5 Reasons NBA Fans Don't Care If the Season Starts on Time

Reason No. 1 could easily be "because America Hates the Miami Heat."  However, it has become too easy to hate the Heat, too trendy even.  I imagine some fans will actually be bummed if games are missed because it will allot them less time for Heat hatred.

So for this article they only get the cover photo.  One of my general rules of life is to give LeBron James the least amount of attention I have to give him.  Besides, there's just too many other reasons to be apathetic as to whether or not the NBA season begins in a punctual manner. 

Players Are Calling the Shots

It started in Miami.  Next thing you know, Carmelo Anthony is dictating where he will go.  Chris Paul thought about ditching New Orleans.  Deron Williams supposedly demanded out of Utah.  So-called super teams are being set up (only) in major market U.S. cities.  Is this seriously good for the game?  If this trend continues, organizations such as Cleveland, Detroit, Utah and Indiana will be completely irrelevant in terms of competing for the title.  Storied franchises suddenly without so much as a chance to have a new story to tell.  Ask yourself this, in what other business in America do the employees tell the boss what to do?  It's time for a lockout.

The NFL

The National Football League is the new business model for success in America.  In 2010, the NFL netted  $3.785 billion from contracts with CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC and DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket.  That's television deals alone.  Fans would have been crushed if the professional football season didn't start on time.  However, seeing as it did, several casual NBA fans will hardly notice a delayed NBA tip-off.

NCAA Basketball

It's as cliche a statement as you'll ever hear, but cliches generally contain large amounts of truth: college basketball is a more pure, emotional game than the NBA.  You want to see a player deeply devoted to tenacious defense?  You want to see tears on an athlete's faces over a loss to  a rival team?  You want players that genuinely care about their fans?  College basketball gives you all of that and more. 

Any coach from youth league up to high school will tell you he/she would prefer their players watch college basketball to work on good habits and fundamentals.  As much as I enjoy the NBA, if the NCAA issued a rule that collegiate athletes were required to stay a minimum of three years before they could be eligible for the NBA Draft, I could easily go three years without NBA basketball.  Easily.

Rested Veteran Legs Come Playoff Time

Veteran teams are beginning to give way to younger rosters such as the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder.  If teams like Boston and Dallas are to reach the Finals one more time with their older, core players, a shortened season would benefit those rosters greatly.  It would also create more intense, interesting playoff series for the fans.  Besides, with so many teams being average or below average, what's the point in an 82 game season anyway? 

Less Stephen A. Smith on ESPN

OK, I couldn't find a photo of Stephen A. Smith, so yes that's Stuart Scott on the right.  Less air time for Stephen A. Smith means more of Stuart Scott.  Maybe there's not a direct correlation there, but Scott's image came up when I searched for Smith so I'm going with it.  The man is as cool as the other side of the pillow.

Don't get me wrong, a part of me does like Stephen A. Smith...it's just another part of me despises him so, so much.  How does Smith defend LeBron James for letting off-court issues affect his play last season, yet blast Dwayne Wade and Kobe Bryant for not being more visible during the lockout (http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/6963270/kobe-bryant-nba-elite-players-need-make-their-presence-felt-lockout)?!  It's absurd.

More times than not—especially on television appearances—Smith comes off as plain, boisterous and loud instead of having a valid opinion.  On paper, he's usually an intelligent, well-spoken man.  Leave him on paper for as long as possible.