The Rooney Rule Isn’t Effective: Black NFL Head Coaches

Shortly before the playoffs started, many head coaches were fired. During this time, the most talked about firing was the firing of Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith. Lovie Smith was the head coach for the Chicago Bears for 9 years before getting fired in 2012. He finished with a 81- 63 record. However, 2 years later, he was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He did not have a good season only winning 2 games in his first year, but they were not that good before he got there and the team was devoid of talent. This season, his team used their high draft pick to draft 2013 Heisman winner Jameis Winston and the team improved to 6 – 10. The team looks very promising in the eyes of many NFL fans. His players loved him. However, he was fired this year. Lovie Smith is black. As of right now, there are 6 minority head coaches in the NFL including newly hired black coach Hue Jackson of the Cleveland Browns and Latino coach Ron Rivera whose team the Carolina Panthers will be coaching in Super Bowl 50.

The Rooney Rule was established in 2003 and it requires teams to interview, at least one minority head coach when the position is open. This is basically the NFL’s version of affirmative action. It was named after Pittsburgh Steelers Owner and head of the NFL’s diversity committee Dan Rooney. The purpose of this rule was to give minority coaches an equal shot at head coaching positions and the expected outcome was an increased number of minority head coaches in the NFL. However, based off of the amount of minority head coaches alone (in a league that is mostly black) this rule doesn’t seem to be working.As a matter of fact, token candidates are a big problem for the league. Teams are literally interviewing black candidates for head coaching positions just because they are black. The team usually know who they want to hire already so this black candidate has no chance of getting the job. As a result, certain aspiring black head coaches become the go-to token candidate and as a result of so many interviews with no job, they aren’t taken seriously by almost every team. They become stuck as a position or assistant coach.

This rule does not apply to position coaches and coordinators. This is important to point out because of how people typically climb the ranks in the NFL. Most of the time, head coaches start out as position or assistant coaches and then move up to coordinator. Then, from coordinator you can become head coach. These promotions can happen either within on franchise or when the opportunity presents itself with other teams. This the career ladder that most NFL head coaches have had to take. ESPN writer Mina Kimes says in her article New study exposes the NFL’s real diversity crisis that, “According to new research from professors at Georgetown, George Washington, Emory and Iowa State University, white position coaches and assistants in the NFL are more than twice as likely to be promoted to coordinator than their black counterparts, regardless of their performance, experience or coaching background.” She continues to say that, “According to their research, quarterbacks coaches are more likely to become head coaches than, say, receivers or running backs coaches. And because white players are more likely to play quarterback (a recent study found that black high school quarterbacks are 39 percent more likely to be asked to switch positions when they enter college), they are also more likely to coach the position, and then possibly become coordinators, and so forth.” Combine this with the fact that this rule does not apply to position coaches and coordinators and you see that the Rooney Rule can end up not being effective and it hasn’t.

Stephen A points out that not only are black coaches at a disadvantage to get coaching positions, but the ones that do get head coaching positions get hired to unfavorable jobs. As you can see, there are a lot of systematic factors that can account for the low number of minority head coaches in the NFL. However, I know some of you reading this might be thinking to yourself, “I don’t think that (insert favorite NFL team here) owner/general manager is racist, even if we don’t have a black coach or coordinator on our team.” That may be true. That is irrelevant though because the number of nonwhite faces in coaching positions in the NFL are low. The reason why all those stats are what they are and why we see that the Rooney Rule isn’t working is because of something that effects the amount of opportunities available for people in most job fields: connections. Herm Edwards, former well-respected head coach of the Jets, in told ESPN writer Mina Kimes in her article New study exposes the NFL’s real diversity crisis that, “This league is about relationships… A lot of guys who are minority coaches that come in the league, after a while they get discouraged.” Sometimes, if you aren’t friends with people in charge, you will not get the job. This seems to be the case in the NFL and all of the NFL owners are white so it makes sense that most of their friends who have jobs in the NFL are white.

In a league in that is notorious for being very impatient with its coaches and sometimes players, we see coaches that have their jobs for long periods of time despite their lack of production. Jason Garrett of the Dallas Cowboys and Jeff Fisher of the St. Louis Rams are just two examples of coaches like this. Many times, they have good relationships with the owner and Jason Garrett-Jerry Jones is the face of a tight head coach-owner relationship. They happen to be white. It’s kind of like the players whose parents are friends with the coach and are making the team regardless of skill because of it so there are no more spots for you. However, for Lovie Smith, the results seemed to be coming and he didn’t have enough time to prove that he is the right head coach for the team. Firing him made no sense from a team development perspective. Yet, Chip Kelly got another head coaching job VERY quickly after he was fired from the last one. It doesn’t seem right.

