The

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA) has faced a multitude of criticisms from sports publications, fans, and its own players.

Racial and cultural issues

Since the late 1990s, and especially since the retirement of

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

in 1999, the NBA has been criticized for embracing hip hop culture. While some observers have argued that this criticism has more to do with race than hip hop itself, it is a fact that the league is very much connected to hip hop culture. Rappers

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal R ...

and Jay-Z had ownership stakes in NBA teams (the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

and

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. T ...

respectively), and many artists have worn NBA throwback jerseys in music videos. In turn, the NBA plays rap and hip-hop in arenas during games. NBA video games ''

NBA 2K ''NBA 2K'' is a series of basketball sports simulation video games developed by Visual Concepts and released annually since 1999. The premise of the series is to emulate the sport of basketball, and more specifically, the National Basketball ...

'' and '' NBA Live'' use hip-hop in their soundtracks, and ABC/

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

also use the music during its coverage. Players in the NBA have tried having rap or hip hop careers themselves (

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program '' Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the great ...

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely ...

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket in LNB Pro A. Himself the son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career at Paris Basket Racing in ...

Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson (; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) at both the shooting guard and point guard positions. Iver ...

Chris Webber Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III (born March 1, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Drafted number one overall by the Orlando Magic, though arguably best known and remembered as the star forward for the Sacramento King ...

Damian Lillard Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard Sr. (born July 15, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Weber State Wildcats and earne ...

and Ron Artest are some examples) and several also dress and act in ways that are in accordance with the hip hop culture (for example, the tattoos and jewelry worn by several players). Some have argued that the criticism of the NBA is hypocritical, considering the relative lack of criticism of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB),

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL) or

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) players. Some have also noticed that music genres and sports partnerships are not limited to the NBA, with

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

and hard rock being associated with the NHL, and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

being associated with

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

Donald Sterling

Accusations of discrimination

In February 2009,

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

owner

Donald Sterling Donald T. Sterling (born Donald Samuel Tokowitz; April 26, 1934) is an American attorney and businessman who was the owner of the San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers professional basketball franchise of the National Basketball Association (NBA) fro ...

was sued by former longtime Clippers executive

Elgin Baylor Elgin Gay Baylor ( ; September 16, 1934 – March 22, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and executive. He played 14 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lak ...

for

employment discrimination Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, ...

on the basis of age and race.Lisa Dillman
Elgin Baylor sues Clippers, claiming racism
''Los Angeles Times'', February 12, 2009, Retrieved February 13, 2009. The lawsuit alleges Sterling told Baylor that he wanted to fill his team with "poor black boys from the South and a white head coach".Bill Plaschke
There are no winners in Elgin Baylor's lawsuit against Clippers
''Los Angeles Times'', February 13, 2009, Retrieved February 13, 2009. The suit alleges that during negotiations for

Danny Manning Daniel Ricardo Manning (born May 17, 1966) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the Associate Head Mens Basketball Coach at the University of Louisville. Manning played high school basketball at Walter Hin ...

, Sterling said "I'm offering a lot of money for a poor black kid."Lisa Dillman
Mention of David Stern is an error in Elgin Baylor's lawsuit
''Los Angeles Times'', February 14, 2009, Retrieved February 13, 2009. The suit noted those comments while alleging "the Caucasian head coach was given a four-year, $22-million contract", but Baylor's salary had "been frozen at a comparatively paltry $350,000 since 2003".

Accusation of racism

On April 25, 2014, ''TMZ Sports'' released what it said is an April 9, 2014 audio recording of a conversation between Sterling and his mistress, V. Stiviano. According to TMZ, Sterling and Stiviano argued in regards to a photo Stiviano posted on Instagram in which she posed with

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in th ...

. In the audio recording, Sterling allegedly tells Stiviano: "It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people." and, "You can sleep with lack people You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want", but "the little I ask you is ... not to bring them to my games". Clippers president Andy Roesen issued a statement the following day, indicating that his organization was unsure if it was a legitimate and unaltered recording, that the sentiments attributed to Sterling did not reflect Sterling's views, and that the woman on the recording was being sued by the Sterling family and had "told Mr. Sterling that she would 'get even' with him". The Los Angeles chapter of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.& ...

(NAACP) cancelled its plans for the following month to award Sterling for a second time with its lifetime achievement award. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

characterized the recording attributed to Sterling as "incredibly offensive racist statements". Obama then stated, "When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don’t really have to do anything, you just let them talk." On April 29, the NBA, upon confirming the taped conversations, announced that Sterling has been banned for life and fined $2.5 million.

Dress code

The NBA instituted a

dress code A dress code is a set of rules, often written, with regard to what clothing groups of people must wear. Dress codes are created out of social perceptions and norms, and vary based on purpose, circumstances, and occasions. Different societies an ...

in 2005, banning all clothing associated with the hip hop culture. Players were instructed not to wear jewelry, throwback jerseys, headphones, indoor sunglasses and other accessories, and instead were told to wear "business casual" clothing. The dress code, characterized by some as "clearly and unapologetically directed toward suppressing hip-hop culture", was instantly controversial and a topic on many sports radio talk shows for several days. Baggy shorts, also a symbol of hip hop culture, were banned by the league as well, which instituted a rule on the length of players' shorts while playing.

Tights Tights are a kind of cloth garment, most often sheathing the body from the waist to the toe tips with a tight fit, hence the name. They come in absolute opaque, opaque, sheer and fishnet styles — or a combination, such as the original concep ...

, which players started to wear under their shorts in the 2005–06 season (though not a symbol of hip hop culture) were banned as well. No players were fined for dress code violations during the 2005–06 season. The league has also attempted to more greatly distance itself from hip hop since the infamous Pacers–Pistons brawl in 2004; in the

2005 NBA All-Star Game The 2005 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game which was played on February 20, 2005, at Pepsi Center in Denver, home of the Denver Nuggets. This game was the 54th edition of the North American National Basketball Association (N ...

, country music stars Big and Rich performed at halftime, a move that was ridiculed by TNT analyst and former NBA player

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on TNT. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons in the Nati ...

. In addition, as noted later in this article,

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Televisio ...

(after relying on hip-hop music early on) has used artists such as Rob Thomas and

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the late ...

for the NBA Finals in recent years.

Team relocation controversies

Vancouver Grizzlies move to Memphis

The

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...

moved to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

after the

2000–01 NBA season The 2000–01 NBA season was the 55th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their second straight championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 1 in the 2001 NBA Finals. Not ...

