The NBA Has Lost Its Groove. Here's How They Can Bring Entertainment Back to Basketball.

If my 2019 self were to look into the future, he would be shocked by the fact that I have lost a lot of interest in watching NBA basketball, let alone in engaging in any of its content. I had a major obsession with the NBA since I started playing basketball in the fourth grade. I would spend most of my free time playing the NBA 2K games and gluing my eyes to late-night games. All my friends and I talked about were NBA games, discussing potential trade rumors, or debating the top 5 players in the league.

As of late, I have sadly lost my interest in the NBA but not because I grew out of it or gave my attention to other sports. I have tried several times to give my attention to the NBA season but I just do not find the league that entertaining anymore. While I used to religiously follow the season from October to the playoffs, I only now follow the playoffs.

I recently found myself watching old NBA games from 2013 to 2016 and was instantly hooked to the play-by-play. I was surprised by how exciting it all used to be and couldn't help but wonder - what happened to the NBA's allure? After much reminiscing, I think I figured out why the NBA has lost a majority of its entertainment value.

The NBA has become visually boring.

What happened to the jersey designs?

The first thought that came to mind was the underwhelming look of the courts and jerseys. Every jersey looks like they are trying to replicate modern-simplistic art rather than trying to make the jersey represent their team. A few examples that come to mind are the Houston Rockets and the Toronto Raptors:

While I do like some of the color schemes of the modern jersey, the designs themselves lack any sort of creativity. If the team names were to be removed from the jerseys, some teams would be hard to differentiate.

While the NBA does allow for throwback jerseys, I believe that the teams should design jerseys that allow teams to be more authentic, which would inspire both players and fans to wear their jerseys with more pride. While there are some teams like the Celtics, Lakers, Sixers, and Warriors who do a great job in bringing in new and attractive jerseys, the other teams need to find new jerseys that are both vibrant and attractive.

The Design Devolution of the NBA Finals Court Design

One of the main problems I have while watching games is that the courts, especially the NBA finals courts, tend to have either a lack of or an overwhelming amount of designs. In the 2000s, the NBA finals used to have the trophy design behind the logo of the court. Though the trophy design was removed during the 2010s, the court was still filled with NBA finals designs on the sides or corners of the court. Nowadays, the finals courts look like a regular season game. The courts are basically a brown court being covered with sponsorships. However, that does not mean the NBA should just overwhelm them with random designs, which is basically what they did for the in-season tournament. I think everyone who has watched an in-season tournament game can agree that the courts are absolutely horrendous. In contrast, here's what a current in-season tournament court looks like:

I am not saying that we need to design the courts to resemble a child's crayon drawings, but the courts could be more visually appealing if they incorporate both ideas from the regular courts with the in-season court. For example, the courts could take the center and free throw line trophy designs from the tournament court and combine them with the modern court to create a nostalgic feel of the 2000s court which could draw more attention to the aesthetics of professional basketball.

The Problem With Emphasis on 3 Pointers

While I tend to be nitpicky about the aesthetic of the NBA's designs, it has become a common opinion that the NBA is starting to become painfully boring to watch. The play style and the awful referees don't help. The play style of the modern NBA can be argued to be the best of its time based on the versatile skill sets every player from each position has and I completely agree with that idea. I believe that all the players in the current NBA could play in all eras of the past but not all players from past eras can compete in the modern day. I, however, personally blame this particular issue on the coaching choices of teams deciding to center their play style on the 3-point shot.

The Inside the NBA Crew did a great job discussing this idea. They stated that the NBA has become a copy-cat league where NBA teams are not being creative with their play style and have switched to shooting a majority of 3-point shots. I think that sports statistics in the NBA are to blame for this problem.

Statistics have killed the development of the mid-range shot. While a team that can make more 3-pointers can generate more points than a team scoring mid-range shots, I do not think every single team should follow the strategy of taking an insane amount of threes. It is fair to say that not every team is a "3-point shooting" team. While there are teams like the Golden State Warriors who specialize in the 3-point shot (Steph Curry gets most of the credit for that), that does not mean that every single team should just chuck up 3-point shots and hope that they sink in.

The emphasis on 3-point shooting has made basketball games tough to watch. I have watched sequences where teams go back and forth in only shooting 3-pointers. While it is cool to watch when the teams make them, the sequence can be an absolute snooze fest to watch if the opposite happens. These boring sequences can be seen in Rachel DeMita's TikTok video on a horrible basketball sequence between the Lakers and the Suns below:

The emphasis on 3-point shot selections has not just made the game tough to watch but also destroyed the big man position. I keep seeing too many games where I see power forwards and centers standing around the perimeter rather than posting up in the paint. While there is nothing wrong with a big man attempting an open 3-point shot, it should not be a majority of their shot selections.

One example I can think of is Victor Wembanyama. I know he can make three-point shots but for a center who is 7'3 and has a 33.7% 3-point shot percentage, he should be settling more with shot selections in the paint rather than these perimeter shots. The only center I see with great shot selection is Nikola Jokic. He takes a good amount of his shots around the paint and takes 3-point shots when necessary or when he is open. I get absolutely frustrated when I see a center or power forward deciding to take bad shot selections outside the perimeter rather than just driving into the paint to make the easier shot. Taking away the emphasis on the 3-point shot would create more unique play styles for teams which would allow for players to have more versatile shot selections rather than glue their feet to corners of the 3-point line and wait to chuck up shots.

How Can the NBA Get Their Groove Back? Perhaps With An Emphasis on Creativity.

When looking at the NBA in the modern day, all their problems revolve around lacking creativity in their visual aesthetics of jerseys, court designs, and physical play style. While star players like Stephen Curry have changed the way of play in basketball culture with his impressive skill of knocking down 3-point shots, I do not believe that the style of play is meant for everybody. I want to see players of all sizes look for any possible way of scoring. This can be seen through bringing back the art of the midrange shot, or just by seeing more people trying to posterize someone. I do not care if these dunks do not always work, but they are extremely fun to see.

As a whole, the attraction towards basketball revolves around creativity. Fans want to see flashy jerseys that they can not keep their eyes off of and court designs they dream of playing on. While it may be hard for the Commissioner to tell players to change their style of play, I believe the easy way to bring back more interest in the NBA is by bringing back each teams' unique aesthetic and designs.