Representation is important. It is important to make people feel that if they work hard, they can achieve success, too, regardless of race. This is why there is so much anger over the lack of black and Latino Oscar nominations. In a league where most of the players are black, the coaching staff should have similar diversity. It makes sense. The Rooney Rule was created because of the lack of black head coaches in the NFL. The fact that this rule exists means that the NFL (not the individual teams but Roger Goodell) doesn’t like a lack of diversity. So, it’s time to fix the problem before it gets too big and there is only on minority coach. If this were the case for another big company, and the NFL is a business, then the general public would look at them with a raised eyebrow. The Rooney Rule needs to be amended to provide real opportunities to black coaches aspiring to be head coaches and not the fool’s gold that exists today.

All-Star Discrimination: Voting and Centers in the NBA

These are the starters for the NBA All-Star game in this year, which is going to be held in Toronto. The left side is the Western Conference team and the right side is the Eastern Conference team. So, there were many stories that surrounded the All-Star lineup this year. Zaza Pachulia almost started. If you don’t know who he is then you should already see the problem there. Stephen Curry is an automatic shoo-in every year now since he has become the NBA’s most popular player over the last 2 years. Some people are questioning if Kyle Lowry deserves to be starting, but not that many people too mad at him starting and how would it look if the host city didn’t have representative from its team starting the game. Some people are mad that Kobe is in it at all and definitely shouldn’t be starting despite this being his last year due to his performance this year and his team’s poor record. However, those are mostly Kobe haters. Besides that and annual conversation of who got snubbed, there hasn’t been much conversation about who’s starting. When you look at that list, you think to yourself, “I guess all those people deserve to be there. However, when I look at that list, I see one glaring issue: no centers. There are absolutely no centers in the All-Star game. Why is this you may ask? This is due to the voting format.

That is Andre Drummond, the starting center for the Detroit Pistons. These are his stats this year, so far.

That is Demarcus Cousins, starting center for the Sacramento Kings. These are his stats this year, so far. This was actually soon after the All-Star starters were named. So, that is how he responded to not being named a starter.

Andre Drummond plays in the East and Demarcus Cousins play in the West. So, it works out that both could have played and would not be competing against each other for votes. There are other people that got snubbed. There is Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls that’s having a career year. There is Damian Lillard who is having a very underrated year, as well. There is no doubt that everybody mentioned so far will make the All-Star team as reserves. The fact of the matter is that there are only 5 people in each conference that can start. Therefore, to Jimmy Butler and Damian Lillard, oh well. However, for Demarcus Cousins and Andre Drummond, it’s different. They aren’t starting not because there were other people in their conference and their position that were better than them, they aren’t starting because they are centers. Period.

Originally, the NBA All-Star voting was done by the position. You vote in a point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. Then, the NBA realized that most players are able to and do play 2 positions. So, they changed the format to 2 guards, 2 forwards, and a center.  Two seasons ago, the NBA changed their format to the format that we have today. They completely eliminated the center position from the voting process. Now, you vote in 2 back court and 3 front court players. This is why you have 3 small forwards starting in the East. The game of basketball is changing. The Warriors are the face of that change. They don’t shoot threes because the defense makes them. They want to shoot them. Positions 1 to 5 are above average three point shooters. They embrace spacing. And, argument can be made that their best lineup is a lineup in which Draymond Green is starting at the center position and he might be shorter than their starting shooting guard. However, Demarcus Cousins and Andre Drummond are undoubtedly the best players at their position in their conference. Can anybody really say that they do not deserve to be starting in the All-Star game.

Let’s be real. The All-Star game is a popularity contest. The most popular players always start because the fans vote for who they like and the most popular players tend to be the most liked. However, the most popular players tend to be the best players, as well. Their skill level, numbers, and success get them noticed and the better they play, the more popular they become. However, there is an issue here. There is only so much that a good center can do as far as exciting a crowd. Most (almost all) centers cannot handle the ball well enough to break somebody’s ankles. Most centers, although that is changing, cannot hit threes like guards. The traditional elite center has post moves that make them elite at scoring in the paint. The traditional elite center garners the hearts of fans by fooling their defender with posts moves like Hakeem Olajuwon. Traditional elite centers can dunk on you. The absolute, undisputed best centers possess all these skills. Demarcus Cousins and to a lesser degree Andre Drummond do. However, the best guards and forwards possess those skills as well in addition to their ability to cross you up, shoot threes, and make fancy passes. So this AUTOMATICALLY puts the center at a disadvantage in All-Star Voting. Centers can still be voted in because they are categorized as front court players. But, can Andre Drummond, a guy that is incredibly productive but in a limited way, become more popular than Carmelo Anthony, a guy that is productive as well but in a more exciting way. Unless he is dunking, Andre Drummond will not entertain you with his rebounds, but Carmelo shooting over 2 people and making the shot will. I am a Knicks fan. Carmelo Anthony has been playing very well recently (keyword: recently) and has looked like the superstar that he is. However, he does not deserve to be there over a guy who has been the best center in the Eastern Conference all year and if it had not been for this voting format, he would not have been. Carmelo only had 360 votes more than Drummond who was leading him for months. Plus, the effort put forth by his team alone should make him a starter in the All-Star game. Look at this.

