SALT LAKE CITY — The consensus over All-Star Weekend is that the seemingly overwhelming player movement is good for the league as it generates interest and social media frenzy that keeps the NBA buzzing around the clock.
But does it have an unintended consequence?
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver estimated that about 10% of players traded around the trade deadline as a flurry of activity was sparked by the relative parity the league appears to be enjoying.
More teams than ever are feeling competitive, and Silver calls it the most competitive season in league history.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving each defended the idea of players pursuing trades under the guise of taking control of their careers. For the last two weeks, Irving wanted to leave Brooklyn because he couldn’t get a maximum contract extension, and then Durant followed suit and was sent to Phoenix.
Irving spoke about freedom and choice in career. Durant’s framing was interesting and spoke of the interest generated on Twitter and the talk shows. Each works on their fourth team, and Irving could sign on a fifth in free agency this summer if he and the Dallas Mavericks don’t come to an agreement.
LeBron James has two stints in Cleveland on his resume, is also going to Miami for four years and is currently a Los Angeles Laker.
It’s becoming more common to see stars pack their bags or use handy leverage to force trades, and players are no longer associated with teams. Fans pack their bags when their favorite player moves once, twice or a third time.
Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia, forward Kevin Durant and general manager James Jones speak to the media for Durant’s inaugural press conference at the Footprint Center in Phoenix February 16, 2023. (Rick Scutteri/USA TODAY Sports)
How many times do we hear a fan, when asked about their favorite team, say, “I’m a LeBron fan, wherever he goes, I go.”
“You can put LeBron on the Akron Zips and people will watch, KD on the Harlem Globetrotters and people will watch,” New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum told Yahoo Sports on Saturday. McCollum also serves as President of the NBPA. “It’s more about the talent and the work that the player puts into it. You should be able to go where you want, especially when your contract is up.”
That’s certainly not up for debate, at least not here – especially in the free hand. It was fought decades ago, and today’s players are enjoying the fruits of that labor.
And eyeballs will go where the stars go in the mic. And there seems to be more stars than at any time in NBA history. Despite both losing time through injury, James and Anthony Davis are real stars.
And the Lakers are a long way from contending for the championship.
So the urge to move will be more annoying than ever, especially considering the endless rabbit hole of social media.
“It puts more eyes on the league, more people are more excited,” Durant said at All-Star practice Saturday. “The tweets I get – the news hits we got from me are traded, Kyrie are traded – it just brings more exposure to the league and that’s really what makes the money when you get more exposure. So I think it’s great for the league to be honest.”
That rabbit hole has produced some unfortunate gamers, however, with gamers like Durant complaining about the conversation random fans and TV shows have around narratives about things other than the game itself.
In 2019, Silver said, “We live in a time of fear. I think it’s a direct result of social media. Many players are dissatisfied.”
And Silver also said of the trade demands on Saturday night: “I think that’s a bad thing. I think it’s corrosive to the system. Fans sure don’t like that. Even a lot of players don’t like that because ultimately they can go to a certain team believing that player will still be there.”
Drama is gaining ground on social media, but it’s hard to see if that’s actually a good trend for a still-growing league with exciting players and games. And whether the eyeballs are tracking the games as they should, compared to fatigue or saturation with the side issues of the day.
Star players who are stagnant or in poor relationships are not good for the league at all. Franchise negligence or incompetence should not be rewarded with blind loyalty. There are many examples of players putting pressure on their franchises and the results are positive. The greats of yesteryear often begged players to take charge of their careers so that negative history would not repeat itself.
That being said, it might be a bit nostalgic, but it felt like the league could tell a better, more complete story when its stars were stable in their respective situations.
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird got into pre-made situations and won quickly, while Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon went through the ups and downs of building a franchise before rewarding that justice with championships.
Not only did these players stay in a uniform, but the franchise and teammates added a degree of depth and texture. Supporting players became household names as well as stars and weren’t just footnotes at the moment.
The players became synonymous in the cities in which they lived. You can’t think of Los Angeles without imagining Magic, or Chicago without thinking of Michael. Whether those players knew it or not, excellence kept those franchises on the map during downtime.
“You’ve got Steph Curry, Dame Lillard in Portland, Giannis in Milwaukee, Jokic,” McCollum said, noting players who have become and have remained synonymous in their drafted towns.
The world has come to know Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and many others around Steph’s orbit, and with another ring or two we could certainly say the same about Giannis and his teammates.
There’s certainly a line, or at least a balance, between franchise power and player power. None should overwhelm, each should complement each other.
The world is moving faster than ever, especially the NBA. So, figuring out the metrics of this era won’t be as easy as we’d like. More people than ever are consuming the game, or at least the conversation.
How the public reacts to too much of a good thing will predict the true future of the NBA.
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