The Confidential

If The Confidential Ran the NBDL

The Confidential loves college hoops.  The Confidential used to enjoy the NBA.  It was back in the day when college seniors would get drafted and you could follow the college stars as they meshed with NBA superstars.  Somewhere along the way, the NBA lost a lot of fans.  At least part of it is that the NBA is populated by players that spent less than two years in college.  We never got a chance to like them and they were off to ride the pine while their potential wasted away.  The NBDL is an opportunity to bridge the gap with college fans.  Instead of taking advantage of it, the NBA minimizes it.  It is a missed opportunity.  So here is The Confidential’s plan to use the NBDL to help lure the college fan base back to the NBA game.

First, how about an NBA tweak.  Allow an extra roster spot for a college graduate at 1/2 the league minimum.  Why is the NBA choosing potential over a flawed, but beloved player?  Well, everyone knows why.  But there is a cost–the college fan is marginalized.  So allow one measly roster spot to be populated by a player that will play sparingly, but get an idea how the NBA works.  We’ll watch to see if/when he plays.  Like a walk-on, etc.

Second, use the NBDL.  Right now, there are NBDL teams in what cities?  Do you even know?  Care?  The NBA forced ten gajillion WNBA commercials on fans… but who can name 10 NBDL locations?

Well, here you go:

• Canton, Ohio (the football hall of fame town is a great place for a hoops team)
• Erie, Pennsylvania (yawn)
• Fort Wayne, Indiana (perhaps)
• Maine (a whole state)
• Springfield, Massachusetts
• Austin, Texas (great!)
• Iowa (a whole state, but we can live with this)
• Hidalgo, Texas (population 12,000–12,020 when in-season)
• Sioux Falls, South Dakota (did Winnipeg balk?)
• Frisco, Texas (it’s near Dallas)
• Tulsa, Oklahoma (fine)
• Bakersfield, California (arena can be expanded to fit 700 fans!)
• Boise, Idaho (again, arena football makes more sense than hoops)
• Los Angeles, California (as if this is cracks the top 100,000 in things to do in L.A.)
• Reno, Nevada (because the NBA does not want to be associated with gambling… what?)
• Santa Cruz, California

Yawn city.  Just mistake after mistake.

Why doesn’t the NBA locate its NBDL franchises near popular college basketball hotbeds?   Let us get to see more of these guys–we miss them!

How about this instead:

• Hartford, Connecticut (captures the Boston fan base and UConn, as well as anything Northeast… but is NOT in Maine)
• Rochester, New York (captures the Syracuse fan base–good enough to put 34,000 people in a Dome, occasionally, as well as Buffalo metro)
• Alexandria, Virginia (captures the DC area, Maryland, and Virginia)
• Canton, Ohio (fine… Ohio)
• Flint, Michigan (get the Michigan State and Michigan fans fired up)
• Fort Wayne, Indiana (fine… all the Indiana schools’ fans)
• Madison, Wisconsin (the Big 10/NFC North, etc.)
• Tulsa, Oklahoma (fine)
• Topeka, Kansas (the Kansas fans)
• Austin, Texas (fine)
• Louisville, Kentucky (another hoops hotbed)
• Raleigh, NC (NC hoops!)
• Salem, Oregon (the Northwest!)
• Santa Clara, California (fine)
• Los Angeles, California (fine… but nobody will care)
• Phoenix, Arizona (the AZ/New Mexico hoops fans)

Did we get everyone?  Probably not, Florida & the Southeast are underrepresented.  But this is a start.

Imagine a Rochester, NY, team with three former Syracuse players.  People would care…. especially if/when a player was called up.  Imagine Kentucky/Louisville fans watching 5-6 of their former players on one team?  People would care.  Same with North Carolina and Indiana.  Perhaps limit it to three players from a college within 100 miles or something.  Whatever.  The NCAA does not want NBDL franchises being a lure for college players (as if).

Why wouldn’t it work?  You tell us.