And, he still didn’t make it. My point is this. If you are the best in your position, you should start in the All-Star game for your team. This is basically discrimination by the NBA against centers. The center position, despite the lack of scoring from most teams at this position, is still very important to the NBA. Centers are extremely important to a team’s defense. If you can’t rebound well, it makes it extremely hard to win a championship. Their importance to the game alone should warrant them still having a position on the All-Star ballot. It is true that the game is changing and most centers either shoot threes or get rebounds and defend. However, the best centers are still traditional in playing style. You might see Demarcus Cousins take a three point shot here and there, but his game is based off of his dominant post play in the paint. He is not a combo center/forward or whatever you want to call these new age centers. Andre Drummond is not shooting threes. Hassan Whiteside is most likely not going to take defenders off the dribble with elite ball-handling skills. But, they are the best at what they do. Most centers cannot decide to play a back court position if they want to for most of the year. But, Kobe, one of the best SHOOTING GUARDS in NBA history, is a frontcourt player this year. This is another unfair advantage. Demarcus Cousins might have to win the NBA Championship and get the Finals MVP if he wants to make an All-Star team just because he is a center despite being the best one in the NBA and that is wrong.

Josh Gordon, Spliffs, and the Intensity of the NFL

Josh Gordon was dismissed from Baylor University in 2011 after failing a test for marijuana. He was selected in 2012 by the Cleveland Browns. In 2013, he was suspended for 2 games by the NFL for another failed drug test on which he blamed prescription cough medicine. He then pleaded guilty for a DUI charge and was suspended by the NFL for the whole 2014 season. Then, the NFL altered its substance abuse policy and allowed him to play after his suspension was reduced to 10 games, but he was suspended for the last game of the season. He was then suspended for the whole 2015 season for testing positive for alcohol, which he was not allowed to drink due to the fact that he was entered into the NFL’s substance abuse program after his last suspension. He claims that he was drinking on a flight during the off-season and he didn’t know that the restrictions applied to the off-season, as well. He has committed a lot of drug related violations in his young NFL career and in the last 2 years, he has spent more time not playing than playing in the NFL. However, despite all of his violations, his tone has remained the same. He believes that HE DOES NOT HAVE A PROBLEM. He believes this so much that he recently has applied for reinstatement by he NFL. He claims that he does not have a problem and I feel that many NFL players believe that he doesn’t either considering the amount of drug violations there have been in the NFL in recent years and that he has only gotten suspended for marijuana, which is not a very addictive drug. This article showed the amount of drug violations there was up until September 2014. Most of those suspensions were for performance-enhancing drugs (not condoning them but its obvious why an athlete would want to use PEDs) and marijuana. With the exception of the alcohol suspension from last year and maybe the cough medicine incident (or maybe not), it is safe to say that the reason that Josh Gordon has gotten suspended so much is because of marijuana. When on the field, Josh Gordon is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. So if he doesn’t have a problem, why does he keep putting his career on the line for it.

American football is a gladiator sport. If you are an offensive player, particularly quarterback, running-back, or wide receiver, guys are going on the field with the intent of hurting you, maybe not to the point of injury, but just enough to knock the ball out of your hands or knock you so hard you can’t hold on to the ball. As a matter of fact, there are claims that rugby, a sport that looks like football without pads, is safer than American football. Yet, they are treated as if they play a sport with just as much intensity as every other major sport in America. Every NFL game, somebody gets hurt. So for those that happen to get repeatedly hurt due to playing style or position, do you continuously give them painkillers and other dangerous prescription drugs? It seems as if the players are continuously taking matters into their own hands whether they decide to smoke synthetic marijuana which is not a banned substance under the list of banned substances in the NFL but worse than real marijuana or take their chances by smoking the real thing and hope that they do not get tested soon.

Josh Gordon has been labelled as an addict, an immature kid (by others as well as himself), and another potential great who’s career was plagued by drugs all before the age of 25. It seems as if in his mind, he’s being treated unfairly by the NFL and general public. It is a fact that a lot of other 25 year olds in America smoke weed. I don’t think that anybody reading this will dispute that. However, most other 25 year olds don’t have millions at stake to lose if they are caught smoking it. The argument is that he is just careless, however, if there is really an epidemic of painkillers, which can have much worse effects and are more addictive than marijuana, given to the players by team doctors and if most players choose to smoke marijuana instead because it is safer, and these players play a sport in which they are beat up once a week, is he really being careless or doing what he feels he has to do to be able to play in the NFL?

