By now you’ve heard —but might not care —- that the NBA lockout has ended. Hard-line Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan rates a mention in the NYT’s analysis of the deal:
The sustained virility of Occupy Olympic Tower — the N.B.A.’s Manhattan headquarters — will give even Jordan and the most mismanaged franchises the opportunity to turn a profit, through the transfer of approximately $300 million a year from the players to the owners. We will have to wait for the fine print of the agreement to determine how much harder the salary cap has become, and how much competitive balance may result.
But here is the tricky part for the N.B.A. as it moves forward with its most potent teams inhabiting the glamour markets of Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Boston, Dallas and possibly soon New York: Will the sport ultimately benefit or bomb without superteams playing deep into June?
Ostensibly the deal will establish NFL-style parity, meaning small market teams like the Bobcats will have a better shot at the title.
But the irony —as Harvey Araton points out —the “league’s most explosive growth years were marked by predictability, the reliance on a handful of transcendent teams and stars relentlessly marketed by the major basketball shoe companies.”
In other words, when the Lakers, Celtics and the Heat are in title contention. So while a strong Bobcats playoff run might generate a lot of excitement in Charlotte, the reaction among hardcore NBA fans would be a collective yawn.
