Prognosis: Negative

I wish I liked the NBA more. I watched plenty of games when I was a kid, and I've tried to get back into it for the playoffs the last few years. I don't agree with or even like a lot of the arguments people have for the Assn's decline (like "too many thugs"). I think there are some teams that are fun to watch (Suns, Mavs, Kings, Sonics), and lots of games where both teams just look lazy, like there's 5 one on one games. Once the playoffs come around, it seems like there's more effort, more trying. I watched the Olympics, and I saw our poorly chosen team get beaten by worse players/better teams. So, I see the problems and all...

It's just, most sportswriters seem to drag down the league into negativity. I seem to hear more about overpaid NBA players than any other sports, more gripes about the poor play than others, more bitching about young professionals (Adrian Beltre signed at what, 14?). At some point it is the job of the sportswriter to make the sport more enjoyable to follow. Lang Whittaker gives the positive outlook a try, and he answers a few of the questions posed in the NYT magazine article on the NBA. I'll try to highlight his columns, since he's decent, local and a Dawg.