NFL, do you suspend a player if there is marijuana detected in his system but he plays for the Denver Broncos? There’s a change in American culture when it comes to marijuana. States all across the country are on a path towards legalizing it if they have not already. Yet, the NFL does not want to follow this trend despite portraying itself as America’s unofficial pastime. Despite how they actually feel about the drug, that seems wrong of them. However, they can do what they want. The health benefits of marijuana are undeniable. It has gotten to the point where researchers are looking into ways for people to use marijuana for health benefits without the high. However, the NFL needs to realize that players are not going to wait for researchers to figure it out and they aren’t going to let random tests stop them from their pain relief.

I have never played professional or even collegiate football. The furthest I have gone in my football career is middle school. I do not smoke marijuana, either. However, I do know that since I have not played at a high level that I cannot judge a NFL player because of his alternate and safer method of pain relief. The perception of American football is changing. From ex-players suing the NFL over neglecting to inform them how dangerous the game is to ex-players wishing they never played and predicting the NFL will go extinct, people are looking at the NFL differently. People are realizing that football is just as much of a game on the field as it isn’t off the field. The NFL needs to realize that and take that into account with its policy. Many want to label Josh Gordon irresponsible, but that may be irresponsible of us as NFL fans. Josh Gordon could very well, be irresponsible and just wanted to get high and had no medical need for marijuana. However, the fact that there’s a possibility that he may have needed marijuana to play football means that we might be right in jumping to conclusions.

I’m Just Here So I Don’t Get Fined.

It feels as if it is a new epidemic for athletes to just cooperate in post game interviews as if they don’t like the media. You have this…

And this…

And this…

And all of this prompting this…

Now, I know that saying that it is an epidemic is maybe a stretch given the fact that not every player is not cooperating and not answering questions in post game interviews. However, it is the atmosphere that is created when that is acceptable. The players ultimately aren’t calling their peers out on it. In the Thunder’s case, Kevin Durant kind of picked up on Russell Westbrook’s behavior and kind of copied it. The fans love it and that’s the one part that many of the people who talk about press-player interactions don’t really say (I thoroughly enjoyed those Marshawn Lynch interviews when they first happened). In most cases, the coaches aren’t saying much to the players about it. And finally, the press kind of just take it. When this atmosphere is created, it creates the possibility of other players (especially future professional athletes) mimicking their behavior. After all, any publicity is good publicity, right?

This has happened before in sports. For example…

The relationship between the media and the players have always been an awkward one. If you are playing well on and off the field/court, you’re going to not mind a post game interview so much. As a matter of fact, some players would even want the post game interview to brag about their stats or their team’s win. But, when you aren’t playing well and looking bad off the court/field, you have instances like the ones shown above. In my mind, I think of the relationship like the relationship between the principal and the student. When you get called to the office and you know you’re doing well in school, you might just get some props from your teacher or get put on the honor roll or something. When you’re not doing well, you know what’s coming and then you complain about how the principal doesn’t know what’s really going on or if you want to Marshawn Lynch it, just don’t answer the questions because you already know what’s coming. The analogy may not work so well, but if you think about it long enough it might. Kind of.

I was watching a debate show called First Take on ESPN 2 and I saw this “debate” live. They weren’t really arguing the point so it’s not really a debate, but it’s a debate show.

They basically said when you don’t answer our questions, we can ruin your image. They didn’t literally say that, but they toed that line. What Stephen A. Smith said is was SERIOUS and seeing how Russell Westbrook doesn’t really care too much for the media these days, I’m surprised that he hasn’t cursed Stephen A. out already.

In the media, when a player is being disrespectful or just difficult with the media, the media seems to always portray the player as just taking out their frustration with whatever it is (either their play or off the court/field activities) on the media. See the pattern there? The media always asks good questions, right? The media never tries to sully people’s images due to personal conflicts, right? The media never oversteps boundaries, right? The reason that Marshawn Lynch doesn’t cooperate with the media is because he doesn’t trust them. Even when he has a good game, he’s not saying anything. He REALLY doesn’t trust them. Russell Westbrook has had a bad relationship with the media almost his whole career, especially with the Oklahoma City media. Mainly, because they have called him selfish, a ball hog, a bad presence in the locker room, and somebody who hurts his team rather than helps it. I am not in the locker room with his team and I have never covered the Thunder so I’m not going to completely disregard those specific criticisms. However, put yourself in Russell Westbrook’s shoes. How would you feel if you were getting triple doubles almost every night but people were still saying that you were hurting your team. Now if you check the comments on the last video, you will see a lot of people say that the players are just soft. That may be true and maybe when a player doesn’t respond to the media that he or she is showing a sign of weakness because he or she is showing that they are letting the criticism get to them. However, it could be a statement of protest because of how they feel that they are bring treated by the media. By the way, it’s mandatory in most sports leagues for the athletes to do post game interviews. When Marshawn Lynch said in an interview “I’m just here so I won’t get fined” he was really only there so he won’t get fined by the NFL. So when these players are there looking miserable, it’s because they don’t want to get interviewed.

