat fans to titanic clashes instead of epic mismatches.

Less Of Those Stupid Fan Contests During Timeouts

Is there a greater indignity than fellow fans booing you because you failed to drop the ball in that third bucket and win the free carpet-cleaning certificate?

Nothing zaps the energy from a hyped NBA crowd quite like fatso stepping on the court to heave a halfcourt prayer no god would answer.

I cannot tell you how many times could-have-been 10-0 run celebrations were muted at Toyota Center last season by bird-brained fan contests.

Said fans humiliated themselves and walked home with nothing more than overflowing buckets of sadness, and team executives missed chances to fire up the crowd.

There are plenty of other ways to advertise at NBA games.

Here's hoping more teams do away with this lose-lose junk.

Playoffs for the Clippers and Bobcats

Fun and easy as it is to laugh at the Clippers, a trip to the playoffs would do a disenchanted fan base and the league a lot of good.

The NFL has the Oakland Raiders. The NBA hosts several flophouse franchises, headed by Donald Sterling's circus.

Mike Dunleavy has not choked any assistants or thrown them into file cabinets (to my knowledge, at least), but such a sour turn would rank as no surprise for the Zippers (so named for the expected number of wins next season).

Some of you enjoyed my sarcastic toast to the Clips winning the draft lottery.

My comparison of the Lakers' ugly sibling to gas station perfume was fair. Landing top pick Blake Griffin, who possesses stunning athleticism and the right attitude, could change the franchise's fortunes—here's to hoping it does.

The Clippers are the easiest butt of any joke that doesn't involve OJ Simpson, and for this writer even suggesting the act of putting on a red and white uniform is disgraceful and humiliating.

However, the team's continued dysfunction leaves the NBA on the ass-end of some (extremely wealthy) goodwill sticks.

The reasons to root for a Bobcats' playoff berth are different, but just as compelling.

With Robert Johnson looking to sell the team, potential owners need to see if the franchise has any future in Charlotte. With scores of fans still perturbed after a nasty separation with the Hornets, postseason games in the team's state-of-the-art arena could bring some of them back.

NASCAR rules the Carolinas and the NFL would still finish way ahead of the NBA in state-wide popularity.

Still, not one playoff appearance after this many years into a constant "rebuilding" mantra by team ownership is troublesome.

Fans know Larry Brown will get his roster to compete. Now they should expect the Bobcats to host a few games in late April.

Hey, it's a lot easier to root for the LA Lakers, whose storied history includes 15 championships, Magic, Kareem and Kobe than the Bobcats, whose best ever player is ... Emeka Okafor?

Golden State Warriors Fire Don Nelson

Don Nelson has registered the most regular-season victories for any coach without a title to his credit.

He has also roamed the sidelines almost as long as Cher and ZZ Top have been making music (and most of Cher's wax cylinders are decrepit).

His recent demeanor screams disinterest and dispassion. He does not appear to enjoy his job and, now more than ever, he sucks at it.

Starting at power forward for the Golden State Warriors ... "Um...uh...I'll let you know five minutes before tip-off."

Nelson's rotation and substitution patterns are as dangerous as they are foolish.

Would any other coach play Kelenna Azubuike at power forward with Stephen Jackson at center?

Nelson did it at least once last year. Comical? Yes. Conducive to winning? Maybe on "America's Got Talent," or if you support a crack habit.

Players need to know what position they will play and how many minutes they can expect well before tip-off so they can prepare for opponents. It is alarming that many Warriors players have indicated Nellie often decides what to do during games instead of before them.

He pioneered small-ball and has been as adventurous as any coach in any sport.

The luster has worn off, though, and he no longer goes to bars to drink with fans after ejections.

The former people's coach is now a Bay Area nightmare.

Canning Nelson and eating the remaining money on his deal would be the first step to improving a league laughingstock.

If the Lakers qualify as the NBA's "Citizen Kane," the Warriors qualify as David Stern's "Cabin Boy."