. On January 25, 2001, it was announced that the Grizzlies would be sold by Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment to Michael Heisley, who originally intended to keep the team in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

. However, the team moved, in part due to the weak Canadian dollar, lack of local ownership, and the unwillingness of some players to live in Canada. After a bidding war between Memphis, Louisville,

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-mos ...

and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

for the 2001–02 NBA season.

Seattle SuperSonics move to Oklahoma City

The

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conf ...

moved to

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, an ...

after the 2007–08 NBA season. After failed efforts to persuade

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washingto ...

government officials to provide funding to update KeyArena, the SuperSonics' ownership group, led by

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 ...

CEO Howard Schultz, sold the team to Professional Basketball Club LLC (PBC), an investment group headed by Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett. After failing to persuade local governments to fund a US$500 million arena complex, Bennett's group notified the NBA that it intended to move the team to Oklahoma City and requested arbitration with the city of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

to be released from its lease with KeyArena. When the request was rejected by a judge, Seattle sued Bennett's group to enforce the lease that required the team to play in KeyArena through 2010. On July 2, 2008, a settlement was reached that allowed the team to move under certain conditions. Details of the settlement revealed that PBC would pay the city of

$45 million immediately in exchange for breaking the KeyArena lease and an additional $30 million if Seattle was not given a replacement team in five years. Also, according to the conditions of the settlement, the Sonics' name and colors could not be used by the team in Oklahoma City, but could be taken by a future team in Seattle, although no promises for a replacement team were given. The Oklahoma City team would retain the franchise history of the SuperSonics, which could be "shared" with any future NBA team in Seattle. The team moved to Oklahoma City immediately and became the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

, beginning play for the

2008–09 NBA season The 2008–09 NBA season was the 63rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals, four games to one. The 2008 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2008, and Derrick ...

Altercations

Latrell Sprewell choking incident

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, Latrell Sprewell was involved in arguably the most infamous incident in the NBA prior to the Pacers–Pistons brawl seven years later. During a contentious practice, then- Golden State Warrior Sprewell was involved in an altercation with head coach P.J. Carlesimo in which he choked his coach and threatened to kill him. The incident brought mainstream attention, but not quite the amount of criticism of the league as a whole as later controversies would. While some wondered if Sprewell's actions were indicative of a growing trend in the league, others tempered that belief with the idea that it was an isolated incident. Then active player Buck Williams said this on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

: Sprewell would have his image redeemed somewhat after a run to the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is aw ...

with the New York Knicks in 1999. However, after a contentious battle with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

over his salary in 2004, his image took another hit. Sprewell retired for good in 2005. After his retirement, he suffered several financial difficulties, including his home being foreclosed on and having his yacht forcibly seized and sold at auction.

Pacers–Pistons brawl

After a massive altercation between

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first est ...

players and

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

fans on November 19, 2004, the NBA came under severe criticism from the national and mainstream media. Commentators, and those familiar with the event outside the sports media, were divided over the issues of who should primarily be blamed for the incident. Anger and blame was placed on the players, at NBA Union Chief Billy Hunter, who protested the length of suspensions, the fans who sparked the melee and the referees who did not put a stop to it. Some in the media viewed the brawl as a statement on the disconnect between white fans and black players. ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

''s

Ian O'Connor Ian O'Connor (born 1964) is an American sportswriter who is the author of five books, including ''The New York Times'' bestsellers ''Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski''; ''Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Tim ...

wrote: In the wake of the brawl, the NBA came under harsh scrutiny from some outlets. Noted

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

radio personality (and former

NFL analyst)

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...

said the brawl was "hip-hop culture on parade" and also added the statement that "NBA uniforms are now in gang colors. They are in gang styles." NBA commissioner David Stern, in a 2006 interview, made this comment about the brawl-related criticism:

Knicks–Nuggets brawl

The Knicks-Nuggets brawl was an on-court altercation at an NBA game between the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associa ...

and

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsyl ...

on December 16, 2006. This altercation was the most penalized on-court fight since the Pacers–Pistons brawl. All ten players on the court at the time of the altercation were ejected, and seven players total were suspended.

Carmelo Anthony Carmelo Kyam Anthony (born May 29, 1984) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been named an NBA All-Star ten times and an All-NBA Team m ...

of the Nuggets was suspended for 15 games, while

J. R. Smith Earl Joseph "J. R." Smith III (born September 9, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Smith played high school basketball at New Jers ...

and Nate Robinson were suspended for 10 games each. Neither coach was suspended; still, some believed that then-Knicks coach

Isiah Thomas Isiah Lord Thomas III (born April 30, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is an analyst for '' NBA TV''. The 12-time NBA All-Star was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History as well as the 75 Gre ...

should have been suspended for allegedly telling his players to foul any Nuggets player who attempted a dunk or layup. NBA Commissioner David Stern received criticism for not including Thomas in the suspensions. Some viewed Stern's leniency as evidence of a special relationship with Thomas. Thomas was accused of trying to bring back the mentality of the late 1980s

, who were known for their physical play. Various columnists and observers found Thomas' actions inappropriate; before the fight, Thomas was seen warning Anthony not to go into the lane. ESPN analyst and former NBA player Greg Anthony stated that "I never had a coach say that to an opponent ... I've had a coach say, do a better job protecting our territory. That's a little different." The fight brought a large amount of media attention, and was a topic on mainstream news broadcasts, including '' World News with Charles Gibson''. Several columnists claimed that the NBA had been set back several years, and many used the fight as evidence of the league being a haven for thugs. Knicks guard Steve Francis noted that the media reaction to the fight and the suspensions itself were "racially motivated". Francis argued that MLB and the NHL had fights worse or equal to the Knicks/Nuggets altercation and rarely faced the type of media attention and scrutiny that the NBA received. Several columnists agreed, including Sam Smith (who called the coverage "racist and nonsense" in a piece),

J. A. Adande J.A. Adande (; born October 25, 1970) is an American sportswriter, commentator and educator, who currently serves as the Director of Sports Journalism at Northwestern University. Career Adande began his career as a sports columnist for the ''Lo ...

and David Aldridge.

Age limit

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

, the NBA was in the midst of creating a new collective bargaining agreement. One of the main topics of the deal was the league's desire to create a new age limit for players to enter the NBA draft. The idea of an age limit had been talked about for several years, after the entrance into the league of several high school players. While several players who have entered the league out of high school have become successes (

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...

Kevin Garnett Kevin Maurice Garnett ( ; born May 19, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who played for 21 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed KG by his initials, and the "Big Ticket" for his emphatic dunki ...