The Players’ Tribune is a website started by Derek Jeter in 2014 for athletes to tell their stories how they want. It is basically a platform that allows athletes to become journalists. Players have social media, as well. Players have all kinds of ways to convey whatever they want however they want. So in society, the media’s role is changing. It might become a less important role in sports. So, this enables players to bypass the media by not answering questions and interact with the fans how they want to. So, Stephen A. and Skip Bayless may be thinking in a very old school way.

Despite how unprofessional his behavior during interviews may be, Marshawn Lynch is well liked by fans and not just Seahawks fans. Fans love the interviews that don’t go well, despite the fact that it is annoying for the interviewer. However, I believe that the media has to understand their place in the sports world now. Athletes are going to not make it easy for them when they aren’t in the mood because they don’t need the media to get fans to know them anymore. They have social media. As a matter of fact, they have Player’s Tribune and social media. I think that the media should take Stephen A’s advice and speculate all they want. However, I don’t think that the effect intended by Stephen A’s advice is going to happen in today’s society.

Sinking Ships: Tanking in the NBA

The following video is going to highlight the Spurs and their bench more than talk about the Sixers, but pay attention to the score.

The official meaning for the word ‘tank’ does not have anything to do with sports. You will not find the most common use of the word in any official dictionary. However, when you search for the definition on Google, it gives the official definitions, but incorporates the ‘slang’ definition, as well. The definition basically says exactly what the Philadelphia organization has been doing for the last 3 years which is basically losing on purpose. Now, when you tell non-sports fans about this concept, the first thing you will almost always hear is: Why would a team want to lose on purpose? This is important to recognize because the fact that this question comes up speaks to the fact that tanking goes against our very nature as human beings and therefore there might be something fundamentally wrong with it.

This is how tanking happens in sports: particularly in the NBA. In the NBA, you either want to be the best or the worst, as crazy as that sounds. The reason for that is that if you are the best, you can win a championship. If you are the worst, you have a better chance of getting the first pick in the NBA Draft, where the best college basketball players get selected by NBA teams. If you are just alright, then you’ll make the playoffs most likely but we all know that you’re not winning the championship because you’re just not the best and you’re too good to get a high pick in the draft so you’re basically stuck there trying to provide false hope of a championship to your fans and no future pretty much. An example of a team like this would have to be the Atlanta Hawks from around 2007-2011. They were good and had some good records to show for it, but they weren’t knocking LeBron out of the playoffs and the fans knew this because they would have decent attendance, but most of the fans were rooting for the other team. Many people thought that this was because you have so many people from other states that move down to Atlanta, but that might not be the case because we saw how excited the fan base could be when they feel they have a legitimate chance to do something in the playoffs last year and to a degree this year, as well.

Other leagues have drafts, as well. However, tanking isn’t as big of a problem in the other leagues due to the nature of the sport. I had an argument over Christmas with my cousin. He was born and raised in Jamaica, as almost all of my family was, as a HUGE soccer fan. When he came to America, he started to follow basketball a little bit more and decided to become a LeBron James fan. So, he saw all The Decision mayhem and he saw him go back to Cleveland, as well. Basically, as a soccer fan, he was used to seeing superstars join each other’s teams and dominate so he said he doesn’t see anything wrong with it. My position was that basketball is a different sport by nature so you can’t compare the two and that there’s something to be said for being THE reason why you win a championship in a sport where one guy can change the whole direction of an organization. It was a long argument. That being said, it is true that one or two guys can single-handedly change the whole direction of a franchise in basketball and it is hard (not impossible) to say that about football, or soccer, or hockey, or any other team sport. This is why there is more parity in the other sports, as well. Therefore, the moves being made by a team’s front office in other sports are almost always about improving the win percentage in the next season. In the NBA, who’s beating LeBron and whoever else is on his team? Notice, over the last 20 years, it’s almost always the same handful of teams winning the championship. The Bulls won 6 in the 1990’s. Kobe has 5, Wade has 3, the Pistons, Celtics, Mavericks and Warriors (to date) won one, and Duncan has 5. That’s all in the last 17 seasons, but there’s 30 NBA teams.

So now, you have the NBA draft. In other sports where tanking isn’t as common, the rules of the draft are very similar to the NBA. However, this might not be common to say, but the NBA Draft rewards tanking. Tanking is illegal in the NBA, but it’s hard to enforce a rule when you can’t really prove that a team is breaking it. The 76ers have come the closest in NBA history to show without a shadow of a doubt that they are tanking. I have never met an athlete in my life that has played a game with the intention of losing. Although, it has happened.

It is the front office that makes roster changes that directly hurt the team. Philadelphia has done nothing but make losing changes and here’s a list of them. The worst trade of all was trading away their most promising rookie in a long time who people thought they were tanking for in the first place. Now, all Philadelphia does is lose. They consistently get high draft picks though and this what they want. Is this wrong or just how business works in the NBA.

