Is The NBA The Same When Marquee Franchises Are Losing?

If you have paid attention to the NBA season this year then you can see that the NBA just hasn't been the same with a few of the most popular franchises failing to live up to expectations.

Three of the NBA's marquee franchises, the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and the New York Knicks have been so horrendous to watch this season, and that's not a good look for the NBA. When these teams are doing good, the NBA is doing good, but unfortunately for the NBA the opposite is taking place. For the true NBA fan's you can get your fix with other up-and-coming teams around the league but what about those fans who are only interested in what is shown on TV, like the Lakers and Knicks for instance. Those fans are probably turning off their TV's midway thru the 1st half of most of those games.

These teams are so popular throughout the NBA that it is not uncommon to see all three teams playing on any given Sunday. This season the NBA has continued to put these teams in the spotlight and it is making for bad entertainment. Nobody wants to get up early Sunday morning to see these teams this season, especially not if they are playing each other let alone an actual playoff contender. It's sad to say that you don't want to watch a Lakers vs Celtics game but nowadays that must-see show is now more like a D-League game.

Their are excuses for each team on why they have fell so hard this season but when you are one of the flagship franchises of the NBA you have to meet a certain standard, and us as fans hold you to that standard.

Los Angeles Lakers

Fox Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers have only had Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash on the court for a combined total of 16 games this season. This will be the Lakers 6th season in franchise history that they will miss out on the playoffs. They are also in the midst of recovering from the first "Big" free agent to leave LA when Dwight Howard decided he was taking his talents to Houston instead of staying with the Lakers. That was a crucial blow to the "LakeShow" who were expecting Howard to be their next Laker legend. They are hoping to make a push for a Super Star this offseason to play alongside Kobe, and with the books as clear as they are for next season they should be able to pull that off as long as the disaster that is the Lakers today doesn't scare them off.

Their is a lot of problems in Lakerland right now and the players are only half of it. Another role in the Lakers sudden demise has to fall on management/ownership. The late Dr. Jerry Buss, although he helped shape the greatest franchise in NBA history when he took over the Lakers in 1979, had a pivotal role with the current state of affairs when he hired Mike D'Antoni over former Laker head coach Phil Jackson, who also happens to be engaged to Dr. Buss daughter Jeanie Buss. Jerry's son Jim Buss is another key component to the disaster as well. 

Magic Johnson has already come out to criticize Jim's power control moves saying, "You've got to have someone helping Jim. He's got to quit trying to prove a point to everybody that he can do it on his own, get his ego out of it, and just say, ‘Let me get someone beside me to help achieve the goals I want." Magic has even fired a couple shots at current GM Mitch Kupchak saying, "Mitch is great... but he doesn't have the power.” when saying the Lakers needed a GM with a more respectable resume such as Jerry West so an agent or player can look at the Lakers and know that they are working towards a championship.

Boston Celtics

Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

The Boston Celtics troubles started with the ousting of their own when they sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the New York Nets for a few draft picks and a couple overpaid players. Then they decided to trade away their head coach Doc Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers for a first round pick. They did impress me with the hiring of Brad Stevens, a young coach out of Butler University who coached the Bulldogs to two consecutive NCAA National Championship games in 2010-2011. Stevens is a young coach and has already had his battles with certain players on the team as well as making his rounds across the media with his clashes with Rajon Rondo regarding his limited minutes.

The Celtics have come out to say that this is all part of their rebuilding stage but when you are the legend that is "The Boston Celtics" you still have to play your part in the NBA. They were rumored to be trying to trade away their Rondo but no deal was done before the trade deadline in February.

Luckily for the Celtics they have been acquiring draft picks as well as clearing out their books in the next couple seasons. Once this season plays out the Celtics should be able to right the ship and get back into the mix of the NBA, but until then the NBA should not be playing their games on nationally televised games any more (The team below should be at the top of the list of teams to leave off of the nationally televised games).

New York Knicks

The New York Knicks have so many problems that it is best just to leave them off of the national spotlight, which is impossible when you play in the Mecca of basketball, better known as Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York City. The Knicks are on their way to missing the playoffs, which would be a first for Carmelo Anthony, and pointing the blame may be the hardest for this franchise over any other in the NBA.

You can start with at the top with owner James Dolan making a mockery of such a storied franchise and turning them into the laughing stock of the Big Apple. The money he threw away on Amar'e "I can't play a full season" Stoudemire and JR "I just want to be a kid" Smith is flat out ridiculous. Their entire team seems to just given up on the season except for their perennial All Star Carmelo Anthony who, if he's smart, will be on the first flight out of town once the offseason begins.

Dolan has improved his stock in the eyes of his fans with the recent talk of bringing in Hall of Famer Phil Jackson to be the president of basketball operations. The move would bring in the most winning-est coach in NBA history to try and get this mess turned around. Phil Jackson would be a tremedous pick-up for the Knicks and the talk alone has released some of the fire that was coming under Dolan's seat the last couple months. We will see where this story goes before I go into any more detail about it.




Until these three franchises can show a glimpse of what they were capable of in their heydays the NBA will not be the same. I am sure the ratings this season are small fish compared to when these franchises are playing at their highest level.

These teams will get it together eventually because they still are part of the richest history in the NBA and it would take a lot of bad years to fade them out from the national spotlight. So don't worry NBA fan's of any of these franchises, because the light is right around the corner... I hope.


Follow me on Twitter - @therealrikrok89

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