Call the NBA What It Is : A Pick-Up Game with Friends

Did David Stern officially re-name the NBA the AAU yet?

It might be possible to call the NBA what it is these days: a pick-up game with friends.

Chris Paul's supposed announcement that he is demanding a trade to the New York Knicks is just another stab to the heart of the once-beloved game of basketball, at one point full of rivalries and marquee games.

These days, we are more apt to encounter a 30-point blow-out between the Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons than a game between rivals.

We will have to wait until the Heat play the Knicks for that.

The NBA is becoming a league realistically made up of six powerhouse teams that include nearly every superstar player the game has to offer.

Is it bad for the game of basketball?  Is it bad for the future of the NBA?

Time will only tell, I guess.  But the fact players are able to simply demand trades to teams that include their good friends is an abomination (thank you, Stephen A. Smith).  

Where should we place these players in the history books?

Michael Jordan did not team up with Larry Bird during their heyday.  (Although I am sure he is second-guessing that right now.)

There Jordan is, sitting in Charlotte, North Carolina, without a single shot in the world at landing any big-name free agent or trade.  He must be thinking about how things have changed since the days of historic NBA rivalries and matchups between star players.  

One evil empire was enough when the Miami Heat went from just Dwayne Wade to including Chris Bosh and LeBron James in an attempt to accumulate not one, not two, but three champions.

Let's start with one, LeBron.  Then we will go from there.

What use are the other NBA teams if the playoffs are ultimately decided by which friends a big-name player has on that team?

Do we even need the Sacramento Kings anymore?

As previously mentioned, the "Three Kings of Miami" was enough.  We can even handle Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony teaming up in New York.  

Taking one team and pairing arguably the best point guard with arguably the best small forward in the game and adding them to a rim-rattling freak of nature under the basket is something that is simply bad for the game.

Too many good players on too few good teams.  There is simply not enough talent to go around.

David Stern is compromising the future of this league if he allows these NBA stars to choose which team they want to play for according to how many friends they have on that team.

We might as well play the game on a cement court under the lights at the local park.  That is what I do when some friends want to get together and shoot hoops.