This can’t be right. That initial first reaction when you explain tanking to someone is what let’s you know that. First of all, I’m a Knicks fan and my team tanked last year and this year we look pretty good and are improving every game. I feel for the Philadelphia fans. They have tanked for so long that losing is a habit over there and it might take them a while to shake it. There must be a way in which Philadelphia can look at other teams or other leagues for guidance on how to develop a good team. The fans don’t deserve it and the city doesn’t deserve it. After all, this legend played there.

Let Them Live! Celebrations in the NFL and MLB

In the NFL, and many sports, it is customary to celebrate a scoring play. In the NBA, people tend to do such things after making a three point shot or a slam dunk. In the MLB, people tend to throw their bat up in the air while the ball is going over the wall for a home run, sometimes. In the NFL, it’s been the touchdown celebration (I would say touchdown dance but I wouldn’t classify a spike as a dance).

Touchdown Celebrations have been part of the NFL for as long as the NFL has existed and you can tell from how old some of the clips were in that video. The most famous dancers in NFL history might be  Elbert “Ickey” Woods of the Cincinnati Bengals and Deion “Primetime” Sanders who is well-known for playing on the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers among other teams in the NFL and MLB. It’s natural to want to celebrate an achievement. It’s human. So it makes sense that it happens in most professional sports. However, not all celebrations are taken to very kindly and that is for a variety of reasons.

This is Jose Bautista. He is one of the best players in the MLB. If you did not watch the MLB playoffs last year or are not familiar with baseball, this is what you have to know. The Toronto Blue Jays vs. The Texas Rangers was one of the best match-ups in the whole MLB postseason and that bat flips are “not welcomed” in baseball. I put that in quotation marks for a reason. This wasn’t just a bat flip, however. This was an intense bat flip. This bat was flipped so hard it almost disappeared like Bobby Shmurda’s hat. Jose Bautista plays for the Toronto Blue Jays and hit a hard home run, in Toronto, in a close and heated playoff series. The fans love it. Yet, this is a problem in the MLB.

This is Cam Newton, NFL MVP candidate and Carolina Panthers quarterback. He has been doing this simple dance after a big play, particularly a touchdown, for most of the season. This move is a popular dance moved today called ‘the dab’. He did it one day after a touchdown and as soon as he did it the Titans got upset, some fans got upset, and he has been doing it ever since and plans to continue doing it all the way to the Super Bowl. If I had to guess, the biggest reason that he is doing it right now is because to quote DJ Khaled, “They don’t want him to enjoy life, so he’s going to enjoy life. Just know.” My question is: why is everybody so uptight though?

I understand why a Rangers fan would be upset at Jose Bautista and why everybody in the NFL that doesn’t play on the Panthers would be mad at Cam Newton right now, but for many people in our society to have a problem with those who celebrate their own success is wrong to me. It’s their success. There is a limit to the amount of celebration is considered appropriate and I agree with that, as well. This is why you have penalties for excessive celebration in the NFL. However, I believe that that limit is when the celebration either disgraces the game or shames the opponent, although an argument can be made that the opponent allowing the celebrating team to get into a position where they believe that they can celebrate is shameful in itself. Notice how I have not talked about the NBA. The amount of signature celebrations that are in the NBA are kind of crazy, in a good way. The NBA got it right. They know that celebrations only enhance the NBA brand because they add more entertainment value to the product, which is the game. The MLB doesn’t approve bat flipping because of “the tradition of the game”. They call it upholding tradition, but I call it being stuck in the past and the MLB has had issues with that for a while now, but that’s a whole different blog post. However, it’s important to acknowledge that it is not illegal, just frowned upon. The bat flip energized the stadium and the fans watching at home. It added to the game. It wasn’t in disrespect to the opposing team. The NFL is slightly hypocritical with how they view the celebrations because it’s a problem when Cam Newton hits the dab but not when Odell Beckham Jr. hits the whip. Maybe it’s because Cam is viewed as cocky, but I feel he can do what he wants right now because he’s winning and, again, the casual fan loves it, Panthers fans love it, and the kids love it. He’s doing it for them and not the team that he is beating. Bottomline: If you want to stop a player from celebrating, beat them. As long as the player isn’t doing this…

The Stephen Curry Effect

Did you see some of the shots that this man was taking? He did whatever he wanted out on the court.

For those who are not in tune with popular culture in America, this is Stephen Curry. He is the greatest shooter of a basketball that the planet Earth has ever seen and I am not exaggerating as you can see from these highlights from a game earlier this season. There have been many great shooters in NBA history, but Stephen Curry stands out. His shooting prowess has caught the eyes of the sports world and really all of America as the NBA All-Star Voting results from last season showed.