, Dwight Howard,

, Amar'e Stoudemire, Jermaine O'Neal,

Rashard Lewis Rashard Quovon Lewis (born August 8, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. Lewis entered the NBA directly from Alief Elsik High School. He rose to prominence in the NBA as a scorer with the Seattle SuperSonics, and was later ...

, Tracy McGrady, and decades ago, Shawn Kemp and

Moses Malone Moses Eugene Malone (March 23, 1955 – September 13, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1974 through 1995. A cen ...

), others have been relative failures (for example, Ndudi Ebi, James Lang,

Kwame Brown Kwame Hasani Brown (born March 10, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who spent 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Selected by the Washington Wizards in the 2001 NBA draft, Brown was the first No. ...

, Sebastian Telfair, Eddy Curry, Robert Swift, DeSagana Diop). Those in favor of an age limit made the argument that players entering the league out of high school did not know the fundamentals of playing professional basketball and also were not mature enough to handle playing in the NBA. Proponents of the age limit included

Michael Wilbon Michael Wilbon (; born ) is an American commentator for ESPN and former sportswriter and columnist for '' The Washington Post''. He is an analyst for ESPN and has co-hosted '' Pardon the Interruption'' on ESPN since 2001. Early life and educat ...

, who argued that it was important for young players to get an education. Wilbon's belief, while held by many, has also been referred to as "simplistic" and " eflectivenot just fhypocrisy but a reimagination of reality as well". Michael Mccann of the Mississippi College School of Law made this argument: Greg Anthony was one prominent NBA personality against the age limit. Anthony's belief was that people should be able to make their own decisions about whether or not to enter the league, and that (quoting an article and not Anthony himself) "players from inner-city high schools aren't academically qualified for college because of the lower quality of education compared to their suburban counterparts". This led him into conflict with Wilbon and Stephen A. Smith. On an April 2005 edition of '' NBA Shootaround'', Anthony and Smith got into a heated debate about the age-limit. This came only days after Anthony was the primary interviewer in a discussion with

forward Jermaine O'Neal. The interview was described by ''Sports Illustrated'' writer Mark Bechtel as "...Greg Anthony putting words in O'Neal's mouth then saying something along the lines of, 'Is that what you meant?' And then O'Neal would say, 'Exactly.'" It came on the heels of O'Neal discussing the age limit in the context of race, and as he was in the midst of growing media attention and criticism. As noted in the article "The Real Color of Money: Controlling Black Bodies in the NBA" by David Leonard, O'Neal was roundly attacked for his opinion, with many accusing him of playing the

race card Playing the race card is an idiomatic phrase that refers to the exploitation by someone of either racist or anti-racist attitudes in the audience in order to gain an advantage. It constitutes an accusation of bad faith directed at the person or ...

. With the agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, the age limit was put into place. Any person attempting to enter the NBA draft must wait until the calendar year of his 19th birthday, and must also be at least one year out of high school. However, since the implementation of these rules, certain players have used alternative methods to enter the draft, to the point where some players declare while even still playing in high school. Players like Brandon Jennings, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Terrance Ferguson have entered their respective NBA drafts while spending a year out overseas. More recently, some players like Satnam Singh,

Thon Maker Thon Marial Maker (born 25 February 1997) is a South Sudanese-Australian professional basketball player for the Fujian Sturgeons of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He attended high school at Orangeville District Secondary School and p ...

, and Matur Maker have entered their respective NBA drafts while being considered as high school postgraduates, meaning they've played a fifth year of high school basketball for various reasons instead of going to college. Furthermore, both Latavious Williams and Mitchell Robinson entered their NBA drafts by entering the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

(now

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

) and skipping out college for a year respectively.

No tolerance rule

At the start of the 2006–07 NBA season, the NBA instituted a new rule regarding in-game player complaints. The "no tolerance rule", as it was referred to by players and the media, allowed referees to call technical fouls when players complained too vehemently about calls. The season started with a spike in the number of technical fouls and ejections. There were "one-hundred-four technicals and seven ejections in the first fifty-one games", while "only seven games of the first fifty-one games thus far have had no technical fouls". Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony was ejected on opening night of the season after two technical fouls. Some observers viewed the rule as unfair and taking the passion out of the game; others believed that it only served to take pressure off of referees who made bad calls. Others agreed with the rule, viewing it as a much needed policy to cut down on the "whining" by players in the league. After the initial spike at the start of the season, the amount of technical fouls and ejections declined significantly towards the middle of the year. Several players, including Denver Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, were still ejected on technical fouls; Iverson's ejection came during his first game against his former team, the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

, and he was later fined by the league for claiming that referee Steve Javie ejected him on the basis of a feud the two supposedly had.

Conspiracy theories

Big-market team bias/Lack of parity

Some NBA fans have accused the league of conspiring to have large-market teams and popular players succeed in the postseason. From 1980 to

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

, every NBA Finals involved at least one of the following teams: the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Divisio ...

, Los Angeles Lakers,

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

. Additionally, in that span, every NBA Finals has involved at least one of the following All-Star players:

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets a ...

Tim Duncan Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Big Fundamental", he is widely regarded as the greatest power forward of all time and one of the greatest players in NBA histor ...

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, ...

. The 2021 NBA Finals marked the first time that none of the aforementioned teams nor players competed in the NBA Finals that year, with the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

defeating the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Pacific Division (NBA), P ...

in six games. Many of these accusations are based on the premise that the NBA desires large markets and popular players for ratings purposes. Former

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street (Manhattan), 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS ...

president Neal Pilson disputes the idea that matchups have the biggest effect on ratings: This conspiracy has only increased with the rise of so-called " superteams" in free agency, where star players (free agents or not) "team up" with other players of similar stature on a large-market team in a lucrative location. The term has evolved after being brought about by James' public free-agent declaration in 2010's '' The Decision''. Notable examples of players leaving a smaller market to either join or create said "superteam" include James (Cleveland to Miami),

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...

(Oklahoma City to Golden State), and Paul George (Oklahoma City to LA Clippers). The first two moves in particular drew considerable backlash, especially James's due to

favorite son Favorite son (or favorite daughter) is a political term. * At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates a candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a ...

status in his home state. Some have even speculated this has caused NBA ratings in recent seasons to drop due to a lack of narrative surprise in the regular season.

