“PERHAPS the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”– Thomas Paine, Common Sense, January, 1776In the early weeks of 1776, Thomas Paine addressed the inhabitants of America in his now famous pamphlet advocating complete independence from the oppression of British rule. Rather than beginning with a questioning of the British constitution and its flaws, his first chapter studies the origin and design of government in general. To avoid bias toward the status quo, the problems of a given institution are best solved by revisiting its beginnings, in the absence of the customs and norms that cloud its purpose for existence.  After examining the genesis of society and the inevitable emergence of government, Paine outlines the reasons, rooted in logic, for the colonies to self-govern. The burden of proof was shifted to the loyalist defenders of the status quo. Change was initiated.

Inertia is the universal enemy of progress. In the face of oppression any compromise short of complete independence is intolerable. The game of basketball faces oppression at the hands of the NBA. Illegal defense. Guaranteed contracts. Incompetent management. Our grievances are plenty.  Like the American Revolution, the basketball renaissance needs to be swift and sweeping.

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“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”-Paine’s The Crisis, December, 1776 The NBA is basketball Hell. But no peace comes from focusing on why fire pains the skin, tyranny needles the spirit, or shit rankles the nostril. As such ask not why NBA basketball maddens the intellect and offends the soul. Solution is not born of a focus on the negative. Conjure instead the elements that made the game great. Patience. Spacing. Vision. Discipline. Why was the game born? How has it evolved? Why was the hoop ten feet high? Why was the floor 94’ by 50’? Has the NBA player achieved an unintended mastery of his enviornment? Has this contributed to his arrogance? At the time of the game’s inception the bouncing of the ball was prohibited with the exception of the bounce pass. Even when the single dribble was grudgingly endorsed in 1901, players could not shoot after doing so. In 1909 limitations on the dribble were removed, though its use was still limited due to the mis-shapen ball. This preserved the natural reliance on teamwork until the symetrical redesign of the early 1950s.

 In 1954 the 24-second clock was introduced to discourage stalling. It also made excusable the occasional low-percentage shot attempt. Along with unchecked dribbling, the zero pass possession beacame possible, tolerable, and commonplace. Illegal defense restrictions made things even more dull and predictable.As time has gone by athletes have gotten bigger, faster, stronger, and more agile. The thug culture that is endorsed and glamorized by the league has made the one-man offense socially and professionally acceptable.

The players’ enhanced abilities, along with a rule book that discourages ball movement and patience, have made the strategy productive. The proliferation of the plague that is selfish basketball at times seems to be the objective of the league. At the very least, the powers that be lack the fortitude to rectify the cultural and professional dilapidation, and their cowardly stench rises to the heavens.

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The floor needs to be expanded in both length and width. The three-point line needs to be pulled back. The hoop should be raised. The shot clock needs lengthened. Defensive three seconds needs abolished.

The next step is to force players to play several years of college ball.  Learn to press, run offenses and shoot. Not fair? Fair is irrelevant. The players are employees of the teams. Employers utilize their employees how they see fit.The D-League culture is to far gone to allow players to join out of high school. Why can’t NCAA players be paid? They work for the university in an area designed to make a profit. Obviously the salaries would have to be the same across the board, but if a million dollar investment in the head coach makes financial sense why wouldn’t $50k per player. And who cares if they have an agent. The NHL can draft a player once he turns 18, whether he enters the draft or not. They own his rights even when he decides to go to college to play. Why not force the NBA to give these guys $250k per year to retain their rights, whith the school relieved of their $50k obligation. Now your NCAA stars are rich AND still in college learning to play, making the product better, and developing into a real person rather than another obscene caricture of the mindless 21st century showboat-thug.