"True parity," writes Randy Hill of FoxSports.com, "not sustainable in current NBA."

Hill's month-old article is full of win, especially his line that "parity is the way to go ... the way to go stale."

6 months ago AK1984 12 comments 0 recs |

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Boy, if parity is unsustainable, the NBA owners should try to avoid improving parity at all costs.

by Timmay! on Nov 25, 2011 10:11 AM PST reply actions

The owners should have the brains to realize that tweaking with system issues won't do a darn thing ...

regarding parity (or lack thereof) in the NBA.

Hill said it best with the following paragraph:

“What the salary cap can’t do is create superstars — at least not legitimately (hello, Joe Johnson). Even with an absolutely level financial playing field, there aren’t sufficient, team-carrying superstars for all 30 teams to be provided with at least one.”

Fiddle all you want with the system, for it’s an exercise in futility—regardless of whether or not y’all realize it.

"I Am Mine"

by AK1984 on Nov 25, 2011 10:44 PM PST up reply actions

Great point.

Stars peak in their mid twenties. The only way to increase parity is to make it feasible for smaller markets to go out and get these guys OR retain their own stud draft picks. The current changes only ensure big market teams will pay stiffer penalties for siphoning most of the big time talent, as they always have.

My take on the new CBA: the owners are not unified and, at the end of the day, the needs of the big markets are more important to the overall economic health of the league than the wishes of the smaller markets for more parity.

by Hipster Olympic Team! on Nov 28, 2011 9:27 AM PST up reply actions

i'm getting tired of these binary arguments about parity

just because you can’t create pure parity, doesn’t mean you should try to move closer to the goal. It’s a continuum, not an either-or.

the argument against those pushing for parity-increasing measures seems to be “well, you can’t achieve parity, and if you could, it would suck, so therefore you should just completely give up and set up a league where the same 5 teams will always dominate.”. sorry, but I won’t accept that.

"But if Ding Dongs and prime rib were the path to NBA pivot stardom we'd all be wearing the uniform." -Dave

by douglast on Nov 25, 2011 9:29 PM PST reply actions

"It’s a continuum, not an either-or."

I agree that the gamut of parity to disparity resides on a spectrum.

In the NBA, though, modifying system issues won’t swing things from one end of the scale (i.e., disparity) to the other (i.e. parity). So, no matter how the CBA is constructed, the NBA will sit somewhere on the disparity side of it. Maybe closer to the middle, but still nowhere near the parity that many folks scream for endlessly.

"I Am Mine"

by AK1984 on Nov 25, 2011 11:00 PM PST up reply actions

this

Who needs to completely tip the scale to even? The super tax alone will have an effect. The BRI split should have an effect along with the 90% of the cap as minimum addition.

Small market teams will have more money to spend, they’ll be required to spend it, it will be easier to live through bad contracts, it will be easier to compete for mid-level players, amnesty and stretch provision should let teams continue to compete even after shooting themselves in the foot financially and big spenders shouldn’t be able to completely ignore the luxury tax.

Time will tell but in my opinion we’ll probably be filing this stuff under “step in the right direction”.

by poorwebguy on Nov 27, 2011 9:20 PM PST up reply actions

The L*kers have been the favorites/darlings on the Western conference since the late '60s

and they always will be

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Nov 26, 2011 11:28 AM PST reply actions

*of

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Nov 26, 2011 11:29 AM PST up reply actions

To be fair, L.A. had down periods in the mid-'70s, mid-'90s, and mid-2000s.

At this rate, we’ll just have to wait 3 years for another down period in the cycle.

"I Am Mine"

by AK1984 on Nov 26, 2011 10:48 PM PST up reply actions

So beware the middle of the decade

if you’re a fan of LA

but they rule both ends of the decades, which is liking claiming the white keys on the piano versus the black

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Nov 27, 2011 9:19 AM PST up reply actions

You make it sound as if LA has fans when they lose.

"Brandon Roy has done this before."

by sabonis11 on Nov 27, 2011 10:41 AM PST up reply actions

they arrive late and leave early, regardless

the NBA needs a team in SoCal to do well. Since it’s never going to be the Clippers while Sterling is their owner, the L*kers are the darlings because their TV market draws the eyeballs

When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!

by two4larue on Nov 27, 2011 8:34 PM PST up reply actions