We Brought In The NBA Fixers

…A’ja Wilson is the WNBA’s first $5 million dollar (wo)man! Technically, that’s over three years, if you want to split hairs, but either way, she deserves every penny. I think I will try to become the GOAT at something. 

Being legendary tennis player Maria Sharapova isn’t easy. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s Pretty Tough. Maybe that’s why she named her new podcast that. Her show will be all about the pursuit of excellence and female ambition. I’m sold. 

In his latest newsletter, Russell Westbrook wrote an inspiring message about Coachella and fashion. It’s worth it alone just to read Russ refer to “indie sleaze,” but he also ranked the WNBA draft fits and showed love to the women’s team at his national championship-winning alma mater.  

A reporter asked Azzi Fudd this fairly innocuous question (my opinion) and based on the internet reaction, you’d assume this was a matter of life and death. Some think it was made worse by the Wings’ PR team. Regardless, that’s enough internet for the week. Everyone go outside.

LIV Golf is maybe coming to an end (although it will finish out this season at least). And if it does end, it will be missed, I’m guessing. It’s a fairly easy goodbye for someone like me, who’d never even watched it. You can’t lose something you never had. Anyway, here’s what might happen if it really is toast.

Talking heads, personalities, on-air hosts, writers, stan account admins, regular fans, they’ve all got one thing in common. Everyone thinks [sports league] has a [fill in the blank] problem, and everyone thinks their [genius idea] would fix it. 

Since the NBA playoffs are officially here this weekend, I decided to poll some Friends of OffBall and query what they think the biggest problem with the league is, and how it can be fixed. (DISCLAIMER: These are not my ideas or thoughts and I do not endorse or support these sentiments. You cannot sue me. I repeat, you cannot sue me. This was purely for science.*)

*Fun.

So, brilliant friends, what is the biggest issue plaguing the NBA right now, and how could the league fix it? 

Jason Meggyesy

I shouldn’t have to bum a bunch of streaming services off my friends and family members in order to watch these games. The price to watch (like everything else in this life) has become so unattainable and outrageous. I either need the price to go down or some kind of aggregate deal across these platforms. I’m a sicko for the game, but I’m not trying to pay $500 [about $110 for standard] for LeaguePass.

But maybe this is also a symptom of being in my 20s and rationing all of my disposable income towards foolish purchases and nights out with friends.

Kazeem Famuyide

I love the NBA and think a lotta times we focus on the negatives like tanking teams because it’s a lotta rich, young black multimillionaires that leave themselves as targets to be picked on. If anything, I do think the league would do better with having some more veterans on teams. The OG’s help curb tanking and a lot of times young talent don’t see their fullest potential without veterans to guide them. We need more old heads in the league. They have value! 

Shea Serrano

This is potentially a selfish answer, but… I currently am subscribed to several streaming channels, including but not limited to YouTube TV, Amazon, Peacock, and NBA League Pass. And yet, there are still a whole host of Spurs games blacked out to people living in San Antonio if you’re not subscribed to some other impossible-to-find streaming channel. We need local games back. It’s such a rich viewing experience. Bring it back!

Daniel-Yaw Miller (DISCLAIMER: He’s English, so that’s why he’s talking like this)

For me, as a casual fan, it's so hard to know if a regular-season game I’m tuning into is actually gonna mean anything or have any bearing on the season. I also think the NBA should introduce relegation for real jeopardy. And every time a team tanks so badly, they should be replaced with a top European team as punishment. Not really, but I think relegation of some kind would be fun. Also, more fights, and more Jared McCains. 

Jasmine Watkins

The main problem is having to have 47 different streaming services to watch games. The best fix would be going back in time because Silver Surfer is obsessed with money and not the fans. 

It seems many of them are in agreement about something. Whether or not fans can watch games has been an issue from league to league for a number of years. It’s been happening since streaming stole cable’s crown, but the fact that ticket prices are so high now as well, makes watching games a little more prohibitive than usual. NBA, if you are reading this, (the collective) we do love you…so much so, we want to watch as much of you as possible.  

Anyway, I sincerely hope our pals get mom and dad’s logins in time for the games this weekend. And maybe, for our friend Kazeem, Chris Paul comes out of retirement…and starts a fight with Jared McCain, for Dan. 

Last year, almost exactly one year ago, on the heels of his announcement that he was launching a YouTube channel after being laid off at ESPN, Joon Lee and I spoke for 45 minutes over video call. We stood on our soapboxes and did one of my all-time favorite things: lamented the state of networks, content, and the written word.

My computer was on the fritz for a while, and my call with Joon became a victim of technology. A card-carrying member of “OffBall by Ashtyn Butuso: The Lost Files,” if you will. Anyway, my computer randomly started working again, and I found the interview — just in time for a creator spotlight segment. 

If you aren’t familiar with the work of Joon Lee, you should get familiar. He’s one of the most thoughtful and well-spoken creators out there. He finds inspiration from Joan Didion (and believes Jia Tolentino is the Joan Didion of our generation) and has found mentorship from such esteemed sportswriters as  Wright Thompson and Seth Wickersham. And although he’s a through and through reporter, he hasn’t been afraid to flex his video content muscles — something a lot of legacy media members these days have to do out of necessity rather than because they are gifted at it (no shade, of course). 

Joon told me he’s attempting to bridge the hardcore sports fan (like him) to “the House of Highlights sports fans, who do love sports, but they love it in a different way and in a way that reflects society and culture and politics.” As someone who identifies as nearly every “type” of sports fan, I love this kind of coverage because I see myself in it. (Oh, what, you’re not an egomaniac, too??) Joon’s videos reflect exactly the most pressing and exciting and moving moments that exist in sports today. Every media generation is noticing.

He’s being contracted by large media brands, like More Perfect Union, to expose some of the craziest stories yet. Like how a losing team can make more money than a winning one. And like Vice, where he’s answering questions like: What if Babe Ruth exercised? And on his own page, where he’s explaining what “sources” actually means in the journalism world. 

Whether you’re a casual or a diehard, I highly suggest you take a look at Joon’s work on YouTube and Substack. 

Tune in for some elite women’s volleyball. Or elite men’s volleyball. But also the Sidemen Charity Match. And Wrestlemania. Sheesh! 

Play a game of UNO, like GloRilla does at her boyfriend’s basketball games. 

Listen to the Jonas Brothers with the 76ers.