1984 NBA Finals – Celtics vs. Lakers

The

1984 NBA Finals The 1984 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1983–84 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Weste ...

was highly anticipated, with the

and the Los Angeles Lakers playing in their eighth Finals matchup ever since their first showdown in 1959. It also featured two of the biggest young stars of the era,

and Magic Johnson, who had previously faced off in the finals of the

1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament The 1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9 and ended with the championship game on ...

, where Magic's Michigan State team defeated Bird's Indiana State squad. Game 6 proved controversial when the Lakers were sent to the foul line on numerous occasions thanks to questionable calls. This led Larry Bird to claim that Commissioner

David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of ...

had requested that the game be officiated in the Lakers' favor in hopes of extending the series to a seventh game. Despite his conspiracy claim, the Celtics did win in Game 7, earning a 111–102 victory.

1988 NBA Finals – Pistons vs. Lakers

The 1988 NBA Finals was yet another highly anticipated matchup, with the Detroit Pistons entering into the Finals for the first time ever against the Los Angeles Lakers. It also featured two of the biggest stars in their prime with Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas. The Pistons took a 3–2 series lead. With 14 seconds remaining in Game 6 and the Pistons up 102–101, Bill Laimbeer was called for a foul on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Laimbeer fouled out on the call and Abdul-Jabbar made both free throws to give the Lakers a 103–102 victory. The Lakers won Game 7 108–105, clinching the title. In his 1993 book, ''The Winner Within'', Lakers coach Pat Riley referred to the call as "that phantom skyhook foul."

2001 Eastern Conference Finals – Bucks vs. Sixers

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, the

played the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The small-market Bucks (who had not even been featured on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

that year prior to the second round of the Playoffs) did not have any "big-time" stars, with the exception of

Ray Allen Walter Ray Allen Jr. (born July 20, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in ...

(who, despite being popular, was not in the upper-echelon of NBA players in terms of endorsements). Their opponent that year, the 76ers had the polarizing and popular Allen Iverson, who had a multitude of shoe deals and mainstream recognition. The Sixers also featured that year's winners of the MVP award in Iverson,

Defensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY or DPOTY) is the name of an award given in sports for outstanding defensive play by a single player over the course of a season. Many sports leagues award this type of award. League awards for Defensive Player o ...

award in

Dikembe Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (born June 25, 1966) is a Congolese-American former professional basketball player. Mutombo played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Outside basketball, he has becom ...

Sixth Man of the Year The National Basketball Association's Sixth Man of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the league's best performing player for his team coming off the bench as a substitu ...

award in Aaron McKie, and

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

award in Larry Brown. During game 5, there were numerous major favourable calls for the 76ers. Glenn Robinson had not gone to the foul line in any of the previous games, causing them to be viewed as suspect. Allen later voiced the claim that the league preferred the Sixers to be in the Finals as opposed to Milwaukee. This controversy is largely based on complaints levied by members of the Bucks organization regarding the officiating of the series. Glenn Robinson, Sam Cassell and then-head coach

George Karl George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is an American former professional basketball coach and player. After spending five years as a player for the San Antonio Spurs, Karl became an assistant with the team before getting the chance to become a ...

joined Allen in complaining about the officiating and hinting that the league was against them. Karl and Allen were both fined for their comments. In Game 6 of the tensely fought series, Bucks forward Scott Williams threw an elbow at Iverson and was subsequently suspended for the deciding Game 7. (Iverson had already missed a game, the Bucks Game 3 win, and been limited in others after being hit by the Bucks earlier in the series.) After the Bucks lost Game 7 on the road, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

'' columnist Marty Burns insinuated that the suspension may have been a form of payback by the league: While normally a starter, Williams generally played limited minutes and averaged just over 4 points per game during the portion of the series in which he played. He was suspended because this was his third flagrant foul of the playoffs. The Sixers were fourth in the league in regular season free throws attempted. The Bucks, largely a jump shooting team, were 25th.

2002 Western Conference Finals – Kings vs. Lakers

The 2002 Western Conference Finals between the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

and Los Angeles Lakers was one of the most memorable in league history. The popular (though small-market) Kings led the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers three games to two heading into Game 6 at

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it ...

, a game which would prove to be the most infamous of the series. The game, which the Lakers won by four, featured several disputable calls, including a late game no-call involving Mike Bibby—after he was bleeding from being elbowed in the nose by Kobe Bryant. This game was the epitome of the major issue in the series. Both teams complained about the officiating at different points in the series (the Kings in Game 6 and the Lakers in Games 2 and 5). Quoting then-ESPN basketball analyst David Aldridge: Former presidential candidate

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the U ...

weighed in on the series, voicing his displeasure with the officiating: The Kings would go on to lose Game 7 of the series at home. Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy filed in court papers in 2008 saying that Game 6 was fixed by the NBA. NBA Commissioner David Stern denied these allegations. Lawrence Pedowitz, who led a review of the league's officiating following the outbreak of the scandal, concluded that, while Game 6 was poorly officiated, no concrete evidence existed of that game being fixed.

Accusation from Jeff Van Gundy

During a 2005 playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was fined a record amount for a coach, $100,000, for asserting that he had a source within the league who informed him that the referees were being instructed to call more fouls on

Yao Ming Yao Ming (; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese basketball executive and former professional player. He played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Associa ...

, due to protests by Mavericks owner

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to '' Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 lis ...

2006 NBA Finals – Dallas vs. Miami

The 2006 NBA Finals came the year after a series that saw the second-lowest ratings in NBA Finals history. After the Detroit Pistons and the small-market San Antonio Spurs slugged it out in a seven-game series, the 2006 Finals was considered more attractive because it featured the relatively large markets Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks and superstars Dirk Nowitzki, Shaquille O'Neal, and

Dwyane Wade Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. (; born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and won three NBA cham ...

