Improving the NBA- One Pivot Foot at a Time

A few weeks ago I decided that there were three issues I wanted to address from the NBA Playoffs regardless of who won the championship. Being just over a week removed from the end of the season and the day before the NBA draft, I thought now would be a good time to address the issues. Here they are:

1) I would like to propose a fourth referee known as the "footwork ref." All he is allowed to do is call traveling violations. I know that a fourth ref is going to create real estate issues so I am open to ideas about where he could be positioned. Sitting at half court maybe? Here are a few reasons why we need a footwork ref:

Help prevent this in 2011-12:

NBA Finals example:

This isn't a new problem either:

Wade wasn't the only one traveling in the playoffs. LeBron and Jason Terry are both terrible about catching the ball and immediately shuffling their feet before dribbling. Realistically, I know this won't happen so I'm hoping this will at least make the annual "points of emphasis" and be enforced as strong as the quick technicals were last year.

2) Get rid of the 2-3-2 format for the Finals. It makes absolutely no sense to me that the rest of the playoffs are played 2-2-1-1-1 and then everything is changed for the Finals. I don't care about the media having to travel more, the distance players have to fly on chartered 1st class flights, or the money it cost. None of that matters during the rest of the season/playoffs, so why does it matter in the Finals? If the NBA wants to make the series as fair as possible then it needs to make the Finals 2-2-1-1-1. The current format is unfair to both teams.

3) I love competition. I love sports. Because of this, I choose to consume an inordinate amount of basketball games each year. It offers an escape from the worries and stresses of life. It occasionally delivers moments that are so perfect they cause me to continue watching time and time again in search of the next "moment."
But in the end, it's just a game. The people who are involved in these games are humans just like me and you. They triumph and they fail. They cause us to cheer and just as often they cause us to shake our heads in shame.

The society we live in glorifies and at the same time tears down these individuals far too much. In return, these players tend to buy in to what we create them to be. Nothing that I can say will change the way individuals are promoted within sports due to the money involved; but I do hope to issue a challenge to the people who happen to read this. Think about how you react to athletes who are in the public eye. Do you glorify them like they are inhuman objects? Like they are idols? Even if they are presented by the media as perfect role models who have everything figured out, I'm guessing that they are really regular people who struggle with the ups and downs of life like everyone else.

So the next time you are told that an athlete is a hero and you should want to emulate their lifestyle, take a step back and look at the big picture. Chances are, you have people around you who are much better role models and heroes than you will ever find playing a game on TV. I know I do.