Defender of the Powerful

As exciting as these last couple weeks in the NBA have been, they have been equally as polarizing. Anytime there is an inordinate amount of attention on something, writers tend to think they have to take a stand, and say something meaningful. As I was sure would happen, when the Anthony to the Knicks, and subsequent trades that followed happened, writers thought that it was time to grandstand. The result? Columns like Rick Reiley's gem on how the NBA is headed for disaster because stars are dictating where they go, and it hurts the little guy. It's not only him, I've heard tons of "experts" say this.
Let me let you in on a little secret. Since the Bad Boy Pistons of 88-89 (featuring the star of Nintendo's Bill Lambeer basketball) won the title, including that team only seven different teams/cities have won the title. Those teams: Detroit(3 times), Chicago(6), Houston(2), San Antonio(3), Los Angeles(5), Miami(1), Boston(1). What stands out other than only seven teams winning in a total of 21 years? Look at the cities that won them. Only San Antonio's titles stand out, as they are the only non-major city team to win. The point? If your argument is that the big stars shouldn't be able to pick where they play because it will hurt the small market teams and their chance at winning, then welcome to the NBA. That's the way things have always been.
Can you remember the last time the NBA stole the headlines like it has since "The Decision" and the Carmelo saga? Is this a bad thing?
I understand that the way that these players go about getting their way turns people off (myself included). If you take the ridiculous hour long T.V show away from LeBron last summer, he absolutely made the right move. Look at the Cavs. It's hard to feel bad for an organization like the Cavs. They amazingly built a roster that was capped out for the next two seasons, and became historically bad when one player left, even if it was LeBron. LeBron has a lot of negative qualities, but he's not stupid. He didn't want to play for a garbage owner, a garbage organization, and quite frankly a garbage city. Now look.
The Heat though polarizing, are great for the NBA, and they bring in loads of casual fan interest. For real basketball fans it gives us something fascinating to watch this spring-the chance to test out whether great offense can make up for no interior defense. Any of the realistic match ups of Heat/Celtics, Heat/Bulls, Heat/Knicks, and Heat/Magic will get off the charts ratings. This is bad for the NBA?
Did you see last nights Knicks game? Did you see the fans, the atmosphere, even the players? Nothing about last night was bad for basketball. Denver shrewdly walked away from that deal with assets-they will be fine. If the stars want to form superteams in the big cities, I say why not? As a Yankee fan I can tell you that super teams guarantee you absolutely nothing. The smaller teams will still be able to compete. It's not like baseball where only eight teams can make the playoffs. Every year sixteen teams will get into the playoffs, and the small market teams that are built well, like the Thunder will give the big teams more than a test. Lots of teams can follow the Thunder, the Spurs, and the Warriors, who all have built promising cores though the draft and smart free agent signings.
Everybody can relax, the NBA will be more than OK, it will be the same it always has been. Hopefully Mr.Reily will stick to writing stories about under privileged golf prodigies, or whatever he writes about now. In the meantime, lets all watch the real biggest story in the NBA-Baron Davis' effort the rest of the season on the Cleveland Cavaliers.