This is not a playoff preview. We’re way beyond that. Let’s call this an “assessment.” Not criticism, more like optimism that has a strong chance of coming off critical.
(I will try to do better. Next time.)
The NBA soap opera “Beyond the Logo” (renamed and rebranded after 1969) entered its 78th season this past October. A few teasers disguised as narratives were pushed out before the first episodes aired. “Starring Jayson Tatum” seemed to be the tagline on everything that was set up to be this season’s main plot line.
Oh, how stupid were we? Thinking that the “NBA” was going to stick to its own script. Knowing going in that no other professional sports institution in America (sorry, FIFA and IOC, but you all take drama to a level all professional leagues in America combined could not match) has chaos on lock and puts ridiculousness on full display the way the NBA does. Helping the haters as they constantly reminded us throughout the season about the drop in audience viewership that the “Beyond the Logo” circus is not the greatest “sports” show on Earth.
Although what occurred in Season 78 was Adolescence/Black Mirror-adjacent theater. Rampant late-season, unexpected, nonsensical coaching and GM firings; generational despise and divide among current players, former legends and “plumber theorists” berating the credibility of the eras in which each play/played; the non-basketball-related issues of Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant and Zion Williamson that shaped the “Face of the League” debates and the societal gaze of the new Black NBA superstar; the Suns; Joel Embiid; one of the most decorated coaches in the league, Steve Kerr, publicly complaining the 82-game season is (now) too long; Jimmy Butler III’s hostage-negotiation tactics to get out of Miami; the Black-on-Black crime of Stephen A. Smith vs. LeBron James; and an out-of-nowhere, unprecedented, “most shocking trade to ever happen in sports history” midseason swap of Luka Doncic that was so polarizing and unsettling, it could (will) have a spin-off in Season 79.
Anti-heroism. Espionage. Incompetence. No easy answers. All of the elements for a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. But for all of the wrong reasons.
While the logo stands, the brand is continually being damaged. Having a similar effect on the game as the counter lawsuits between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni had on their film, “It Ends With Us.” But as their drama captivated Hollywood, it did not impact or damage Hollywood. As much as it seems like it wants to be, the NBA ain’t Hollywood. Its outside issues this season played a role in the existence, experience and interest in the game that is its $77 billion product. The outside “noise” more than any in recent memory showed it has the power to overshadow all things basketball to the point that no one cares about anything that happens during each 48-minute episode.
Is the NBA in a bad space? Not really. It’s just far away and removed from where it could or should be. Huge difference. It just has to find a way to get out of its own way. That’s not criticism or petty hate; that’s intervention talk. It’s needing some Stevie Wonder in its life. Innervision.
And more on cue than the Lakers’ colors, the limited-edition series “Beyond the Logo: As the Playoffs Turn” begins this weekend to save the NBA from itself. None of the aforementioned regular-season storylines will carry over. Which makes this the perfect time for the NBA to allow the game — nothing and no one else — to be binge-worthy, can’t-miss-a-single-episode TV. To let basketball be basketball for the first time all season.
To watch and see how the on-court subplots emerge: If OKC, finishing the regular season “statistically” as one of the best teams we’ve seen in not only modern basketball, but NBA history, is as legit as it seems. If the Celtics, if they stay healthy, play like a team that is worthy of belonging in a few “they probably could beat some of the best teams ever” conversations. The promise of Cade Cunningham, of Paolo Banchero, of the Rockets. The there of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The transcendence of Luka. The benevolence of Nikola Jokic. The destiny of the Cavaliers; the dynasty of the new Warriors; the die nasty of the Lakers? The arrival of the Thompson twins. The rise or fall of the Knicks.
All have the power to eclipse the trash that now seems to be what the NBA has become famous for.
Which leads us to this, a long-standing belief about fame: We like to say in our world, “Don’t ever get caught up in your own Hollywood strip scene.” Same indifference applies to the NBA. Basketball remains the greatest evolutionary sport ever created. These playoffs — even with all the baggage — should be a reminder of that. The same way the NCAA Tournament reminded us, the same way the Masters for golf just did, too.
The NBA has created a fight against the populous paradigm it unfortunately cultivated itself. Luckily (more like “hopefully”), most of the regular-season storylines won’t impose themselves on the “Beyond the Logo: As the Playoffs Turn” postseason run. New drama will be born. Rewritten plot lines. Wishfulness leans toward it all being basketball/game/series centered. Nothing external entering the playoff space. Saving all that real-life, non-basketball inexactitude for the early episodes now that Season 79 was renewed for October.