The NBA - a league of enablers

[yeaaaman]

Pretty straight-forward thread. I understand it's a players league, but when will people realize that being an enabler is not always the best route. Here are a few players off the top of my head who get the green light to do whatever they want whether or not it's actually good for the team.

4. LeBron James:

Here is the games top player, playing on a team with 2 other all-stars and some high expectations. However you have a first year coach who has never coached in the NBA. They hit some adversity and you show a quitter demeanor on the court? Tune out the coach and show a lack of leadership, and then when they ask you about your coach say "Well I guess, what other coach do we have".

Lead by example my friend. Of course I may be mistaken when Brian Windhorst writes an article on how this is all just a power move by LeBron, a new masterful teaching method part of a bigger plan which the rest of us aren't smart enough to comprehend.

3. Russell Westbrook:

This guy has all the talent in the world, especially in the athletic department, but he continues to show a lack of development in the decision making aspect of the game. Maybe we should give up and understand that he just isn't a point-guard? I don't know how many times I've seen OKC up 1 or 2 with under a minute left and he takes a fast break pull up 3 with plenty fo time on the clock. Really?

Scott Brooks needs to be seen as a big time enabler though, how can you not reel in your point-guard? Honestly, you have two of the best players in the game but I'm not even sure who the coach is half the time.

2. Kobe Bryant:

There's not much to say here, it seems he's finally getting it, but this is a guy who walks all over his teammates and management. Before it was called by many as being "Alpha", now I'm not sure what people call it. How can you call out your teammates when you're consistently taking triple teamed fade-aways, and then the coach goes out and says he wants Kobe to shoot more?

This is a guy who has taken more contested long range-2's than 12 other teams in the NBA - 12 teams TOTAL! I admire his determination to come back and play at a high level, but damn man you're better than this. I give him credit for playing a lot better lately though.

I don't know why the Lakers took so long "carefully selecting" the next coach, honestly does it even matter? Kobe will play how he decides to. I guess I can give Scott credit for getting Kobe to take a few games off when he was clearly gassed.

And, saving the worst for last

1. James Harden:

This guy literally took the ENTIRE season off from playing defense last year. Honestly, how does this happen in the NBA?? That he had a 10+ minute highlight video of his worse than grade school basketball defense is probably the worst case of a player being enabled. How does this not get addressed? How are his teammates not pissed? I can't believe anyone would want to play with him after that video got out.

As a fan of the sport, I literally was sickened by that, and so should anyone else who is a fan of basketball. I don't even wan't to talk about it anymore.

These are my top 4 enabled players off the top of my head. I wan't to know who you guys have, or why teams/coaches allow this to happen? If you're scared of losing your job then you shouldn't even be there in the first place.

[atljonesbro]

The Hawks are the complete opposite of this and they are dominating the league. Superstar ball has died, team ball is taking over.

[Akrazotile]

This will probably remain the basketball forum's best post of 2015 throughout the entire year.

[Akrazotile]

To answer OP's question tho:

Plenty of dumb fans still love hero ball. These fans worship players and thats what they tune in to see, and its why they buys jerseys and sneakers and fatheads. They cant understand team basketball, its too complicated and it bores them. They want to vicariously live the triumphant hero fantasy through their favorite player and thats pretty much all they care about.

Hero ball players drive a lot of revenue because of the significant portion of fans who eat that shit up.

[yeaaaman]

To answer OP's question tho:

Plenty of dumb fans still love hero ball. These fans worship players and thats what they tune in to see, and its why they buys jerseys and sneakers and fatheads. They cant understand team basketball, its too complicated and it bores them. They want to vicariously live the triumphant hero fantasy through their favorite player and thats pretty much all they care about.

Hero ball players drive a lot of revenue because of the significant portion of fans who eat that shit up.

That's a really good answer, the thing is, all those guys I listed, I actually love watching them play. That doesn't mean I'm not going to call them out or think they are some sort of infallible gods. Some of that stuff is unfathomable that they do.

I don't watch much college ball but I like it because the players need to go out and compete and play hard, and the right way, or at least try to. If not, enjoy your spot on the bench. I understand these guys have massive contracts so that's a big reason behind it, but after the way the Spurs showed how well team ball works and having a culture of accountability, as well as the reception they got from everyone (fans and people within the league), I'm surprised that you still see such a high level of enabling going on.

The Hawks are the complete opposite of this and they are dominating the league. Superstar ball has died, team ball is taking over.

The Hawks play great team basketball and have a lot of great pieces. I think they are 1 move away from really contending for it all.

[Akrazotile]

That's a really good answer, the thing is, all those guys I listed, I actually love watching them play. That doesn't mean I'm not going to call them out or think they are some sort of infallible gods. Some of that stuff is unfathomable that they do.

I don't watch much college ball but I like it because the players need to go out and compete and play hard, and the right way, or at least try to. If not, enjoy your spot on the bench. I understand these guys have massive contracts so that's a big reason behind it, but after the way the Spurs showed how well team ball works and having a culture of accountability, as well as the reception they got from everyone (fans and people within the league), I'm surprised that you still see such a high level of enabling going on.



The Hawks play great team basketball and have a lot of great pieces. I think they are 1 move away from really contending for it all.

I completely agree and Ive been expressing these same sentiments here since I got to this web board in 2008. But again, popular sentiment dictates everything. If a coach benches a fan favorite to make a point, the coach could lose his job. If the team alienates a fan favorite he could leave and there go all those merch buying fans.

The Spurs can do what they do because they win, and winning is a reliable revenue stream. If every team played like the spurs, some of them would still have poor records, and that plus no stars could be a recipe for bad business.

If a star is making a team money, theyre pretty much gonna kiss his ass no matter what.