. With the series tied at two games apiece, Game 5 was pivotal. On the final possession in overtime, Wade received an inbounds pass from mid court. Because Wade had already been in the front court prior to the inbounds of the ball, some argue that he should have been ruled ineligible to receive the pass in the backcourt and the Heat should have been called for a backcourt violation. After receiving the ball, Wade went on to drive to the basket, drawing a foul on Nowitzki. Replays would reveal that Nowitzki barely touched Wade, further angering Mavericks fans. However, the replay also showed Mavericks' guard Devin Harris grabbing Wade's arm. In between Wade's free throws, Maverick

Josh Howard Joshua Jay Howard (born April 28, 1980) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the UNT Dallas Trailblazers men's basketball team. He played college basketball for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. ...

looked to coach

Avery Johnson Avery DeWitt Johnson (born March 25, 1965) is an American basketball television commentator and former player and coach who most recently served as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team. He is currently an NBA and college ...

to see if he wanted to call for time. Howard made a timeout gesture towards his coach; referee Joe Derosa saw this and charged Dallas with their final timeout. Without a timeout, the Mavericks were forced to inbound from full court after Wade hit his second free throw. Unable to get off a shot from inside of half court as time expired, the Mavericks lost the game and the series two nights later. Game 5 had 38 fouls called against the Mavericks with only 26 against the Heat. The Mavericks shot 25 free throws as the Heat shot 49. After Game 5, Mavericks owner

was livid; he was quoted by ''

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.isleague is rigged". Cuban denied making the statement, and went on to write: Despite his denial, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the league, not for his alleged comments, but for general "acts of misconduct" following the game. In Game 5, Wade shot a total of 25 free throws, equaling the entire Mavericks team total. In Game 6, suspicions ran even higher as the Heat were awarded 37 free throws compared to the Mavericks’ 23. Wade shot a total of 21 free throws, nearly matching the Mavericks’ team total, including those from a foul called after bumping into Nowitzki, who was standing in Wade's way during the last 10 seconds of play, which cost them the game and allowed the Heat to walk away with their first championship. Following the season, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban allegedly hired a former FBI agent to investigate the series. He supposedly dropped this investigation due to the risk of him being banned from the league for life.

2007 Western Conference Semi-finals – Suns vs. Spurs

In what some media outlets claimed were the true 2007 NBA Finals that year, the 2007 Western Conference Semi-Finals match bettered heated rivals in the

and the

under what would be the most controversial series between the two to date. The popular Phoenix Suns squad under the

Seven Seconds or Less '':07 Seconds or Less: My Season on the Bench with the Runnin' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns'' is a book written by Jack McCallum about the Phoenix Suns' 2005–06 NBA season. It gives an inside look about the NBA team and its players, including Stev ...

and the small-market San Antonio Spurs kicked off the series with a 111–106 Spurs win with a collision between

Steve Nash Stephen John Nash (born 7 February 1974) is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 18 seasons in the NBA, ...

and

, with Nash having a deep cut on his nose that later forced him to sit out for a good portion of Game 1. After a dominant 101–81 performance from the Suns in Game 2, the Spurs would end Game 3 with a 108–101 win over the Suns and

Manu Ginóbili Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari (, , ; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players (along with Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an ...

would have a bruised, black eye after he was poked by Shawn Marion. However, near the end of Game 4, the series would reach its critical breaking point. In the last minute of Game 4, where the Suns would win 104–98 and even up the series, Robert Horry of the Spurs collided with Steve Nash during a play and pushed Nash into the scorer's table mid-court. During this altercation, Raja Bell of the Suns would try to help his teammate out of there, but was stopped by the referees and players at hand, including Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw, who were on the team's bench at the time of the altercation. As a result of the altercation between Horry and Nash, not only would Horry receive a two-game suspension for his outburst, but Diaw and Stoudemire would also be suspended for Game 5 as well, with the only rule that league commissioner David Stern said they violated at that point was leaving the bench during an altercation. Suns head coach

Mike D'Antoni Michael D'Andrew D'Antoni (born May 8, 1951) is an Italian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is a coaching advisor for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). While head coach of the Ph ...

weighed in on the suspensions of Stoudemire and Diaw, seeing as how they were important pieces for the Suns, questioning the fairness on their suspensions despite not being instigators in it: The suspensions would prove to be the Suns' downfall near the end of the series. Despite leading most of Game 5 at home, the Suns would lose it 88–85 and would then lose Game 6 and the series in San Antonio 114–106, being down by as many as 20 points in the third quarter at one point despite the returns of Stoudemire and Diaw. The call on their suspensions would be further questioned and criticized in 2009 after a similar situation occurred with the Boston Celtics, yet certain key players on their team didn't receive similar suspensions themselves. In the aftermath of the 2007 Playoffs, one of the referees that was involved with this series, Tim Donaghy, was involved in a betting scandal that claimed fix-ups on certain NBA games and playoff series. During a 2011 interview, he admitted that he felt the Suns were the better team that season, but the series was poorly officiated from the very start until the bitter end. In his 2009 book Personal Foul: A First-Person Account of the Scandal That Rocked the NBA, Donaghy stated the following about the series, particularly about his supervisor during the series,

Tommy Nuñez Tommy Núñéz is the founder of the Tommy Núñez foundation and a former NBA referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such ...

2007 NBA Finals – San Antonio vs. Cleveland

The 2007 NBA Finals are considered to have the lowest television ratings in NBA history, after the

swept the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. Many fans instead expected a Detroit Pistons rematch with the Spurs from the 2005 NBA Finals. Rasheed Wallace, who then played power forward for the Pistons following the 2006–07 NBA season, claimed that the league wanted to make more money by featuring LeBron James in the Finals instead of the Pistons, just to make more excitement rather than the boring matches like they had two years ago. Despite his controversial statement around the start of the next season, the Pistons were able to make it back to the 2008 NBA Playoffs as a second seed, in which they managed to defeat

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

after rallying from a 2 games to 1 deficit and

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...

in the next round 4 games to 1, before reaching the Eastern Conference Finals again and ending up losing to the eventual champion Boston Celtics for the third year in a row. That would lead to the downfall of the team following the start of the 2008-09 NBA season, in which several players from their 2004 championship team either ended up departing or retiring.

2009 Eastern Conference First Round – Bulls vs. Celtics

During a 2009 playoff series between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls, many Bulls fans felt that the referees were favoring the Celtics. In Game 5, Celtics guard

Rajon Rondo Rajon Pierre Rondo (, born February 22, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A point guard, Rondo played two years of college basketball for ...

made hard contact with the face of Bulls' center Brad Miller, with just 2 seconds left in overtime with the Celtics leading by two. Earlier in Game 5, Rondo tripped Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich, forcing him to get stitches to close the resulting wounds he got from being tripped. The hit on Miller left him with a bleeding mouth, but because the foul was ruled a personal foul, Miller had to shoot the free throws, or he would not have been allowed to return, and the Celtics would pick the replacement shooter. Had the foul been ruled a flagrant, the Bulls would have been able to pick the replacement shooter. Miller would miss the first

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

, and then had to miss the second on purpose to give the Bulls a chance to tie the game, but the free throw did not hit the rim and the Celtics got possession and ran out the clock. Rondo admitted after the game that he did not have a play on the ball. In Game 6, near the end of the first quarter, Rondo threw Hinrich into the scorer's table in a fashion similar to Robert Horry's body slam of

2 years earlier. Rondo was assessed a flagrant 1, which allowed for him to stay in the game, rather than a flagrant 2 which would have meant an ejection (which was Horry's punishment for his similar foul). Furthermore, after both games, the league reviewed the incidents in question and decided not to suspend Rondo or upgrade the fouls, while Horry's body slam earned him a 2-game suspension. Meanwhile,

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was estab ...

center Dwight Howard was suspended for Game 6 of the Magic's series vs. the Philadelphia 76ers after the league reviewed tape of him elbowing Sixers center Samuel Dalembert in the head in Game 5. It was ruled a technical on the floor, but after review, the league upgraded the foul to a flagrant 2.

