The Problem(s) with the NBA

Below are the major problems I see with the NBA right now.  I’m including issues of all kinds here, so don’t take this simply as a list of things David Stern has done wrong.

Fouls and Referees

No sport generates the quantity of fan frustration due to referee calls that basketball does.  Take any close game that matters, you probably have fans from both sides saying the refs were against them.  This results in allegations of the games being fixed by the powers that be, and in general gives some fans the belief that basketball is not fair.  Many of these fans still seem to follow the game (which I’ve never understood), but I’m sure some abandon the sport.

This is a problem for the sport, but it’s really not anyone’s fault.  Beyond that, I would argue that the problems here are minor compared to some other sports.  Take soccer, there you actually have 0-0 single elimination World Cup games decided by whether the referee gives a penalty kick or not.  The amount of controversial and/or blown calls in basketball is very high compared to other sports, but because each basket counts for so little, the effect of a blown call is much less powerful than in a lot of sports.  Good luck trying to convince everyone of that though.

The biggest problem with fouls that I see with the NBA, and basketball in general, is that there are so many of them, and every single one of them makes the game less fun to watch.