New fixes nibble around the edges of what is the fundamental problem with the big leagues: No one cares about the regular seasons anymore, because the playoffs are all that matter
On a Tuesday night in December, the Toronto Raptors hosted the Miami Heat in a meeting of two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. It was a close, hard-fought game that the visitors ultimately took in overtime, yet the atmosphere in Scotiabank Arena was largely tepid.
Congrats to the Milwaukee Bucks, winners of the 2022 Oscar Robertson Midseason Classic presented by Burger King, or something of that nature. All of these things are intriguing in their own way, but they also nibble around the edges of what is the fundamental problem with North America’s big leagues: No one cares about the regular seasons anymore, because the playoffs are all that matter.
The big playoff fields, combined with a decades-long push toward legislated parity, with tools and mechanisms intended to sprinkle talent evenly among teams, has created a world in which long regular seasons are merely extended preparation for the only games anyone actually cares about. Kawhi Leonard infamously called his 82-game schedule with the Toronto Raptors last season just “practice,” and he was not wrong about that.
Suddenly, the blueprint was obvious for all to see: Rest your stars as much as is needed during the regular season. By the time play began this past fall, guys like Leonard and Joel Embiid were sitting out early-season games not because they were hurt, but because they didn’t want to be hurt later.
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