7 Ways to Make NBA Games More Exciting

The NBA is one of the most exciting sports leagues in the world and the pinnacle of excitement that basketball has to offer. 

With high-octane plays like the fast break, the hammer dunk and the dagger three, there are plenty of great moments in every game. 

No matter how great the league is, however, there is always room for improvement. 

The following list will discuss seven things that would make this already great game even better and would make every NBA game even more exciting. 

Speed Up the Game

NBA games seem to take forever these days for a variety of different reasons.

From referees now using replay, the shot clock counting down to the tenths of seconds and players squeezing every possible moment out of a possession, the game has become obsessed with preserving time. 

There is nothing worse than watching the end of a close game that takes 15 minutes to play the final 2:29.

Fouling at the end of games to extend the action and calling timeouts every several seconds have got to go. 

Do coaches really need to draw up four plays in a row to get the world's best basketball players in the right position for a late-game shot? 

What are teams doing in practice if they stop the action to discuss it every few seconds? Wouldn't coaches have things worked out ahead of time?

Maybe one 20-second timeout to get on the same page, but fans want to actually watch the game rather than see the mascot or dancers on the court for the final two minutes. 

Letting the players play the game instead of stopping to micro-manage will make things much more exciting.

No Star Treatment

NBA referees would never admit it, but fans all over the world are familiar with the phenomena of star treatment. 

It only takes a few minutes of watching Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and other superstars to realize that they never foul, can run all over the court without travelling and get to shoot free throws just by stepping onto the court.

Even though many believe it is just an urban legend, it is time for star treatment to end and for the game to be called fairly for all players, regardless of how good they are or how many seasons they have played in the league. 

I wonder how far the scoring averages of the league's top players would fall if they were not awarded with free throws for getting within five feet of the defender. 

No Empty Seats

There is nothing worse than sitting in the upper level of any NBA arena with rows and rows of empty seats around you. 

It can't be easy for professional athletes who are accustomed to playing in front of big crowds to look up and see an empty house. 

To change this, NBA owners should sell tickets at a discount, give them away to school children or do anything they can to fill the arena. 

Not only does this do a good thing for the community, but it also makes money for the franchise. Even if owners gave away tickets, they would still sell T-shirts, beer and hot dogs.

The teams that are out of the playoff race within the first two months of the season and don't remember a winning year cannot rely on other teams coming in to sell tickets and need to have sellouts more often than when the Lakers, Celtics or Heat come to town. 

An arena full of fans is much more exciting—even if the game itself is not so great. 

No Guaranteed Contracts

Every team in the league tells the story of a player who had a breakout season, was signed to a huge contract and then never played the same again. 

Rashard Lewis, Gilbert Arenas and Andrei Kirilenko have all pulled this off in recent years, sticking their teams with high contracts against the salary cap for little production in return. 

Getting rid of guaranteed contracts will make the game more exciting because players will actually want to play the game each night to win instead of being content after signing for the big money. 

As far as contracts go, some other suggestions to motivate players are to write in performance-based incentives or allow teams to use the amnesty clause on an underperforming player each season. 

It would be great to see players trying to meet their incentives late in the season instead of coasting into the playoffs or offseason. 

It would make each game more meaningful and exciting if each player's salary for the next season was performance-based instead of guaranteed.

Play by the Rules

Similar to star players getting away with things, the game would be better if players were actually held to playing by the rules.

Although they do have a difficult job and cannot see everything that happens over the course of a game, referees must call the game by the rules and be consistent.

Players have to be called on the hop, skip and jump that they often take on their way to the rim. If it is more than two steps, it is travelling. 

On the other end of the court, players need to not get bailed out by the referee each time there is contact and they fall down under the basket. 

As referees are slower to call a charge, it will force players to actually play defense instead of hoping to get a turnover due to contact. 

Calling the game more strictly by the real rules of the game will make it more exciting and force players to better use the fundamentals instead of hoping to catch a break by the referee missing something. 

Even the Playing Field

One of the goals of the NBA lockout was to create better parity in the league, and this one may actually be coming with the changes in penalties for teams exceeding the salary cap.

In order to make games in the NBA more exciting across the board, teams must be more equally matched instead of the bigger-market teams like the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks having two or three superstars while other teams have none. 

Imagine how much more fun late-season games would be if more teams were even and fighting for playoff positioning, instead of watching boring games between teams who have either already clinched a spot and are resting starters or are just waiting to start their summer vacation. 

No More Flopping

Similar to playing by the rules, flopping to try to draw a foul is the next thing that must go. 

One of the most frustrating things to watch is when some players resort to the dramatic and try to flop their way into a foul call. 

A good flop can suck the excitement right out of a game, and it is right on the borderline of cheating. 

The NBA has tried to crack down on the infamous floppers over the last couple of seasons, and it has decreased overall, but eliminating it all together will only help games run more smoothly and fairly.