Let 'Em Run

I credit Jeff Van Gundy for proposing this minor rule change during the Spurs wire-to-wire rout of the Utah Jazz to clinch the Western Conference crown in the 2007 playoffs.

When teams force 24-second violations, rules require that they inbound the ball from under the basket.

You just forced the opponent into a scoreless possession with stifling, intelligent defense, and you can't get a fast-break reward?

The NBA's policy police should amend this rule, allowing teams to push the ball up the floor after forcing 24-second calls where such run-out opportunities are presented (if the opponent does not get off a shot before the buzzer, then a fast-break opportunity has not presented itself).

The forward or center who grabs the ball after that hail-mary three fails to hit the rim should be able to throw it to a streaking guard for an uncontested dunk or layup.

And no, not that kind of streaking.

Increased Revenue-Sharing

Sharing the wealth is always a touchy subject, but this is not a plea for the chairman of Exxon to distribute his salary evenly among homeless shelters in New Orleans.

Some of those homeless folks can get jobs and advance within organizations. Even taxpayers in the so-called middle class can rise to top levels in companies.

In the NBA, market size and TV contracts often determine the haves and have-nots.

The Sacramento Kings have no chance in hell of ever being worth more than the Los Angeles Lakers.

The NBA increased its shared revenue by 63 percent after approving a three-year plan to dole out $49 million in extra monies to deserving teams, according to a report in the Sports Business Journal.

It's not enough.

When it comes to glamor, people remember Hollywood a lot more than the Alamo. San Antonio ranks in the 30s in most lists of market sizes—including radio ratings company Arbitron—despite boasting the ninth-largest (and growing) population in the U.S., in addition to a four-time NBA champion.

Cheapskate Donald Sterling will always make money keeping the loser Clippers in Los Angeles because of the lucrative TV and radio contracts he can net there.

The Maloof Brothers, owners of a Las Vegas casino in addition to the Kings, could never expect to get the same television deal.

If the current system stands, Jerry Buss will always have more money to spend than Peter Holt, Clay Bennett and Michael Heisley.

The Spurs are the exception to the rule thanks to lottery luck landing them David Robinson and Tim Duncan, the tutelage of Gregg Popovich, and draft-day steals Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

No one should expect small-market teams to unearth a Duncan with the first pick or find Hall-of-Fame caliber talents with the 26th and 58th picks every year.

Sterling will grumble at this suggestion, since he fills his pockets every season with luxury tax money from other squads.

He's done so much for the NBA, so we should listen to his crybaby complaints, right?

The chief issue in the upcoming collective bargaining agreement negotiations will be lessening the number of teams in the red. Stern needs more of his teams to make money (half of his teams lost it last season), and asking players to give even more of their salaries to owners is a risky proposition.

Before anyone in the negotiating room floats the idea of a hard cap or proposes that owners split profits with players at a 50/50 rate, the involved parties should consider expansion of revenue sharing.

There is a difference between disparity and parity. I'm not advocating that the NBA become a clone of the NFL, where defending champions missing the playoffs is often not a surprise.

More Preseason Games Abroad, Across the U.S.

Preseason: Ready, set, eh.

Yawn. Sigh. Why should I care?

Preseason games are glorified practice sessions. Coaches use them to tune up defensive and offensive schemes, to tweak players, and make tough roster decisions.

They mean something for sure, but not enough that fans in established NBA cities will ever care about them again.

If the coaches and players openly say they don't care who wins and loses, why should you?

It makes sense, then, for the NBA to schedule more games abroad and in cities without pro teams.

The Oklahoma City Thunder should play all of their "home" preseason games in Tulsa's BOK Center or in Norman on the OU campus.

Norman and Tulsa residents can watch the Thunder on TV during the regular season, but making the drive to the Ford Center on a weeknight is an arduous endeavor.

They are more likely, then, to shell out for preseason games than folks who live in Oklahoma City.

