NBA (No Brains Association)

When I was younger there was no contest for what my favorite sport was, which was basketball. Ive had a basketball hoop outside my house my entire life and back to my first memories I remeber staying ouside all night with my brother and kids on block until it was completely pitch black out and we couldnt see the ball anymore. I loved the Knicks and loved their point guard John Starks and everytime that I would play I would try to emulate Starks in every way.
The Knicks were a good organization back then with a good core group of players like Starks, Patrick Ewing, Anthony Mason, and Charles Oakley. They never good enough to take down Jordan's Bulls in the Playoffs and the only time this group of players would top the Bulls to get to the NBA Finals would be in '94 when Jordan left basketball for baseball. The Knick lost in the Finals in 7 games to the Houston Rockets and wouldnt return to the Finals till '99.
Over the years the core group back from '94 slowly disappeared and suddenly the new age of basketball player arrived. This "new" player wasnt like the old, they were selfish and all about the money, not about the team.
The biggest reason I think this trend began was because of the surge of high school kids making the jump straight from high school to the pros with stars like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnet, and LeBron James leading this wave. These players have talent like no one else but to have 18 year old kids come into professional sports so early, they get caught up in things that they are too young to be exposed to and with all the money that they earn it makes those bad situations that much worse.
In recent years the NBA has gone down on all facets of the game, on and off the court. This new player has brought a new game to the NBA that includes no defense and an offense that you take the ball yourself, shoot and not follow your shot. This type of game is horrible to watch and that's why ever since the lockout in '99 the rating have shown that people arent interested in the "new" game.
The problems dont end with on the court issues for the NBA because players like Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, and even Knicks coach and former Piston Isiah Thomas have all had legal issues over the past couple of years. Many others have had changes that include possession of a concealed weapon to attempted murder. I feel that this stems from the problem that I spoke about earlier with players being too young in a professional sports league. When you mix teens with money and a lifestyle mixed with partying, drugs, and alcohol, youre just about asking for trouble.
The last part about the NBA which has made me sick is the actions taken by former referee Tim Donaghey in which the FBI found out that he was betting on games over the past couple of years. This is just the tip of the iceberg for me. Even though I made a revival last year and watched a good amount of the Knicks games, even though they were terrible, I dont know if I can watch much more of a game that I dont even know if the calls on the court are fixed or not.
Its extremely sad when a sports league seems to do everything wrong, but thats whats going on in the NBA and to be blunt i really dont feel that sad. They have been putting on a horrible show for about the past 10 years now and theyre finally getting what they deserve, some negative press. Hopefully this will inspire David Stern to clean house and the NBA into what it used to be in the National Basketball Association not the No Brains Association.