2009 NBA Finals – Magic vs. Lakers

The 2009 NBA Finals was one of the most forgettable matchups and featured the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers. It was mockingly dubbed as the 'Disney Series'. While many fans claimed that it should've been a matchup between

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

and the Lakers and a duel of superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James following the knee injury of Boston Celtics' power forward

, others believed the Magic should have won the championship instead of the Lakers, due to many calls which were claimed to have been favouring the Lakers, along with nine out of ten analysts favouring the Lakers to be the winning team, compared to only one favouring the Magic to win. Many of the news also hinted about

Jameer Nelson Jameer Lamar Nelson Sr. (born February 9, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who serves as assistant general manager for the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Saint Joseph's Ha ...

returning to the line up to play during the regular season, where he led the Magic to sweep the Lakers following the presumable season-ending injury of a torn labrum in his right shoulder during a home game vs. Dallas on February 2, 2009. But it was later confirmed that he would be playing. While the series went to L.A. with the Lakers up 2–0, it went back to Orlando for game 3. A controversial call on Dwight Howard after attempting to block Kobe Bryant has raised questions for the league about favoring L.A all the way. Following the call, Bryant only hit one out of two free throw at the line. In the game, Los Angeles had a terrible free throw percentage, which lead to Orlando winning that game. In Game 4, the most intense moment of the game came during the first half. The Magic had a 12-point lead and outscored the Lakers by as much as 49-37 before going into halftime. In the third quarter, the Lakers came out and outscored the Magic 30–14 and took the lead 67–62. Questioning about

Stan Van Gundy Stanley Alan Van Gundy (born August 26, 1959) is an American former basketball coach who is a National Basketball Association (NBA) game analyst for TNT. Prior to TNT, Van Gundy was most recently the head coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the ...

wanting to keep Jameer Nelson playing for rest of the 4th quarter came under heavy criticism for not letting

Rafer Alston Rafer Jamel Alston (born July 24, 1976), also known as Skip to my Lou or Skip 2 My Lou, is an American retired professional basketball player. Alston first gained basketball fame playing in the AND1 Mixtape Tour in 1999 before making the National ...

to play, especially with the decision of whether or not to foul Orlando with 11 seconds left, which ultimately led to their downfall heading into

Overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

following Derek Fisher hitting a pivotal 3-pointer to tie it at 87 due to Nelsons poor defense and was questioned after the game. Another argument came during overtime, with Nelson and Lewis double teaming Bryant, Nelson got hit by Bryant's elbow and no foul was called, before Fisher hit another 3-pointer to take the lead 94–91, which let the Lakers win the game by that score and take a 3–1 lead. That raised questions about which calls the referees failed to call, following another infamous series years ago, in which a similar incident happened in Game 6 of that season's Western Conference Finals after Kobe's elbow to Mike Bibby with less than 30 seconds left. Only this time with Jameer Nelson, but was rebuffed. Later on, Rafer Alston's commented on the league for the no call. However, all arguments about the officiating fell on deaf ears as the Lakers won game 5 for their 15th championship.

NBA Draft

The

1985 NBA draft The 1985 NBA Draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the previous few years lasting up to 10 roun ...

was the first to use the NBA Draft Lottery. Prior to that year, there was a coin flip between the teams with the worst record in each conference to see which team would get the first pick in the draft. The Golden State Warriors, which represent the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

, finished with the worst record in the NBA during the 1984–85 season and would have had the first draft choice under the previous system. That year, Georgetown center

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Georgetown University men's team. He played most of his career as the starting center for the Ne ...

was the favorite to be the number one pick in the draft. The lottery was established out of concern that the

had been intentionally playing poorly in order to draft the best players, such as centers Ralph Sampson and

in 1983 and 1984 respectively. During the first live televised draft lottery ceremony, the league used a system where sealed envelopes representing the teams with the worst records were mixed in a tumbler, and then drawn by NBA Commissioner David Stern one at a time to determine which of these clubs would get the first pick onwards. According to particularly popular urban legend regarding the 1985 draft, when these envelopes were added to the tumbler, one envelope was put in forcibly and banged against the edge, bending the corner, while all the rest of the envelopes were set in gently. While there is no evidence to prove this assertion, the large-market

, who finished with the third-worst record in the league that season, eventually used the first pick to draft Ewing who would become a legend on the team and lead the Knicks to the

1994 NBA Finals The 1994 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1993–94 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Houston Rockets played the Eastern Conference champ ...

. (Although the Knicks also reached the

1999 NBA Finals The 1999 NBA Finals was the championship round of the shortened 1998–99 NBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs took on the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks for t ...

, Ewing was injured during that time). Nevertheless, the "bent envelope" fueled speculation that the league staged the result. As a response to the controversy, the NBA would update their system to the more modern weighted lottery system in 1990, which gives the worst teams better odds at receiving the top 3 (later 4) picks of the NBA draft. Nevertheless, the system would receive updates in both 1994, when the Orlando Magic landed back-to-back #1 picks despite their second year having only one lottery combination possible in their chances of winning it, and 2019, after noticing the Philadelphia 76ers looked to lose on purpose for multiple seasons for higher draft picks under

Sam Hinkie Samuel William Wallace Hinkie (born December 1977) is an American businessman and former basketball executive who served as the general manager for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2013 to 2016. Hinkie b ...

's regime. For the 2003 NBA draft, the

and

each had equal chances of drafting first overall, with the Cavaliers ultimately winning out. With high school basketball standout and future four-time NBA MVP LeBron James being the consensus number one pick in that year's draft, there was some speculation as to whether or not that year's lottery was rigged in favor of the Cavaliers, due to James being a native of nearby

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

. Following James' departure for the

in 2010, the Cavaliers would be involved in further speculation in regards to winning three out of four NBA drafts between 2011 and 2014, some of which included the idea of LeBron James returning to the Cavaliers altogether from these drafts; James would ultimately return to Cleveland in 2014. For the 2008 NBA draft, despite having a 1.6% chance of obtaining the number one pick, projected by many to be Chicago native

Derrick Rose Derrick Martell Rose (born October 4, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one year of college basketball for the Memphis Tigers before being drafted ...

