Fansided

Get off my lawn: The NBA stinks

By Hamilton Bones

May 17, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) fouls Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half in game one of the Eastern conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
May 17, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) fouls Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half in game one of the Eastern conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NBA Stinks. Get used to it.

Last week I came on here to tell you why the NBA Draft Lottery stinks. This week, I have a much more dire hot take: The NBA as a whole just plain stinks.

As of right now, we are staring down the barrel of a Warriors-Cavs NBA Finals as they lallygag their way to another showdown, unbeaten.

Of course they’re unbeaten. Which honestly stinks because this was the expected result from pretty much anyone with half a brain cell, and that’s never a good thing.

But we should have seen this when the season began. In fact, before the season began. Yet we foolishly hung our hopes on maybe the Spurs presenting some semblance of a challenge to Golden State. Then LaMarcus Aldridge decided to turn into a corpse, one that’s seemingly allergic to a simple putback.

The Clippers or Rockets? Nah. They stink.

The one odd glimmer of hope we had in seeing the competitive balance level itself out was when Kevin Durant got injured. Though that injury conceivably helped the Warriors, as it allowed them to restore their offensive balance (aka Steph’s confidence) while he was out.

In the East, the nerds hung their collective hats on the fact that Brad Stevens could figure out something to present a challenge to the Cavs. Not even close. Now we are hearing the Bullets would have fared better. Ugh.

The conference finals — yes, both East and West — used to be blood baths. Not anymore.

Long gone are the days of Bird vs. Dr. J, MJ vs. The Bad Boys, Kobe vs. The World, and Shaq vs. the Sacramento “Queens.”

More often than not, one team would end up in the NBA Finals mortally wounded from the conference finals.

Now? Not so much.

The Cavs and Warriors are two teams joyfully strolling through cakewalks.

LeBron and Co. have seemingly faced more trouble in lay-up lines and the Warriors look like they’re playing a game of H.O.R.S.E.

This won’t be changing anytime soon. I don’t have to tell you that the Warriors are a juggernaut. A young juggernaut, at that. The only thing that could derail them is either injuries or greed.

Meanwhile, LeBron wisely stays in the East and enjoys 50-win seasons while knowing he can curb stomp a No. 1 seed like the Celtics on their home court by roughly a thousand points. And while Boston has been a great story this year, it is clearly in their best interest to build around young players like Jaylen Brown and potential No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz, as the LeBron train does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

I honestly laugh at the notion that adding Jimmy Butler or Paul George would have altered any of these outcomes. Maybe they lose by a hundred and not a thousand? I don’t know.

So what is the NBA to do? On one hand, they must be loving the fact that they have the finals rematch they wanted. But at what cost? They’re about to have their sponsors lose out on six games of revenue. Add that in to the stark reality that these obscene blowouts are causing fans to leave these games at the half; or earlier.

I shutter at the thought of how the Ginger Hammer and the NFL would handle this type of hemorrhaging of profits.

But perhaps this just gives us more time to enjoy our families and maybe watch an entire Major League Baseball game.

No?

GET OFF MY LAWN.