The New Look NBA

The "Basketball for Thought" is a commentary by Kris Gardner.

September 1999

While the shadows of the NBA's lockout fade into memory as the 1999 - 2000 season approaches, it's time to look forward and put behind us those dreaded six months of rhetoric and bs. The majority of basketball people believe the owners won an overwhelming victory in the new collective bargaining agreement with a limit on players' salaries now in place as the main reason. Despite complaints from Knicks center Patrick Ewing and other players feeling they gave up "too much" in the agreement, the new look NBA should have a bright future.

First, the truncated '98 - '99 season was not a fair indicator of how the NBA would look because of the 50 games crammed into 90 days. Yes, the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA Championship; but, many people question whether the Spurs would have held up over the long haul. It's a moot point since the Spurs are not going to return the trophy nor will they place an asterisk next to their name stating "title won in 50 game season".

Next, the new bargaining agreement has made popular the sign and trade as well as an almost college like recruiting process to lure free agents to new teams.

"Ninety percent of the time, money is the determining factor," said Pete Babcock, general manager of the Atlanta Hawks. "But if everything is equal, or close to equal, then the other factors come into play. Does the guy like the city? Is the team close to contending? The arena, the practice facility, the coach, they all matter if the money is the same."

Orlando Magic Coach Doc Rivers said, "If you have enough salary cap room and an attractive organization, you can get very good quickly. I think we have what it takes. You sell a player on the direction you're going, and the belief that you can get him where he wants to be quicker than his organization can."

The NBA Board of Governors approved rules changes which they hope will improve scoring and the fluidity of the game. The flow of the game will suffer in the short run due to the increased number of fouls which will be called early in the season.

As a result of off season moves and new rules, many people in the media and fans alike are proclaiming the Western Conference as far superior to the Eastern Conference. With the Lakers hiring Phil Jackson to massage Shaq and Kobe's egos; Portland's acquisitions of Steve Smith and Detlef Schrempf who will add much needed leadership to the young and athletic Blazers; Houston acquiring the electrifying rookie guard Steve Francis; Phoenix acquiring Penny Hardaway from Orlando; Seattle revamping; etc.; the West is loaded at the top with high level teams.

In fact 8 teams could win at least 45 games while the 9th best team may finish above .500 and still miss the playoffs. However, as long as the Clippers, Warriors, Nuggets, et al. continue shooting themselves in the foot, the top teams in the West will have a lot of easy victories thanks to the bottom feeders.

The Eastern Conference doesn't seem to have the flashy teams like the West; but, it is definitely more balanced than the West from top to bottom. The entire Central Division could finish at or above .500 with the Charlotte Hornets possibly being the best of the bunch. The Knicks run to the Finals with a more up tempo game seems to have intrigued other teams in the East to the up tempo style of game. (It's about time!!)

For every Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Kidd in the West, there's Allen Iverson, Grant Hill, Stephon Marbury, and Vince "Air" Carter in the East. Sounds like a bright future to me. Perhaps the people wanting Michael Jordan to return will now shut up and enjoy watching these new stars develop and shine.