, the

still were awarded the first overall pick and subsequently selected Rose as the first pick. Rose would go on to win NBA Rookie of the Year in the 2008–09 season and would win the NBA MVP in the 2010–2011 season while leading the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals that same season. The

New Orleans Hornets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

won the rights to the first overall selection in the 2012 draft. The Hornets were a league-owned team prior to the draft, leading to continued conspiracy theories about the lottery process. Further suspicions were raised in 2016 and 2017, where former 76ers player

congratulated Philadelphia for winning the first overall pick in the 2016 draft early via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and recently hired Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and coach Luke Walton stating that the Lakers were going to get a Top 3 pick in the 2017 draft despite having higher odds of losing the pick to Philadelphia weeks before the draft lottery even began that year respectively. The latter selection also had the Lakers be in prime position to take Lonzo Ball, a prime high school and college standout point guard from nearby Chino Hills, California, with his father LaVar talking about him being on the Lakers months before the event took place.

Fines and suspensions

Criticism of referees and officiating

Players, coaches or front office members criticizing referees, officials or suggesting in any way that the league has conspiracy theories would result in an automatic fine of a minimum of $25,000. Media and fans see this as the league trying to discourage such discussions and comments, as they indeed have things to hide. The league also fears such would have impact ratings and popularity, resulting in lower ratings and most importantly, revenue.

Gestures

Sam Cassell's Big Cahones dance celebration (from '' Major League II'') are now seen as "obscene gestures". Among those who have also been fined for "dancing" are Caron Butler,

Andray Blatche Andray Maurice Blatche (born August 22, 1986) is an American-Filipino former professional basketball player. He played nine seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) between 2005 and 2014 before finishing his career with five seasons ...

Marco Belinelli Marco Stefano Belinelli (; born 25 March 1986) is an Italian professional basketball player and the team captain for Virtus Bologna of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He was selected 18th overall in the 2007 NBA draft by the G ...

Andre Iguodala Andre Tyler Iguodala ( ; born January 28, 1984) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The swingman was an NBA All-Star in 2012 and has been named to th ...

and

Fred VanVleet Fredderick Edmund VanVleet Sr. (born February 25, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A point guard, VanVleet played college basketball for Wichita Stat ...

. The fine has been documented to be a minimum of $15,000.

Restgate and scheduling

In November 2012,

coach

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball coach and executive who is the president and head coach of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Taking over as coach of the Spu ...

was fined $250,000 for sending four players home (including stars

, Tony Parker and

) before a nationally televised game against the defending champion Miami Heat. It was the Spurs' fourth game in five nights and sixth game in nine nights, all of which were on the road. Commissioner David Stern released a letter before the game claiming Popovich had done a disservice to the league, fans and Miami ticket buyers by not giving them the game they paid to see. Most disagreed with Stern, saying Miami fans were there to see LeBron James and the Heat, not the Spurs. Many felt this was a cultural revenge move by Stern, who in the past had openly admitted he disliked the Spurs' success due to the lack of ratings they brought to the Finals as a small market team. The Spurs ended up leading for most of the game and only lost in the last minute, making Stern appear even more foolish for claiming the game was ruined before it even began. Stern later said that if Popovich had simply kept the players with the team he wouldn't have fined him, which went against his initial claim that the product on the court was diminished by who didn't play. The incident also called into question the league's scheduling practices, such as cramming so many games into a short amount of time, especially like in the Spurs' case where the team had to travel between each game. Some called for an end to four-games-in-five-nights and five-games-in-seven-nights situations as it could put the players' health at risk and diminishes the product on the court.

Joey Crawford

Joey Crawford was once suspended by the league after a confrontation with Spurs forward Tim Duncan. Duncan was ejected for laughing on the sidelines in a game against the Mavericks in the 2006–07 season. After a meeting between Crawford and the league office, the NBA decided to suspend Crawford for the remainder of the season and made him attend anger management courses.

Selective TV replays

While the league has implemented TV replays, as of the 2013–14 season, plays are not reviewable unless they are end of quarter plays, as well as the last 2 minutes of regulation and overtime periods. In many cases, referees have opted not to review final plays of the game, which would have impact on the final win–loss outcome. In the 2013–14 season, regular season games such as the Heat-Pacers, Mavericks-Timberwolves, Mavericks-Pelicans, Clippers-Mavericks, games have resulted in the controversial calls in the final play of the game that changed the outcome. In some cases, the NBA issued official statements after the game, admitting to the errors; however, the game's outcome remained unchanged. Many believe that such statements merely made as a PR move, although no action is done to improve the integrity of the game. Many criticize too much time spent on replays that could have been resolved within short amounts of time. Oftentimes, the amount of time spent puts the game into long halts. The league is seen as intentionally operating in a way to give negative perception of replays in general, as well as merely exaggerating their image of trying to keep the integrity of the game honest.

Accusations of network bias

During its twelve-year run of covering the NBA,

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and it ...

televised a substantial number of games featuring the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers. In the prime-time slot, from 5:30 p.m EST to 8:00 p.m EST, NBC aired games almost exclusively featuring New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles (incidentally, those three cities are the top three television markets in the United States, and have been historically the three most populous cities). Several fans and media analysts viewed this as favoritism, and fans of teams like the Houston Rockets who, despite being a large market (and

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

being the USA's fourth most populous city), being one of the best teams in the early-to-mid-1990s, winning the title in 1994 and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

, and featuring a superstar in Hakeem Olajuwon, were not featured on NBC at the level of the other three teams, felt as if they were being snubbed. From to (NBC's run of covering the NBA), the Bulls, Lakers, and Knicks played in six, four and two

respectively, every Finals featuring one or more of those teams except 1995, when the Rockets swept the Orlando Magic to win their second consecutive NBA championship. Until 1998, the Chicago Bulls were a dominant team, and during the early to mid-1990s, the New York Knicks were also in the NBA's elite. From 1997 to 2002, the Los Angeles Lakers also joined the ranks of the best in the NBA.