All basketball fans know that when a basketball star captivates the hearts of America, people tend to emulate them while they are playing basketball. Particularly, fans tend to emulate them. Particularly, young fans tend to emulate them. We all know someone who thought that they were Allen Iverson and we all know people who still think that they are Kobe Bryant (this may or may not be to the detriment of your team whether on a recreational court or during an organized game). Basically, NBA stars change the way that the sport of basketball is played here in America and internationally and if you don’t think that NBA stars change the way that basketball is played internationally, just look at Stephon Marbury. The emulation increases when the star wins an NBA championship and when the player’s stature is more closely related to that of somebody that doesn’t play in the NBA than somebody that does and Stephen Curry is 6’3”, 190 lbs, and won the NBA Championship last season.

But the Warriors won the championship though…

Despite Charles Barkley saying it in a very interesting way, many people who are well-respected in the professional and collegiate basketball community share the same opinion that Charles does about jump shooting teams. Many people feel that if you just shoot the basketball like crazy (especially from the 3 point line) that you cannot succeed in the NBA and many other levels of basketball. But the Warriors won the championship though…

No disrespect to the Golden State Warriors. They do more than just shoot the basketball. They are one of the most intelligent teams in the league and they play very underrated defense. However, you cannot deny the fact that their offense is concentrated primarily on the 3 point shot with the king of threes running the offense: Stephen Curry. So now when you consider the success that Stephen Curry has had, the fact that he makes it look effortless, and the fact that most guys are near his height so most guys aren’t too small to attempt Stephen Curry-esque shots, you realize that a lot of people are going to try and emulate him. It’s a given. But, not everybody can be Stephen Curry. You can’t shoot like him. If you’re reading this and you can, I will probably see you on Hoop Mixtape or Ball is Life pretty soon. So what kind of effect is Stephen Curry having on the NBA? Enter Mark Jackson…

It’s interesting that Mark Jackson is the one that is saying that because Mark Jackson is the reason that the Warriors are good. He was their coach for a few years and took them from a team with a below average record to a team with one of the best records in the West in a very short time span. An argument can be made that Steve Kerr took them to another level and Steve Kerr was the guy who replaced Mark Jackson, but at the time that he was fired, he was doing a very good job and the players loved him. So with all that love that exists between the coach and his former team, it’s surprising that he said that. However, two things have to be acknowledged. 1. Mark Jackson did not mean those comments maliciously and meant that Stephen Curry is indirectly and unintentionally hurting the game. 2. He may have a point.

Yes, this top ranked high school player is 7 feet and still opted to shoot the three after he broke the defender’s ankles although he kind of had the lane (or could make a lane at that height in high school). The fact that he was able to break his ankles at that height is impressive. If you have 7 footers looking for threes, you’re definitely going to have 6 footers pulling them like crazy. Is Stephen Curry to blame for this though?

The NBA is changing and Stephen Curry and the Warriors are the face of that change. The 3 point shot is the most dangerous shot in basketball. A series of 3 point shots can cut into a big lead in seconds. The Warriors have mastered this. Stephen Curry has become the best player in the league in the eyes of many. Everybody wants to be the best but, can you really blame the man for doing what he does best and what works for him. The incredible passing and floor leadership is very evident in the video in the beginning of this post. However, like Mark Jackson said, people don’t notice that though, they notice your biggest strength. Kids aren’t going to look to emulate Stephen Curry’s defense, footwork, or leadership too often. What is undeniable is that many people are going to try and get the 3 point shot to work for them like it does for him because of height comparisons.We cannot deny that Stephen Curry has effected the game dramatically and the basketball world will feel this effect for years to come.

But if you are going to shoot a lot of threes? Don’t do this.

Parity in the NBA: Super Teams and the Eastern Conference/Western Conference Beef

(This was originally written in December of 2014. Does it still apply this season?)

Who remembers The Decision? LeBron James single-handedly put the NBA on hold for half the summer of 2010 and the eyes of the sports and, even the entertainment world, were all tuned into ESPN on July 8, 2010. He had almost every NBA fan on edge that night because the speculation about where he was going to go was all over the place. I remember that day. I was home all day with nothing to do but watch ESPN. It was as if his free agency was a marathon. The team that was in first place would change from week to week, day to day, and even hour to hour. However, on July 8, 2010, the race started to heat up, the team in the lead was changing every minute, and the finish line was near. At one point, the Bulls were the team that was in the lead. At one point, the Knicks were in the lead and there was talk about a team with new superstar addition Amar’e Stoudemire and LeBron James being a possible tandem. As a 15 year old Knicks fan, I couldn’t be more excited at that point. However, around an hour or two before The Decision, Chris Broussard, whose claim to fame was during this summer covering free agency, started to report that sources were telling him that LeBron was probably going to choose Miami. I couldn’t believe it. Chris Bosh had agreed to sign with the Heat at this time and I never thought that I would see three stars in their prime, and arguably the top two players in the game, join together to play on the same team. It was almost unheard of in the NBA. Yet, everything was still relatively up in the air and Knicks fans like me, Cavaliers fans, Lakers fans, Bulls fans, and basically all NBA fans could still be optimistic. Then, this happened.

