Helping the Middle

Magic Johnson recently said: "I hope the Lakers lose every game. Because if you’re going to lose, lose. And I’m serious. If you’re going to lose, you’ve got to lose, because you can’t be in the middle of the pack. You either have to be great, or you’ve got to be bad to get a good pick.”
The current NBA draft philosophy places the bottom fourteen teams who don't make the playoffs in a lottery contest. They weight the odds so that the worst performing team has the highest percentage chance of getting the first pick. They use a random selection process for the first three picks and then the rest of the selections are allocated in order of worst win/loss performance the year before. They claim this promotes parity in the league by allowing poor teams to draft the best players to make them more competitive for years to come.

Wrong. These lottery picks can be traded so sometimes the awful team doesn't even enjoy the favorable pick that their losses provide. In the NBA it is rare that one player will make an awful team significantly more competitive in the three years that he is required to stay. What this policy does promote is the undesirable race to the bottom where even the best and most competitive athletes advocate for their teams to lose. The great teams don't need much to stay great, but this offer to help the worst get better simply promotes poor and non-competitive play.

These races to the bottom seldom seem to help the poor teams get better, but it is an excuse for another spectacle, more sports commentary and meaningless controversy.  I'd rather see professional leagues put a premium on inspiring excellence rather than encouraging complete failure by the lure of a draft pick. To change the real competitive edge I'd like the league to offer the first four draft picks to the teams who finished 5-8 in the playoffs. These are the upper middle class of the league. The teams that are just knocking on the door and looking for a hand up.

These are the teams that, with one good player, could move from a good team to a great team and they would become competitive with the upper echelon teams of the league. Some may say that this would relegate the poor franchises to the standings' cellar. It might. But teams have other avenues to improve their teams than the draft. Professional sports are businesses where you have to spend money to make money, and even then it's not always a guarantee for immediate success. Let’s reward those who are almost there rather than those who would blatantly lose and mock their own sport.

Losing on purpose demonstrates worse sportsmanship than doping. Players on the court are there to win. When a competitor like Magic Johnson speak in favor of his former team losing all of their games, it’s time for a change. It’s time to bring competition back.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for keeping your comments positive and helpful..

Popular posts from this blog

No More Tears?

Image
Life is funny and full of surprises. It may surprise many of people to learn that I cry quite a lot. I cry at movies, during television shows and even some commercials.  I know that some of the things that make me cry are nothing more than emotionally manipulative plots with added melancholy music.   Even schmaltzy Hallmark specials have my tears flowing.  Perhaps the apex of my emotionality resulted from a television special,The Golden Moment, that I saw in junior high school. As we prepared for the birth of our first child my wife and I attended prenatal and basic parenting classes.  I remember asking one nurse whether I would recognize my child after the baby was born?  I remember getting choked up just asking the question.  She assured me that I would and that just to make sure we would get matching bracelets until we left the hospital; so there was no reason to worry about taking the wrong child home. So, when my daughter was born, I fully expected the moment to be full
Read more

Merry Christmas 2013

Image
Today I thank my mother and father for their goodness, kindness and example that I hope to emulate through my years. I thank my brother Paul for his leadership. As the eldest of numerous siblings he has paved the way for us all to set goals and achieve them. My sister Kathy has always stood for that which is right.  Her virtuous living and stalwart life keeps us steady and grounded. Joanne has kept our family fun and imbued us with continued traditions.  Thank you Jody. Diane has blessed us all with the example of continual hope.  Her courage in the face of trials is a gift I remember on this Christmas Day. Elaine will give her support to anyone at any time and for any need.  I am not even sure she asks why.  Thank you for that unconditional love. Richard will get into the grind and solve any problem as quickly as it arises.  He shows me the value of not waiting and rueing but just getting in and doing it. My brother Robert, the second of the twins, keeps his youthful
Read more

Winter

Image
In winter when gloom and dark abound, We lay our heads upon our beds with cold and dread all about. But at the start of dawn's too bright light some hope seeps in our life. For while we slept the dark black clouds emptied their feigned despair blowing down a serene blanket white. Untouched our world feels like a comforter, deceptively warm. The earth is covered with no escape. But there is no fear nor claustrophobic dread. Instead the shining moon drifts above our sleeping heads. A  continuing snowfall scatters the reflected light. Falling flakes fill the air with a brilliant array of heavenly hope. Hope that comes from this blanket so fair. The world now brimming in brilliant white. We gather our boots our scarves and our coats. We know the cold air that awaits. Our flesh is to weak to withstand the harsh blast of deep winter's icy, sharp flair. We take a step to just explore. We are vulnerable. We feel the cold. We are small.   We groan, we moan
Read more