Han Si Hun(Jake)
The
National Basketball Association (NBA) is a pre-eminent men’s professional
basketball league. Many critics and fans around the world call the NBA greatest
show on earth. No other league around the world brings what the NBA’s game has
brought every season. Fans are charmed and fascinated by its great plays,
games, dunks, players and passion for basketball. NBA is one of the 4 major
North American professional sports leagues, consisted of thirty franchised member
clubs of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada. There
are 2 main conferences: the EAST and the WEST. Each conference is divided into
3 subdivisions, and each subdivision contains 5 teams.
When
we talk about the NBA in today’s society, some people might think that NBA is
just a basketball game between insanely overpaid athletes. In a sense, they are
right. NBA players are the world’s best paid sportsmen by average annual salary
per year. However, what people do not recognize is the story of its creation, rich
history, glorious records, the great games, and thousands of amazing memories
that have been lost in time. NBA is not just about basketball. It launched the leagues’
social responsibility initiative called NBA Cares. NBA Cares gathered
contributions from the teams, current and former players, and the league office
and collected more than $50million to create 171 places where children and
families can live, learn, and play. They also volunteered 302,000 hours of
hands-on charity service for the community. The success
of the NBA's approach was such that league revenues grew from $140 million to $4.3
billion from 1983 to 2012 (Charlie Zegers, 2012).
NBA
provides a lot of solutions to society problems in America. Nearly one out of
three African American men between the ages of twenty and thirty are somehow involved
in criminal activities in America. Even though they play basketball in college,
they know that it will never be their profession, but simply their passion.
However, it is not difficult to find a fan willing to stand in line for an
entire day to get an autograph from Michael Jordan, Lebron James, or Kobe
Bryant, whom are few of many African American players. But imagine 20 years
ago, when African Americans were severely discriminated in the American
society. But now 9 out of 10 players are African Americans. The presence of NBA
helped the society to overcome racism.
The NBA has been
adept at extending its influence not only in America, but also the world.
League games are now seen in over seventy countries, the league has expanded to
Canada (Toronto, Vancouver), exhibition and even regular season games have been
played in Japan, china and Europe and teams compete in the international
tournament ("Global NBA, " 2012). One of the primary means of the
NBA's entry into the international market was its takeover of the operation and
marketing of USA Basketball which over-sees US involvement in international
competition. This, of course, is the instrument through which NBA stars now
compete in the Olympics and other events. These efforts have placed the league
in a position to be one of the largest contributors to and beneficiaries of the
increasing globalization of the television and advertising industries.
Through this you can see that the NBA basketball is
not simply a sport for entertainment purposes but also encompasses cultural and
societal influences. For the Americans, this sport helped them overcome certain
racial issues such as discrimination towards African Americans and Asians. Thus
we can further understand how the American societal belief and value system
works by delving deeper into the close relations basketball has with the American
people. After my writing, I feel that I know so much more about the game of
basketball and all the great works of NBA.
1] National Basketball Association. 12 June 2012 at 04:18.
Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association
[2] Joe Dorish. Average Salaries in the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL.Available:http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ycn-10423863
[3]NBA Cares Available:http://basketball.wikia.com/wiki/NBA_Cares
[4]tech dirt. Linsanity... At The Trademark Office. Available:
[5]Charlie Zegers.Revenue Sharing and North America's Major Pro Sports Leagues.About.com(Feb.2012) Available http://basketball.about.com/od/nba-vs-nbapa/ss/Revenue-Sharing-And-North-Americas-Major-Pro-Sports-Leagues.htm
[6]NBA Global.http://www.nba.com/global/(2012)
[7] NBA lauded for
Diversity players,coaches.
Available:http://www.interbasket.net/news/2473/2009/06/nba-lauded-for-diversity-of-players-coaches/
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