If I Were in Charge Of.....the NBA

I was thinking yesterday about starting a new series on this blog (and hopefully sticking with it).  This is the first post in a series on "If I were in charge of....".  The basis for this series came from some thoughts I had about changes I would make in different sports organizations and leagues.  So if there was a Department of Sports position in government (or in England a Ministry of Sports position, which I would prefer better, sounds cooler & is a nod to the Monty Python skit the Ministry of Silly Walks) and I was named the director and had the authority to make changes, in this series I would list some of those changes I would make.

The first league I would look at would be the National Baskeball Association, otherwise known as the NBA.  Growing up, I was a big NBA fan but in recent years my fandom has diminished significantly.  I think there can be some things the NBA can do to fix that.  So with that in mind, if I were in charge of the NBA.

*Put an NBA team back in Seattle.  My first priority would be to get a team back in Seattle.  I would make David Stern publicly apologize for the way he and the NBA treated the fans in Seattle in allowing the franchise to leave and go to Oklahoma City.  I would take the Hornets (which really should have stayed in Oklahoma City in the first place) and move that team to Seattle.  I would essentially make it a three way deal.  Deal 1) The Sonics name, championship and records would fully be Seattle's and not shared in any way shape or form with the Thunder.  2) The Thunder in essence would be like the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL when they moved from Cleveland, their own franchise with their own records not connected with Seattle.  3) The Hornets name & records would then be sent back to Charlotte and they can drop the Bobcats name and be the Charlotte Hornets again.  I would also give exceptions to the salary cap to any member of the Thunder who was on the Sonics team before they moved if they sign with Seattle (i.e. Kevin Durant could come back to Seattle).

*Drop the one and done rule.  In partnership with the NCAA in regards to college basketball (which I'll address in another post how I would change things there), I would get rid of the rule for basketball players to have to wait a year before they can declare for the draft.  If guys want to declare right out of high school let them do it.  Now those that know me know that this is a change in stance from probably a decade ago when I was all against guys going straight from high school to the pros.  But after seeing the last few years of college basketball and the ridiculousness of the one and done players, something needs to change and so I am okay with dropping the rule.  If NBA teams want to draft high school players, fine.  But that leads me into my next change.

*Develop the baseball system.  What do I mean by that?  In baseball a player can declare for the draft out of high school or he can choose to go to college.  If he chooses to go to college, he has to stay there at least three years.  I would implement that system for basketball.  No more John Walls or Derrick Roses or Kyrie Irvings.  If you want to go to college, you go for three years minimum.  At least try to get a degree.  If you want to go straight to the pros fine.  That also means a more developed minor league system.  I would fully develop and fund the NBA D-League and expand it to 30 teams.  That way each NBA franchise would have one team that could funnel players to and from.  Those drafted out of high school would have to spend a minimum of one year in the D-League.  If they're good enough to be a one and done in the D-League great.  Otherwise, they're getting developed and not taking a roster spot from a veteran and just sitting on the bench (like a lot of guys drafted out of HS were like towards the end of that era of drafting HS players).  If it works for MLB and college for baseball, I think it can work for the NBA and college for basketball.

*Have 4 nights each month called "family nights".  That would mean prices from seats to concessions would be set at affordable prices so that a family of 4 could sit in really good seats and watch a game and not stuck in the nosebleed sections.  The franchises can make more than enough money the rest of the season that it wouldn't hurt them to have these kind of nights and would help develop the fanbase so that everyone could enjoy the games.

*Have stars competing in the Slam Dunk contest at All-Star Weekend again.  The fact that LeBron James has never competed in an All-Star game is ridiculous.  He would compete at least once.  If you're considered a superstar, you should compete in the Slam Dunk contest.  All the greats back in the day did, it should be the same for today.

Well that's the first (in hopefully a continued) series on "If I were in charge of...".  If you have changes that you would make if you were in charge of the NBA, feel free to leave a comment below.