As the NBA Finals kick off tomorrow night between Denver and Miami, it’s worth revisiting where we were a couple weeks ago, when everyone was “joking” about the NBA rigging the Conference Finals to ensure a Lakers/Celtics matchup….
Instead, the Nuggets swept Los Angeles, and Miami went up 3-0 on Boston (only to lose three in a row, before winning Game 7). If the NBA was rigging it, they did not do a very good job.
All of this left me thinking about conspiracy theories. For whatever reason, the NBA attracts way more conspiracy theories than other sports leagues, and I always want to believe them. I have a soft spot in my heart for conspiracies. But they always seem so… well, dumb. The NBA is not going to rig the most important games of its season. Not because the league is pure or morally righteous, but because the league exists, essentially, as a cartel of 30 owners — it’s not going to favor two at the expense of the other 28. There are, of course, conflicts between those owners, but those conflicts have a habit of spilling out publicly. In some ways, the whole purpose of the league is to mediate those conflicts, not to take one side over another.
In other words — and not to be That Guy — but the real “conspiracy” is, as always, capitalism. There really IS a group of powerful, evil people controlling the world for their own greed, but they’re not hidden; we know all their names — it’s just the capitalists! And they don’t do it in dark, smoke-filled rooms; they do it right out in the open! The “conspiracy” of the NBA is not that they are rigging it so that the Lakers/Celtics end up in the Finals to boost TV ratings; the conspiracy is that, of the money generated by those TV ratings, half goes to the owners, who don’t do shit! They don’t even keep it a secret — that’s just how capitalism works!
Anyway, here’s everything from Undrafted in May…
Hire An Agent?
The biggest news from last week’s NFL Draft was really not about the Draft at all, but the fact that Lamar Jackson finally signed a contract extension with the Baltimore Ravens. The standoff between the former MVP and his team dragged out for practically a year, with Jackson eventually requesting a trade; for a minute there it loo…
On whether or not Lamar Jackson’s deal disproves the value of agents, and the larger friction between labor and the professional class.
The "Rebuilds" That Don't Work
In 2015, the Kansas City Royals won the World Series. From 2009-2011, they had lost 283 games and never finished within 21 games of first place. In 2016, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. From 2011-2013, they had lost 288 games and never finished within 24 games of first place.
We are in an era of unprecedented fan patience with “rebuilding,” but most of the time these rebuilds don’t even work! Stop trusting the owners when they cut costs!
Socialist Sports Movie Review: Air
Air is such a weird idea for a movie. This is the story of how Michael Jordan came to sign his sponsorship deal with Nike in 1984. So it’s a sports movie that’s really about shoes and marketing. Even though Jordan is the central figure of the plot, he never actually appears, except in grainy archival footage or slightly out of the mov…
Air was pretty good! And surprisingly anti-capitalist!
A History of “The Process,” Part I: Sowing
Two Sundays ago, just a few days after Joel Embiid was named NBA MVP, the Philadelphia 76ers were bounced from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics. It’s the third straight year, and fifth time in six seasons, that the Sixers lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals; the franchise has not made the Conference Finals since 2001. Just two days after they we…
Perhaps the most famous “rebuild” of them all… I’ve considered writing something on The Process ever since I started this newsletter, but it always seemed either too redundant or too daunting. But I really feel like it’s a window into the past decade or so of team sports in North America. Please check it out, and stay tuned for Parts II and III!