Kyrie Irving is seen as one of the big-name free agents who could be on the move this summerNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
The NBA's ability to get media and fans to talk about "potential player movement, possible trades and projecting where stars are going to play in the future" has continued to "drive interest in the game," according to Sean McAdam of the BOSTON SPORTS JOURNAL. The league over the past week has dominated headlines thanks to the future status of players like Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Kristaps Porzingis and Kyrie Irving, and that talk "amounts to free advertising" for the NBA. If basketball fans are "talking about the game, it reflects mainstream interest." They are "invested in the rumors because they care." Celtics coach Brad Stevens: "The NBA is what it is because of the scuttlebutt … it captivates everybody’s attention for 12 months out of the year." McAdam wrote when paying customers are "interested enough to discuss who's going where, that's beneficial to the bottom line and the overall popularity of the industry" (BOSTONSPORTSJOURNAL.com, 2/3). In California, Jim Alexander wrote, "Anyone still wonder why the NBA is more fascinating off the court than on?" (Riverside PRESS-ENTERPRISE, 2/2).
TAKING A PIECE FOR ITSELF: USA TODAY's Martin Rogers wrote the NBA is a "true expert at getting the country to talk about its goings-on and relentless drama plays." It has become the "sporting king of the social media world." The sports media landscape is "more than big enough for both" the NBA and the NFL, but the way the NBA has stolen part of the spotlight during Super Bowl week "just shows how the stars of the NBA sphere captivate focus in a way that very few NFL celebrities are capable of" (USATODAY.com, 2/3). In N.Y., Marc Stein notes the NBA "intruded on the NFL's run-up to the Super Bowl as we have not seen since Kobe Bryant scored 81 points on football's so-called Championship Sunday" in '06 (N.Y. TIMES, 2/4). USA TODAY's Dan Wolken wrote this "will be remembered as little more than the week the NFL played second-fiddle to the NBA trade deadline" (USATODAY.com, 2/2).
POWER PLAYERS: The NBA trade deadline is on Thursday, and ESPN.com's Tim Bontemps wrote the league has "essentially turned into an escalating series of all-in poker hands, with all of them centered on the same mindset: The players, not the teams, control all levers of power in the NBA." It is the "players, and their agents, dictating what is happening next." Individual teams are "scrambling just to try to keep up" (ESPN.com, 2/2). Suns G Devin Booker said, "The players are figuring out you have more power than you thought you had back in the day. They’re controlling their future. They’re determining their future. They’re going with their plan and they’re rolling with that" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/3).
