The NBA is investigating the Philadelphia 76ers’ decision to sit star center Joel Embiid out of regular-season games this year, including the nationally televised season-opener this week. And sports host Dan Patrick believes that despite all the changes the NBA has made over time to punish teams who operate this way, the league still has a “real issue” on its hands.
For Patrick, it all comes down to fans trusting the game.
“You can’t lose the trust of your audience, where they go, ‘Wait, who’s playing?'” Patrick said Thursday on his The Dan Patrick Show. “The fans want to know who’s playing. Kawhi’s not going to play for who knows how many games. So you know that. Here’s Joel Embiid; he didn’t play in the opener. So it’s not even a back-to-back … you’re not available for the opener? Are you going to be available for the next game because you didn’t play for the last game?”
Embiid announced leading up to the season that he was unlikely to play in back-to-backs for the rest of his career. However, missing the season opener after finishing last season healthy and competing in the Olympics likely drew scrutiny from the league and led to an investigation.
Patrick mentioned past ideas to reassure fans, including tying award and salary incentives to games played (which the NBA adopted last year) and ticket insurance dependent on whether star players are on the court.
“The audience has to have trust in your product, and this is a real issue for Adam Silver,” Patrick said. “You’ve got to tough it out. There are times where maybe you don’t want to play, you’re banged up a little bit. OK. Back in the day, you played.”
Patrick believes fans have every right to be frustrated, particularly because teams’ approaches have changed while the season’s structure has eased. More players are sitting despite the NBA cutting down on travel and providing more rest days.
“The NBA has made the season longer so you have more rest days in between games,” Patrick said. “They haven’t added to their schedule. It’s still 82 games. I mean, the NFL is going to add yet another game to the most violent sport.”
At the same time, ticket prices continue to go up—as do player salaries and the league’s business. Yet customers end up paying the price.
To his credit, Patrick has addressed this issue for a while and has come up with solutions. The NBA has implemented some, but the problem is not going away.
[The Dan Patrick Show on YouTube]
