[The Ringer] The 15 biggest challenges facing Adam Silver in his next 10 years

[Taadow]

I'm sayin' doe - those are the same problems David Stern said were "future problems"

 

[Piff Perkins]

@pete clemenza already said it but Shaq is the one who ruined the discourse on TNT.

Does any league besides the NFL have rivalries that matter anymore? With player movement, the modern schedule and divisions not really meaning anything now it's tough to have longstanding rivalries.

In the NFL, teams play their division opponents twice each year, two other divisions and then against opponents that finished at the same level as them the year before (so division winners play each other every year). That's a natural way to give more importance to division rivals and then teams that are good every year. That's why Buffalo and KC play every year (Allen and Mahomes). Those games matter too because of the lack of overall games and not quite as many playoff spots as the NBA.

The 82 game schedule of the NBA basically kills meaningful rivalries until the playoffs. It's exciting when the top teams/players face-off but the losing team isn't really risking any playoff seeding as a result. They'd have to really alter the schedule to build those rivalries again.

Right now, it's four games against division opponents, two against every team in the other conference and a mix of three/four games against other teams in your conference outside the division.

What if they tilted it towards division/conference heavily? Six games against each team in your division, four against the other teams in the conference and only one game against teams in the other conference.

I'm not a baseball fan but just casually listening to baseball fans I've known over the years it sounds like rivalries still matter. Given the amount of multi game series that teams play against each other all season, it makes sense that there's still fierce competition and rivalry within divisions and conferences. I've heard NHL fans say rivalries still matter but have no real knowledge of the sports beyond what I hear coworkers mention.

Shaq was my favorite athlete as a kid and I remember being excited when he joined TNT. But you're right, he poisoned discoursed and tbh he ruined the chemistry on that show for a very long time.

Wild thing about NBA rivalries is that there will be a fierce playoff series between teams, it's entertaining and dramatic, you'll think "wow this shyt is gonna be fun to watch next season" and then poof it disappears. Doesn't matter. Players moving team to team or just guys not giving a shyt. I dunno how you fix it when super max deals are handed out like candy and fans generate weird, borderline sexual obsession with individual players. My little cousin a Bron stan and if Bron joined the Knicks tomorrow, he'd never give a fukk about the Lakers again. I can't wrap my head around that.

 

[Regular_P]

I'm not a baseball fan but just casually listening to baseball fans I've known over the years it sounds like rivalries still matter. Given the amount of multi game series that teams play against each other all season, it makes sense that there's still fierce competition and rivalry within divisions and conferences. I've heard NHL fans say rivalries still matter but have no real knowledge of the sports beyond what I hear coworkers mention.

Shaq was my favorite athlete as a kid and I remember being excited when he joined TNT. But you're right, he poisoned discoursed and tbh he ruined the chemistry on that show for a very long time.

Wild thing about NBA rivalries is that there will be a fierce playoff series between teams, it's entertaining and dramatic, you'll think "wow this shyt is gonna be fun to watch next season" and then poof it disappears. Doesn't matter. Players moving team to team or just guys not giving a shyt. I dunno how you fix it when super max deals are handed out like candy and fans generate weird, borderline sexual obsession with individual players. My little cousin a Bron stan and if Bron joined the Knicks tomorrow, he'd never give a fukk about the Lakers again. I can't wrap my head around that.

I follow MLB and NHL. There aren't really rivalries like that anymore in either.

ESPN hypes NY/Boston at times but it isn't popping like the Pedro days. Maybe Dodgers/Giants but that's a regional thing and it also gets violent at games.

Most NHL rivalries are dead too. Remember Avs/Red Wings in the 90s? That doesn't matter anymore. Maybe some smaller regional ones like Edmonton/Calgary but nothing the average fan is gonna clear out their schedule to watch.

There's just too many games in the leagues now for regular season matchups to matter that much besides the NFL.