After a 7 month hiatus (basically the entire football season) I have decided to dust off the keyboard and get back into this blog. The NBA is in full swing and it’s time for me to sound off. This past summer, thanks to the Miami Heat, the world got to know and try to understand, “The AAU Generation.” This is a term my colleague KG and I have been kickin’ around and you may have heard on Sportscenter. “The AAU Generation” are players 30 and under that grew up playing against each other all year round. Back in the day the best players didn’t see each other until college. Thus, they never had any interest to form relationships with one another; they just wanted to beat each other’s face in (i.e. Jordan, Magic, Bird, Isaiah). But since the mid 90s and the emergence of off-season basketball, the best players have been goin’ against each other since the 5th grade. And if you play with or against someone since you were 10 years old you are bound to develop some form of a relationship. These guys call, e-mail, and text each other on the regular because they go through the same struggle.
Take those same 5th graders and fast-forward to the NBA. Now instead of being the only superstar on your team bustin’ your butt everyday just to get knocked out in the 1st round of the playoffs, you decide if I join forces with a couple other stars I know we can win it all, and with less pressure on myself. That is what we are witnessing today. Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh made the first step. And rumor is many more are to follow. Some that I have heard are Amare w/ Melo and Chris Paul or Dwight w/ CP3 or Deron Williams. And you know Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are recruiting one more big man to round out their trio.
Many experts don’t understand this and say it’s bad for the game. On the contrary this is exactly what the game needs. 6-8 teams that dominate the league year after year. The Golden Age of the NBA was when Chicago, LA, Detroit, New York, Phoenix, and maybe a few more you can throw in there dominated the league. Year after year you knew that those teams were gonna meet in the playoffs and couldn’t wait to place your bets. Today, Miami and OKC already have a head start. New York and Chicago are makin’ their moves. Meanwhile Orlando, New Orleans, Utah, and others are praying their Superstars don’t leave them for less money to be on a Super Team.
So my suggestion to everyone is to embrace the new super teams. Don’t act like you won’t see them when they come to your town. Let’s say we end up with 8 teams that battle it out. You will be guaranteed to see at least 2 of them in your city every month. People say they like parody, but the ratings show that people only watch the best match-ups. When ABC shows the Sunday Game of the week I can assure you one of these teams will be playing; Heat, Celtics, Bulls, Magic, Lakers, Spurs, Knicks, or Thunder. We want to see the best battle it out. So SUPER TEAMS UNITE!!! Go forth and give us the greatest show on earth.
