“A few weeks before the NBA All-Star break, I was ready to write-off the league entirely. The professional game was becoming almost unwatchable due to the excessive traveling, the me-first mentality of nearly all of the players and seeing multi-millionaires complain every time a foul was called.”
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A few weeks before the NBA All-Star break, I was ready to write-off the league entirely.

The professional game was becoming almost unwatchable due to the excessive traveling, the me-first mentality of nearly all of the players and seeing multi-millionaires complain every time a foul was called.

However, I can’t help but re-think my decision after all the trades that have occurred in the Western Conference.

Pau Gasol to the Lakers. Shaq to the Suns. Jason Kidd to the Mavericks.

The enormity of the West’s dealing big-name, high impact players was enough to begin paying more attention.

As a Cavaliers fan though, it leaves a jealous, yet normal feeling in me.

Nearly every Cavs fan wants LeBron James to get more help and blames Danny Ferry for not surrounding him with more talent.

But it’s common knowledge to know that the Cavs have no players that other teams want, especially none with expiring contracts.

Taking a look at the Eastern Conference though, the Cavs are still in good shape. Change for change’s sake is not always the best motive for shaking up a lineup.

Though no big deals have surfaced in the East with the trade deadline looming tomorrow, the constant player movement in the West has brought me back.

Has the NBA been better? Absolutely.

But it hasn’t been better in recent years. The on-court appeal of the NBA can still be boring most of the time, especially in the last two minutes during foul time, but you have to take the good with the bad.

Gaining a better rep

Major League Baseball and the NFL are fighting battles that the NBA has actually escaped this year.

The steroid scandal in baseball has become overwhelming and the Spygate scandal in the NFL is starting to rear its head.

What sports fans are left with after hearing about other leauges’ problems to the point of nausea is the NBA-even after it survived the Tim Donaghey referee scandal

No matter how much I can’t stand the imperfections of the NBA, it is the lesser of the three evils.

The NFL and MLB are constantly dealing with a cheating issue that media outlets have completely worn out.

But the NBA, who normally is dealing with some kind of issue all the time, is somehow looking like the good league.

Not much makes me less excited than bad basketball, but this could be a time for the NBA to get over the plagues it has been victim to lately.

Besides, if a football and baseball junkie like myself is actually glorifying the NBA, the NFL and MLB have to be doing something wrong.

What it comes down to is that the NBA isn’t being accused of having cheaters right now.

And nothing is worse in sports than cheating.

So, the NFL can thank Bill Belichick for the bad publicity and MLB can blame itself for the steroid problem, but right now, the NBA somehow looks like the good guy.

The NBA is no longer plagued by Donaghey’s cheating and I’m sure the NFL and MLB are praying for the same kind of luck.

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