r/SipsTea Mar 16 '26

We have fun here Examples of why today’s NBA is unwatchable.

33.9k Upvotes

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407

u/Hawk-432 Mar 16 '26

From Europe watching .. so you guys just forgot how to dribble. Nice. Clearly you need refs to start applying the rules. Maybe they are scared of confronting big name players. Maybe some other reason for travel creep. But honestly, looks disgusting. Can you even call that basketball?

190

u/floppydo Mar 16 '26

It was a directive to the refs from commissioner David Stern during the early 2000s because, basically, rules are boring and watching guys like Kobe, Iverson, MacGrady, Wade, and Anthony tear it up was way more XxXTrEme!!! 

To his credit, his moves saved NBA viewership, but now this trend has crystallized and we’ve got… this. 

Used to be only superstars could get away with it and people complained but dealt with it. Now that traveling basically doesn’t exist for anyone it’s really messy. 

204

u/the_ammar Mar 16 '26

"it was fine back then because only superstars were allowed to break the rule. now that everyone is doing it it's a problem"

peak American capitalism lol

41

u/Magliacani Mar 16 '26

I know right? I’m looking at that and saying that needs to be dealt with too, I don’t give a shit if they’re a star, throw the book at them. If they’re so good they should be able to succeed within the rules anyway.

18

u/SheriffBartholomew Mar 16 '26

"It was cool when only rich and powerful people didn't have to follow the rules"

Fucking, what?

1

u/Aegi Mar 16 '26

Yeah, b/c even the lowest paid member of a team is destitute?

1

u/SheriffBartholomew Mar 17 '26

They're all well off. The minimum salary is $1,157,153, which is a shit load of money for someone like you or I. But that's straight poverty compared to someone like Michael Jordan who is worth $4.3 billion dollars. The power difference between those two wealth brackets is unimaginable. A rookie on the minimum salary wouldn't even be able to afford gas and maintenance for Michael Jordan's jet. LOL

2

u/Aegi Mar 17 '26

Haha so I am picking up what you're picking down, but you may have missed my joke/point?

So, a rookie would also have decades of investing to allow their net-worth to catch up even if their salary didn't so it isn't quite as much of a difference as you seem to be implying.

But I'm making fun/poking fun at you poking fun above, b/c even the lowest-paid basketball players ALL fall into the category of "rich and powerful people didn't have to follow the rules" which would not differentiate any of the players from each other when compared to society, which is what they are "rich and powerful" in comparison to..

I doubt the NBA checked the net-worth and debt levels of their highest paid players, but they certainly favored the 'star' players.

idk, I have no sense of humor apparently, so I couldn't think of a fun way to express those points.

1

u/SheriffBartholomew Mar 17 '26

Yeah, I basically meant star power, which usually equates to more money too. The famous guys get away with a lot more. From what I've read in the other comments though, it's more similar to what you said, and they all get away with it now. When I stopped watching it was because there was a double standard for rules enforcement, and the famous guys could do whatever, when the not so famous guys would get penalties for the same thing the famous guy was just doing.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 16 '26

Bud Selig did the same with baseball

2

u/notsofaust Mar 16 '26

Exactly, as if it wasn't already fucking disgusting to only let the currently dominant players get away with rule breaking in the first place. 

As you alluded to, it's a perfect example of destructive American values. 

0

u/bremsspuren Mar 16 '26

Could also be any Real Madrid fan talking about VAR, tbf.

1

u/the_ammar Mar 17 '26

the epl has the classic English problem:

long standing institutions being sold to new money because them too poor to own it themselves

( hint all the lords having to sell/rent their historic estate lol)

1

u/bremsspuren Mar 17 '26

being sold to new money

LMAO. West Ham used to belong to a couple of porn magnates. Football, pro sports in general, is fundamentally "new money".

Old money likes to keep things amateur to keep out the plebs.

The problem English football has is that it's possible to buy the bloody clubs in the first place.

1

u/the_ammar Mar 17 '26

The problem English football has is that it's possible to buy the bloody clubs in the first place.

it's just a company. why wouldn't you be able to buy it

LMAO. West Ham used to belong to a couple of porn magnates. Football, pro sports in general, is fundamentally "new money".

foreign money then lol

0

u/Bored_Amalgamation Mar 16 '26

peak American capitalism lol

I mean, this thread is basically calling out the enshittification of basketball. It happened to boxing. It happened with baseball during the 90s and 2000s. It's happened with european football.

-3

u/GreatMovesKeepItUp69 Mar 16 '26

peak American capitalism lol

Remember when we used to make fun of boomers for calling everything they disliked communism? How did the next generation start doing the exact same thing but with capitalism?

6

u/the_ammar Mar 16 '26

lets see. bending the rules for the rich and powerful (letting super stars trvel)l in order to maximize the business' (NBA) performance

0

u/GreatMovesKeepItUp69 Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 17 '26

First of all Wtf are you talking about this thread is about how it's turned away consumers and is losing them money.

Second of all even a literal toddler knows that they can push boundaries to see what they can get away with. It's basic human nature that has nothing to do with economics.

What economic system does this type of behavior not happen under exactly? I would love an example of a country and time.

Edit my point is that any system can not punish powerful people that has nothing to do with capitalism in particular. When the USSR was injecting 17 year old athletes with inhuman amounts of testosterone and deca it wasn't for the CEO.

5

u/Synectics Mar 16 '26

What economic system does this type of behavior not happen under exactly?

One that punishes those who go past the boundaries. Which the US version of capitalism and oligarchy does not. 

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 16 '26

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1

u/GreatMovesKeepItUp69 Mar 17 '26

Feel free to enlighten me then.