He shook the NBA. At the time, the anger in Cleveland was what the media focused on and rightly so. However, a lot of NBA fans felt led on and angry at him for the whole television special, not to the extent of Cleveland fans but still angry. The Heat automatically became perennial favorites to win the championship. They did not get off to the start they wanted, but still ended up with a top seed in the East and ended up in the NBA Finals. Then, something interesting happened.

They actually lost. The NBA Super Team lost. And this is important to highlight as well, a Western Conference team once again won the NBA Championship. The Heat did go on to beat the young, up and coming, yet inexperienced Oklahoma City Thunder team and then if it weren’t for this shot the Heat would have lost in arguably the best Finals series’ of all time.

The Heat were on the top of the world and changed the NBA in a sense by showing a different way of winning. Not winning through developing a team through the draft, but winning through free agency. They were on top of the world and looked on paper and on the court unstoppable. Then, they lost by a record margin in the most recent NBA Finals and LeBron has gone back to the Cavaliers and started up a new Super Team with two young stars in Kyrie Irving, who was already in Cleveland, and Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The way the Spurs played in the NBA Finals to win the championship as well as the way the team was formed made just as much of a statement as the Heat’s championships two years before. They became America’s team for a period of time because of their ball movement and lack of superstars. Sure, they had players who were stars at one point in time and an aging star who was playing like he was 10 years younger than he was, but the scoring was so balanced and they were so connected on defense that you got a sense of team and not stars. Their championship made just as much of a statement in the NBA as the Heat’s championships two years before. Not just about how to play the game of basketball, but about the Western Conference, as well.

The Spurs let people know that the fundamentals of the game that worked in the era of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain still work today. Ball movement and good team defense still works. Good scouting and drafting, whether it be overseas or late in the draft, still works. Not only does it work, it works against anyone even juggernauts like the Heat. Both the Heat and the Spurs changed the NBA because the Spurs gave small market somewhat less attractive teams hope and the Heat gave large market teams in big cities a blueprint to success. Not only that, but the Spurs showed the NBA that any team can be beaten no matter who is on your team. These NBA Super Teams are not a threat to parity to the NBA. However, in the eyes of many, conferences are.

Yes, it is true that I just said teams like the Heat are not a threat to parity in the NBA, but they might be a threat to parity in their own conference. For most of LeBron James’ tenure on the Heat, there was one maybe two teams that were considered competition to them in the Eastern Conference. Now on the Cavs, the same seems to hold true in this early NBA season. Meanwhile, in the Western Conference…

That was the first and arguably toughest round for the Spurs in the 2014 playoffs. It went 7 games. That team almost didn’t make the playoffs with THIS RECORD. They were good enough to give the eventual champions a run for their money in the playoffs, but were barely good enough to even make the playoffs. It is well known in the amongst NBA players, fans, general managers, and coaches that the Western Conference is the stronger conference of the two meaning that the Western Conference has the better teams and if you go by the team overall records, it’s hard to argue against that. Meanwhile, the Heat and Pacers who were the top two seeds played sub-.500 teams in the playoffs. These two teams were so much better than everybody else in their conference that it was disturbing meanwhile 50 wins in the Western Conference does not guarantee you a playoff spot. Personally, I thought that a Western Conference team was the only team that can beat the Heat in the playoffs, but I thought that a lot of Western Conference teams could beat them. When the Knicks were struggling last year, I didn’t totally give up on them because they still had a chance to make the playoffs and almost did with a 37-45 record. Things like this have caused many to call for doing away with the conference system which has been a part of the NBA for years altogether. However, the strength of conference moves in cycles. In the Jordan era, the Eastern Conference was an extremely strong conference and although Jordan ruled the 90’s, his championships did not come easy. So, maybe getting rid of the conference system is an overreaction to a system that will fix itself in time; but, this is bad.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been accused of tanking the last two years to get good draft picks, which they have. However, they are playing at such a low level that many find it unacceptable what front office has done to their team. However, what they can’t be accused of is not planning for the future. They can go for free agents and try to rebuild that way, but have decided to go with rebuilding through the draft and only time will tell if these two seasons were in vain. What cannot be underestimated is the role that the conference that they play in plays into their rebuilding. If the conference remains this weak, maybe even the slightest improvement can get them into the playoffs where anything can happen. Will they ever have a chance to win a championship in the near future with the high level that these Western Conference teams play at every night? Who knows. Can they win with no superstar and good drafting? Who knows. Coaching was not mentioned one time in this blog post and that is representative of the general underappreciating of coaches in the NBA. However, coaching is key to championships in the NBA. When all is said and done, success in the NBA does not begin and end with the amount of stars a team has. Super Teams/Big Threes are not as big of a threat to parity as once thought, but the conference system might be. Who knows.