What We've Hated This NBA Season
The worst things, according to 12 Substack writers
We asked 12 leading NBA voices on Substack:
What have you hated this NBA season?
Check out their answers and subscribe!
An insult to injuries
| Injuries. It's pretty much always injuries.
I don't want to discount the amazing things Boston has done in assembling one of the most impressive regular-season résumés we've ever seen, but the presumed inevitability of the Celtics getting back to the NBA Finals is only bolstered by the fact that pretty much every other team in the East’s top 10 is missing someone key — or, in Philadelphia's case, just welcoming Joel Embiid back.
There's a growing number of health concerns (Karl-Anthony Towns, Kawhi Leonard, Brandon Ingram, Malik Monk, et al.) out West, too.
I. HATE. INJURIES.
The scuzziness of promoting gambling
| The full embrace of gambling really is a drain on my enjoyment of basketball, in part because the nature of my work means I have to be conversant enough to understand what's going on in case something like, say, the Jontay Porter scandal pops up.
It all feels a little desperate from the league and media partners, and it's really scuzzy that otherwise smart media people are now obligated to tell regular fans how to part with their hard-earned money in these totally nonsensical parlays that effectively serve as donations to corporations.
Hello, Adele?!
| I’m upset that Adele didn’t sit courtside at more games with her (rumored) husband, superstar agent Rich Paul. She’s the closest thing the NBA has to Taylor Swift dating Travis Kelce. Adam Silver needs her presence!
All I’m asking is to see Adele at more of his silly little work events while she pretends not to notice the camera trying to capture her for the Jumbotron. Yes — she has that residency in Vegas (someone get me tickets please and thank you), but can she please give the people (me) what they want?!
Rough stuff
| I feel like my answer for this kind of question is always the same: Injuries.
We were without Joel Embiid for half of the season. Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley; Karl-Anthony Towns; Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, and OG Anunoby; Khris Middleton; Tyrese Haliburton; Devin Booker and Bradley Beal; Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro; LaMelo Ball; Jamal Murray; Chris Paul; Ja Morant, Marcus Smart, and Desmond Bane; Trae Young; Scottie Barnes; Alperen Şengün and Tari Eason; Zach LaVine ...
All these guys have missed extended time, and I feel like I'm just getting going here.
It's rough. It's always rough.
NBA time … and its effects
| Apart from injuries and the encroachment of sports betting (depending where you live, it exists now as devil on the shoulder or lens you're watching games through), I have hated the acceleration of “NBA time.”
Already fast, this season the pace warped again. I dislike it at a mild level when I think about the fact that most teams have six games left to play and wasn't it just October?
I have a problem with it when it causes amnesia for things worth our collective memory, as with instances of intimate partner violence (IPV) committed by athletes (and coaches) and the league's dismal track record with meting out meaningful discipline against it.
NBA time, with things considered messy or outside the bounds of basketball, works like accelerated geological strata — piling new layers of sediment down every season to cover them up, making them feel like ancient history.
Growing influence of sports betting
| The conversation around sports betting has heated up this season with the Jontay Porter investigation and J. B. Bickerstaff’s and Tyrese Haliburton’s words, but this is something that has been growing for years. You can’t listen to a podcast or watch a game without noticing.
Listen, it’s going to get much worse. Online sports betting has been legal here in Spain since 2006, and we’ve been dealing with the consequences for more than a decade. It’s also happened to the rest of Europe.
It’s going to be ugly.
Betting changes people
| Betting degrades people and changes the way they watch the game.
I had my share of addiction periods during college. They weren’t financially dangerous (my wagers were roughly 2 dollars), but I bet three to four times a day, on events from major basketball and soccer competitions to lower-league soccer competitions. I vividly remember placing live in-game bets to “make up for lost ground.”
That’s why the decision by the NBA to couple betting and League Pass is my most hated thing of the season.
