The NBA - Criminally Underrated

This time of year, just as sure as Holiday-themed commercials permeating our television sets, we are inundated with people claiming that the NBA sucks for reasons such as "it's a league full of overpaid and lazy thugs", "they never try", and "basketball sucks". 

The last may just be a matter of taste, but the first two are laughable--especially when they come from the same people who ardently follow the NFL, which definitely has its fair share of overpaid and lazy thugs. 

A big problem with the NBA is that is a fundamentally different sport to market than the NFL. With only five men on the court at one time, inevitably one player is going to become the brightest star on a team, and that player will be advertised as the team. You see this in ticket ads all the time "Come see Kobe Bryant and the Lakers take on the Bobcats, because we know no one is willing to pay to come see the Bobcats."

Not only does it make the league seem more self-centered and egocentric, which, for some reason, is a turn-off for many fans, but it leads to a huge disparity in the watchability of different teams. You know what I'm talking about: the last few seasons, if you were randomly channel surfing and you came across a Phoenix Suns or Lakers game, you were going to stop and watch it. But if the Pistons or Spurs were on, time to go watch reality TV. 

There are definitely some unwatchable teams in the league, definitely a greater portion than the NFL has. But if you know who to watch, the NBA is plenty entertaining.