Jokic, Malone and Nuggets continue to rip off basketball fans
Jan 26, 2023, 4:13 PM
LeBron James. Kawhi Leonard. Donovan Mitchell.
Devin Booker. Paul George. Chris Paul.
DeAndre Ayton. Anthony Davis. Russell Westbrook.
If you bought a ticket in Denver this season to watch these players, all of whom are bonafide All-Stars in the NBA, there’s a good chance you’ve been disappointed. They’re among a continually growing list of players who have tapped out of games against the Nuggets, sitting on the bench in street clothes as part of the ever-growing “load management” trend in the Association.
Rather than running up and down the court at 5,280 feet, trying to keep pace with the Nuggets, they take the night off. They choose to rest, opting to lose the battle in order to give themselves a chance to win the war.
On one hand, it’s an understandable strategy. The wear and tear of an 82-game season is real, so finding opportune times to lessen the grind is wise; not playing in Denver avoids one of the toughest nights on the schedule. So from a competitive standpoint, at least in terms of thinking big picture, there’s some validity to the approach.
That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s not a terrible thing for the NBA as a whole. They’re cutting off their nose to spite their face.
In essence, the players and coaches are saying that the season is too long. They can’t possibly be asked to play 82 games, even though thousands of players have done just that since the league expanded to that length of schedule in 1967-68.
It wasn’t too much for Dr. J, Larry Bird or Magic Johnson. It didn’t overwhelm Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan or Shaquille O’Neal. But it’s just too much for today’s players.
That said, everyone involved still wants fans to consume 82 games. The owners still want the revenue that comes from full-price tickets, as well as overpriced beers and hot dogs. They also want the dollars that come from the local and televisions rights fees charged to broadcast all of those games. And the players and coaches want their sliver of the pie. They just don’t want to do all of the work.
It doesn’t take a business guru to see how this is a house of cards. It’s not difficult to forecast that this is going to eventually fall apart.
If someone pays for 82 steaks, they expect 82 steaks. Slipping in a little hamburger and hoping the customer doesn’t notice is a corner-cutting move that will eventually have a devastating impact.
The league is already seeing signs of it. They’re dealing with the PR nightmare that comes with paying customers not getting what they expected on a more regular basis.
Recently, a fan was crushed when Miami’s Jimmy Butler didn’t play in a game.
Heat fan who travelled 4405 miles to see Jimmy Butler play finds out he is not playing tonight 💔ðŸ˜
🎥 @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/UC9gqFgoP6
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) January 25, 2023
Last season, a young fan in Denver was brought to tears when she found out that Steph Curry wasn’t going to play when the Warriors took on the Nuggets.
Young Steph Curry fan cries after learning Warriors star out vs. Nuggets @StephenCurry30 give her a call or get her some tickets. Poor baby was crying for you! https://t.co/Ev2Ad2w3aO
— Just Jocelyn (@JocelynWoodral) March 8, 2022
These reactions are understandable. People buy tickets well in advance, circle the date on their calendar and look forward to watching their favorite player in action. So they’re understandably disappointed when they arrive at the arena and find out that it’s a load management night and they’re out of luck.
Back in the day, athletes used to understand this fact. They grasped that the fans were the ones who made it possible for them to earn a living playing a game.
“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time,” Joe DiMaggio famously said in a 1951 interview with The Sporting News. “I owe him my best.”
This sentiment carried through multiple generations. Jordan had a similar thought process, knowing that he and the Bulls were a major attraction in every city; he felt an obligation to put on a show. Kobe was cut from the same cloth, wanting to make sure everyone got their money’s worth when the Lakers played.
Not anymore. Today’s players don’t feel compelled to live up to their end of the bargain. They don’t believe that they owe the fans anything.
As a result, they have no problem sitting out. They get paid for the game, but they don’t play; and that’s just fine by them.
Until recently, the Nuggets had avoided this trend. Just two years ago, Nikola Jokic played in all 72 games of the 2020-21 season that was cut short by COVID. His iron-man approach was used as a bullet point for why the center deserved the MVP over Joel Embiid.
Those were the days. Jokic has sat out three of Denver’s last four games, including two in front of the home fans last week and Wednesday night’s much-anticipated matchup with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Jokic wasn’t the only Nuggets player who took the night off, however. Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also sat out, while Michael Porter Jr. missed the game due to personal reasons.
As a result, the game devolved into a glorified exhibition. It was the equivalent of a preseason matchup where one team took the game seriously and the other one didn’t.
Michael Malone tried to explain his decision. But his rationale rang hollow to anyone other than Nuggets apologists.
“The league has an impossible job,” Denver’s head coach said. “Giannis is a two-time MVP, Nikola’s a two-time MVP. To have this game the second night of a back-to-back, not a national TV game, you would hope that they’d set this game up to be more of a marquee matchup.”
I’m sure the 17,352 fans in attendance at Fiserv Forum appreciate that sentiment. That surely makes them feel much better about watching DeAndre Jordan instead of the two-time MVP.
But the ripoff element is only part of the story. It also speaks to a lack of competitiveness.
Can anyone imagine Magic ducking out of a showdown with Bird? Or Jordan opting out of a game against the Pistons? Or Wilt Chamberlain sitting when the Lakers took on Bill Russell and the Celtics?
That would’ve never happened. Those guys lived for those matchups. And they surely didn’t want to dodge their rivals.
Jokic should’ve wanted to face Giannis. He should’ve had Jan. 25 in red letters on his calendar. Instead, he sat on the bench and watched like everyone else.
To blame that on the fact that his team played the night before, when they travel via chartered flights and stay in five-star hotels, is absurd. Alex English and his teammates used to fly commercially from one city to the next; they managed to be ready by game time.
It’s all just absurd. In fact, it’s kind of sad and pathetic.
NBA players are so spoiled and soft that they can’t do something that their predecessors have done for more than 50 years. As a result, they’re ripping off the fans.
Eventually, they’ll kill the golden goose. Customers will find a better way to spend their time and money.
At some point, Jokic and Malone be begging to play 82 games in front of adoring fans. It’s too bad they don’t appreciate it right now.
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