That Simmons-Gladwell Debate, or Why the NBA is like Big Oil

A great read. But professional sports will never behave like the free market.

Back to your point about arrogance and sports leagues: Please tell me you’re following the current officiating debacle. The two most-watched regular-season games (both Celtics-Lakers games) were ruined by officials. Game 7 of a classic Boston-Chicago series was ruined by officials. The Mavs’ season was ruined by officials. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to flagrant fouls and how they are called, just that the ongoing indecision has compromised the quality of the games. Bill Kennedy had such a heated incident with Doc Rivers in March that both were fined; somehow, Kennedy worked two Boston playoff games (both must-wins on the road). Dallas went 1-14 in its past 15 playoffs games that Danny Crawford officiated; somehow he worked one of their 2009 playoff games (inevitably, a loss for Dallas). Joey Crawford got suspended two years ago for baiting Tim Duncan, then blew last season’s season-ending Spurs call … and somehow, he worked a must-win San Antonio playoff game in 2009. And the number of competent refs is so bad that Violet Palmer worked a Round 2 game last week. For a league that vowed to clean things up post-Donaghy, why haven’t we seen any real results yet?

And how can you explain a system that relies on officials in their 50s and 60s — well past their physical peak, with undeniable deterioration (however slight) in motor reactions and eyesight — to successfully perform in a profession that hinges solely on motor reactions and eyesight? Shouldn’t this job be performed by people in their 20s, 30s and 40s? You’re telling me Dick Bavetta (69), Bennett Salvatore (59) or Joey Crawford (57) can run around for 150 minutes, then remain at peak physical capacity to make a game-changing call on a split-second reaction? My father is two years older than Salvatore and we won’t let him push a baby stroller for three blocks. I don’t get it. How would you revamp this moronic system? A little birdie told me the NBA’s crew chiefs (the lead official for each game) consist of referees who were hired at least 10 years ago. In other words, the league hasn’t hired an official competent enough to run a game in more than a decade. How is this possible? You grew up in a country that figured out health care; figure out the NBA’s officiating crisis for us.

If I were god, I would devise a motion-detector and pair it with a computer system to replace human officiating. But I’m not, and so we are stuck with David Stern’s NBA. The simple reason why the NBA, or any sports league for the matter, will never function like a normal market is because the demand for its goods is so inelastic. If fans are displeased with the conduct of officials or the policies of the commissioner, they can, at the margin, watch and attend less games. But the NBA will always be the dominant supplier of professional basketball in America, and arguably the world. It will stay that way so long as all the best players - the Lebrons and Kobes - stay in the NBA. That’s the way dominant sports leagues are - they attract the best, who attract fans, who bring in the cash, and in turn that cash attracts future stars and talent. It’s a positive feedback mechanism. No alternative basketball league can compete because they don’t have the combination of talent and market exposure, and arguably never will, unless something major happens ie. Kobe plays in Italy for 80 million (now, in his prime… not when’s 37). No alternative sport can compete because 1) no one sport can completely provide the entertainment and idiosyncrasies of any other sport and 2) the devoted fans of that particular sport are stubborn.

The lack of a better alternative and the exceptionally (and really, almost all NBA players are athletic exceptions to the human gene pool) high barriers to entry mean that the league will never be held accountable by its fans in the way any other competitive industry will be kept in check by consumers. Our best example? Baseball fans sticking to the MLB in the steroids era.

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