Likewise, in San Antonio, I'm not going to waste my money on tickets and travel to a preseason game with the Clippers when I can save it for a nationally televised joust with the Lakers in April or a playoff contest.

The scheduled game against the Thunder at UT-Austin's Frank Erwin Center may not sell out, but it will draw more interest than if it were played at the AT&T Center.

The pluses of hosting NBA games in Europe and China are obvious.

Some executives and players complain about how long flights across the ocean complicate training camps and preseason routines.

It's not like they're flying coach on a packed commercial airliner with three crying babies determined to out-noise one another.

Give me a break.

A Changed J.R. Smith

After a rough month in prison stewing over the death of his friend in the accident that prompted his sentence, Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith swore to Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski he had learned the error of his ways.

He promised to continue what he started last year—acting responsibly, cherishing his explosive physical gifts instead of banking on them, and appreciating organized basketball.

The Nuggets' rebirth and first run to the Western Conference Finals in decades coincided with Smith's maturation as a player and human being. He stopped being a selfish punk, flexing defensive prowess and passing ability not seen before in his rocky career.

We all profess allegiances to individual teams and players, but this is one guy every NBA fan should hope gets it right.

Smith is one of the game's finest talents, a long-distance assassin who can shift any fourth quarter in the Nuggets' favor. His deadly shooting in any regular season contest can rival Kobe Bryant, in that his creativity and range lack boundaries.

Teams fear him. Defenders can't stop him. Few others can drain five consecutive three-pointers in the spectacular manner he does.

Also, the NBA would be a lot better if Smith's All-Star teammate Carmelo Anthony built on his maturation, born from his stint on the "Redeem Team" in Beijing.

Great talents don't have to be crap human beings, and these two mercurial scorers look to have made a permanent turn for the betterment of both themselves and the league.

I was touched when Smith said in the Yahoo! piece he would regret someday having to explain all of his mistakes to his daughter.

I hope he's serious.

The only punches these guys should be throwing are big shots in playoff games.

Increased Referee Transparency, League Office Decision-Making

Most basketball enthusiasts agree NBA officiating needs work.

Most blind people agree NBA officiating needs work.

The degree of overhaul necessary is the usual snag.

I agree with Stern that pro basketball refs have the toughest job of any officials in any sport in the world. The game is played at a break-neck pace, with hard-to-tell plays that unfold with frightening frequency and an official's angle on a play can change his/her view of it.

That said, because the NBA boasts some of the world's best athletes, its referees should be held to as high a standard.

Stern, Stu Jackson and everyone else in the league office cannot explain away Mark Wunderlich's silent whistle at the end of Game Three in the Mavericks-Nuggets series.

Throw in any excuse you want.

- The Nuggets already led the series 2-0, winning both contests at home by double digits.
- The Nuggets swept the season series 4-0.
- Antoine Wright's intentional foul on Carmelo Anthony was of the wuss variety. Wright should learn to foul like a man.
- The Mavericks blew chances to seal the game with bricked free throws and porous defense. How does Anthony get a wide-open dunk on the second to last possession?

All of these are valid excuses/criticisms of the Mavericks. Still, Wunderlich blew the call by not blowing his whistle.

Ron Artest's two ejections in the Rockets' bout with the Lakers were absurd. The refs tossed him because he was, well, Ron Artest—not because his actions in either instance merited an ejection.

How can Dahntay Jones dangerously trip Kobe Bryant twice in one series and barely get a slap on the wrist for it?

Stern must understand that the Tim Donaghy fallout has not subsided.

There are still avid fans who think he fixes games. Some think he orchestrated the Pau Gasol trade, as well as the Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett trades.

One former Rockets fan called into Sports Radio 610 in Houston last month and said he stopped going to games because of "Stern's agenda."

He also cannot rely on the preposterous nature of the above accusations to quell the anxiety and ill thoughts.

I've said this before, and I'll propose it again. Officials should be available for interviews after questionable calls.

I understand the job is tough, but when you make a tough call, you should have to explain it.