Is it worth it?
| Gambling, and all the grossness dripping from it. The threats to players and staff, the omnipresent ads, Jontay Porter. It's the NBA's sword of Damocles.
Sure, gambling has generated short-term wealth and interest in the league. But I and many others have a constant, gnawing fear that something terrible is coming. Is it worth it?
I cover the NBA because I love basketball. Gambling and all its accoutrements are increasingly a distraction from and a danger to the on-court product. I hate it.
Spurious
| Victor Wembanyama is already so much better than many of us could have fathomed, but unfortunately, his unprecedented rookie season (21 ppg, 11 rpg, better than 3.5 bpg) is being wasted on a team that is 18-58.
I understand that San Antonio had to bottom out to put itself in position to get Wemby in the first place, but that doesn’t make it less of a bummer to see his transcendent talent wasted in year one.
I hope San Antonio turns over basically its whole roster next season – Wemby deserves a winning product, and he’s surely not getting it right now.
Lost season
| | The OptionWemby's glaring lack of a point guard comes to mind. But my single biggest disappointment would probably be the lost season we've gotten out of the Grizzlies.
What a disaster. Memphis finished second in the West last year, behind only the eventual champion Nuggets. As of this writing, they're 26-50, and that's after a rollicking two-game win streak.
The rest of the conference got better, so maybe they were never going to repeat that, but this is a better league when Ja Morant is out there stunting on fools, and I for one hope to see this team get back on the ascendant track.
A little respect, please!
| Jayson Tatum continues to be disregarded as a superstar, and as an official NBA MVP. It’s a disgrace. Especially given the fact that the sitting MVP, Joel Embiid, has never been to the conference finals. Especially given the fact that Nikola Jokić, as great as he is, doesn't even much like being a famous NBA player (which is fine, but not so superstarry/fun to watch).
Does Tatum have "clutch" problems? Maybe? I get tired of BOS blowing leads and not closing strong, but somehow they've only lost 16 games this entire season. And: After BOS beat OKC by 35 (!) last night, Tatum is averaging 27.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, and a career-high 4.9 assists on 60.7% true shooting.
Is Tatum too good-looking? Is he too drama-free? Because in ESPN's straw poll this week, Tatum got two first-place votes. Two. In the poll, he’s behind Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Dončić, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
But, whatever. Wake me up when Tatum hoists the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP trophy. Poetry.
Revisit this stupid rule
| The 65-game rule goes a little too far for my liking.
Kristaps Porziņģis, despite being one of the best players on the NBA’s best team, has been disqualified for end-of-season team selections due to missing more than 17 games.
I hate the fact that Tyrese Haliburton had to rush back with an injured hamstring and is still eerily close to not being eligible for an All-NBA team this year, despite leading the league in assists. He told us the 65-game rule was “stupid.” He was right.
Back it up to 50 games or something — the idea has legs, but these legs are too darn long.
And here’s my take on today’s NBA, from earlier this season:
As someone covering the Spurs, can’t say I agree this was a “wasted season” by any means! They were transparent from the beginning about bringing Wemby along slowly and learning what they had in the rest of the young guys already on their roster, and they did just that! They also were keen on maintaining long-term flexibility with their cap space and draft capital, and they still have those assets! They now have a clearer picture of what they’re working with! They didn’t give into external pressures and make short minded deals for one-year rentals or players who bog down their ability to pursue help this summer! Just my thoughts! Very much still enjoyed getting another perspective from a lot of talented writers!
Heartening to see so many writers decrying the baleful influence of gambling--I knew it would be bad, but I had no idea how bad. I don't gamble, so the only personal impact it has is that sports discussions on broadcast media--rarely a venue for intelligent or insightful talk--are even more annoying than before. But culture-wide? Wow, my soul dies a little every time I hear the rapidlyspoken announcement that you should wager within your gambling budget (gambling budget!) or call a toll-free number if you think you have a problem. Quicktalkin' Buddy, we ALL have a problem.