It's Time to Buy Stock in the NBA

Led by LeBron James and Kevin Durant, the NBA is entering a phenomenal decade of basketball (Credits: Garrett Ellwood/NBAE/Getty Images)

There was a time, actually within in the last ten years, when the NBA was seen as a joke. Public opinion was sick of isolation basketball, a plethora of off-court arrests and a personality issuue had the NBA wading in mud. Championships were being won by old-school, team oriented squads led by boring stars like Ben Wallace and Tim Duncan. While the most talented players in the NBA were seen as selfish, ego-centric players who cared about putting the basketball in hoop without regard for team play. Superstars like Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant weren't seen as role models and many parents wanted their children to watch the team-oriented college basketball instead. I know this because I was apart of that generation growing up and these sentiments were real.

While the NBA was tuned out by many in America, the MLB and NFL grew to unimaginable heights. People watched NFL athletes with awe and were equally wowed by the home run hitters of the early 2000s. Both games flourished as the NBA was just trying to figure out how to simply look at the mirror let alone look at itself in the mirror.

But things began to change. Major League Baseball lost major credibility when the Mitchell Report came out in 2007, detailing 89 players and their use of performance-enhancing drugs. The league did a great job of covering up over the past five years, with only a few slip-ups here and there. Yet just when we thought they had escaped without any real damage, this Bosch scandal emerged exposing more players linked to PED use. On top of all this for the first time in 17 years not a single player was inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. Two of the nominees would easily go down as two of the Top-10 players of all-time in their respective situations, but since Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds were linked to steroids they weren't given the nod and probably never will. Public opinion has not only shifted from just big players being the only one's with steroids suspicions, but now all players across the board. Thanks Ryan Braun.

Over in the NFL it's a little different. There's an on-the-horizon issue which many people are trying to ignore as best as they can. Football is a highly dangerous game, that is beyond obvious. However, all of this information coming out about the immediate and long-term effects of head injuries is an absolute death knell for league. I know people think this whole, "sign a waiver" movement is going to save the game but that's not where the issue lies. It lies with the kids. Parents are no longer allowing their kids to play football in favor of soccer and basketball, sports that are clearly much safer. Eventually that will slowly sap the talent pool and eventually make the game less entertaining. We could see the results of this even as soon as 10 years from now. The NFL will most likely continue to thrive exponentially  for a few more years, but at some point the league's stock will begin a decline and it might end in the disbanding of the league within 20 years.

Yes, 20 years is a long time and a lot can happen in those two decades to save the game but I doubt removing kick-offs from the sport will do anything to increase popularity (I just threw up). That's why it's time to not only invest in the sport of basketball, but in the NBA. Don't give me this college basketball talk, especially not with this one and done nonsense. The NCAA has no idea what it's doing allowing players to go to college for only one year. The sport benefits from absolutely nothing when they watch stars like Derrick Rose, John Wall and Anthony Davis up and leave after one year. Where's the continuity? Where's the story line? How do you know what you're going to get from team's year in and year out? The sport is far too sloppily played at the college level for me to enjoy it. March Madness is what it is, but it has more to do with the ridiculousness than it does with the basketball.

And that brings me to my final point. Look at what we have in front of us in the NBA. LeBron James is on the cusp of doing things we've never seen before. Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony are out-of-this-world scorers. Rajon Rondo, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul and Derrick Rose have us smack dab in the middle of a point guard golden age. The amount of talent in the league that is south of 25 years old is astonishing and all the right markets are in play. Chicago, New York, Boston, Los Angeles (yes, both teams) and Miami are all good and the playoff story lines are only to get even more intense this season. The NBA is entering into one of its best decades ever.

It's a perfect time to buy stock in the league because one day we might have the NFL and Major League Baseball could get even more boring.