However, I think a work stoppage driven not by self interest or greed (billionaires fighting with millionaires over money) but by the desire to effect genuine lasting, societal change would actually be welcomed by many people in America. I think we have reached a tipping point where enough people are fed up that they are willing to forego their creature comforts for the greater good. They are prepared to sacrifice turning on their TV and watching basketball for a few months for the prospect of a brighter future.
That’s a nice idea, but I still don’t see how just not playing basketball accomplishes any of that. Very, very few people are going to somehow look at the time and resources they were putting into the NBA and redirect it into changing society. Most people will just be frustrated and watch Top Chef or whatever the hell gives them the energy to keep going.*
And while that’s not ideal, I can empathize. Most people, regardless of race, are going through a lot of their own shit right now and after a long day trying hold onto a job and keep their lives together, we’d much rather watch something meaningless yet enjoyable like basketball or Australian Rules Football or old movies than get another earnest lecture on everything that’s wrong with society.
That’s not ideal, obviously, but I think it’s where we are. That doesn’t mean we have to wait for the pandemic to end before we can make any progress and if some people have the time and energy to go out and tear down some statues of slaveowners, knock yourself out. But most of the real work is going to take years and years with lots of ups and downs and lawsuits and local elections and all that tedious essential shit. What the NBA does or doesn’t do in the next few months won’t matter much in the long run.
Where I live, and in Pennsylvania in general, the NBA probably isn’t even in the top five sporting entities that people really care about.
The NFL, college football, the NHL, college basketball, baseball, and in some places, high school and college wrestling, matter more than the NBA. Pittsburgh doesn’t have an NBA team - and probably never will - and the 76ers haven’t really mattered in a long time. There seems to be a lot more passion for Villanova and high school hoops in Philly than the Sixers and you don’t see many Sixers stickers on cars in, for example, Lancaster, whereas even some of the Amish follow the Eagles.
It’s definitely growing and doing lots of things right, but it has a long way to go before it has the widespread appeal of the NFL or what MLB had 40 years ago. As far as I can tell, the NBA matters in the big cities that have the teams that are usually good plus New York and the big stars are household names, but outside of OTF, I personally know only one person who really cares about it. He’s from LA.
* Or maybe I’m projecting. I don’t watch Top Chef, but I have been watching a lot of nonsense lately just to stay sane.
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