Microfiber game ball

After the 2005–06 season, David Stern announced that the league would use a new microfiber ball for the 2006–07 season. The microfiber ball replaced the previously used leather balls. The league claimed the new ball would provide better grip than the leather counterparts, especially when wet from player's sweat. Still the majority of players (notably

point guard Steve Nash) expressed dislike for the new ball, saying among other things that it became slippery when wet, bounced awkwardly and gave players cuts. The largest complaint came from the fact that players had not been consulted before the new ball was put into play. The NBA Players Association filed an unfair labor practice lawsuit against the league because of that fact, subsequently dropping it after the league announced that it would revert to the leather balls starting on January 1, 2007. In a humorous move, the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

played a video on the

Verizon Center Verizon Center may refer to: * Verizon Center (Mankato, Minnesota), now Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, a multi-purpose arena in Mankato, Minnesota * Verizon Center (Washington, D.C.), now Capital One Arena See also *Verizon Arena, now Sim ...

scoreboard welcoming back the "new old ball". Despite complaints, scoring and field goal percentage went up while the microfiber ball was used. Some individual players, however, including Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon and then

guard Ray Allen, saw their usually high three-point shooting percentages decline. A more rigorous study found that while shooting percentages did in fact increase, so did turnover rates. In the aftermath, Commissioner Stern said that players would have more input on future decisions.

Referee gambling scandal

In July 2007, reports of an investigation by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) were made public, which alleged that during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 NBA seasons,

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

Tim Donaghy bet on games in which he officiated. On August 15, 2007, Donaghy pleaded guilty to two federal charges related to the investigation, and a year later he was sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release. As a result, the general reaction by the media was that the NBA's popularity would be hurt by the news of this scandal.

Gilbert Arenas/Javaris Crittenton gun incident

On December 24, 2009, it was revealed that

Gilbert Arenas Gilbert Jay Arenas Jr. (; born January 6, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Arenas attended Grant High School in the Valley Glen district of Los Angeles, and accepted a scholarship offer to the University of Arizona lat ...

of the

had admitted to storing unloaded firearms in his locker at Verizon Center and had surrendered them to team security. In doing so, Arenas not only violated NBA rules against bringing firearms into an arena, but also violated D.C. ordinances as well. On January 1, 2010, it was also reported that Arenas and teammate

Javaris Crittenton Javaris Cortez Crittenton (born December 31, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. During his four year career, Crittenton played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Washington Wizards of the National Basketb ...

had unloaded guns in the Wizards' locker room during a Christmas Eve argument regarding gambling debts. The

D.C. Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the DC Police, and, colloquially, the DCPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columbi ...

and the U.S. Attorney's office began investigating, and on January 14, 2010, Arenas was charged with carrying a pistol without a license, a violation of Washington, D.C.'s gun-control laws. Arenas pleaded guilty on January 15 to the felony of carrying an unlicensed pistol outside a home or business. His sentencing hearing was scheduled for March 26. On January 6, 2010, the NBA suspended Arenas indefinitely without pay until its investigation was complete. NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement that "his ongoing conduct has led me to conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an NBA game." By nearly all accounts, Stern felt compelled to act when Arenas' teammates surrounded him during pregame introductions prior to a game with the Philadelphia 76ers and he pretended to shoot them with guns made from his fingers. The Wizards issued a statement of their own condemning the players' pregame stunt as "unacceptable." On January 27, 2010, Arenas and Crittenton were suspended for the rest of the season, after meeting with Stern. Both players would be removed from the team at the end of the season, with Crittenton being waived and Arenas being traded to the Orlando Magic. Crittenton would never play in the NBA again after that season (eventually being involved with a manslaughter case), while Arenas would be amnestied a year later before finishing his NBA career with the

in 2012.

2019–2020 Hong Kong protests

In early October 2019, the

general manager Daryl Morey issued a tweet that supported the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. The NBA subsequently apologized in a statement saying the tweet was "regrettable". The perceived insufficiency of the NBA's defense of Morey's tweet and double standard relative to the league's history of political activism were criticized by US politicians and third-party observers;Some relevant sources include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * critics further compared the incident to an October 2 '' South Park'' episode " Band in China" which parodies the

self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse. This is done out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities or preferences (actual or perceived) of others and without overt pressure from any specific party or insti ...

of the American entertainment industry to meet Chinese censorship demands. The statement also drew criticism from mainland Chinese state-run media for the perceived insufficiency of the apology and led to the suspension/termination of all mainland Chinese sponsors of the NBA. This led to both Republican and Democratic congresspeople, including

Julian Castro Julián Castro ( , ; born September 16, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician from San Antonio. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the youngest member of President Obama's cabinet, serving as the 16th United States Secretary of Hou ...

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida House ...

and

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...

to make public statements criticizing both Chinese and NBA actions. NBA commissioner Adam Silver later defended the league's response to the tweet, supporting Morey's right to freedom of expression while also accepting the right of reply from the government of and businesses from mainland China. An article by Fox Business said that the NBA would look to Africa and India for growth if the league were to sever ties with mainland China as a result of the tweet.

George Floyd protests

Following a four-month hiatus the NBA resumed play in August 2020 at the Bubble held at

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. During the build-up to the closed-door tournament, the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

in May and the resurgence of

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brut ...

protests during that time forced the hand of the NBA, a league looking to stand with its majority-Black player base. As a result, the league permitted players to wear league-approved messages on the back of their jerseys, and relaxed their long-standing position on not standing for the

U.S. national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bo ...

. The league also painted "BLACK LIVES MATTER" at center court for both of their venues for the tournament. Many critics, mostly conservative news media personalities and politicians such as U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

and Ted Cruz, attacked the NBA for its public embracement of the movement. When

Jonathan Isaac Jonathan Judah Isaac (born October 3, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season for the Florida State Seminoles. Isaac ...

, an

player and a devout

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...

, both refused to kneel during the anthem in solidarity with his teammates or wear the team-approved "Black Lives Matter" t-shirt given to him, sales of his jersey rose in approval. On the other hand,

head coach

and

player Meyers Leonard received criticism for doing the same, though they wore the "Black Lives Matter" tees while standing.

NBA player walkout

In response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, NBA players in the midst of their

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

anchored a wildcat strike in protest, setting off a chain reaction throughout North American sports where no professional games were played in any major league on August 26. While this did not receive major backlash as the earlier social-justice focused programs did, it represented a showing of player power that many American sports fans have found themselves uncomfortable with, especially with regard to the NBA. The league and its players formed several initiatives in the wake of the walkout, the most notable of them being a pledge to turn several NBA venues into voting sites for the upcoming

U.S. presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not direc ...

2020 NBA Finals ratings

The record-low ratings for the 2020 NBA Finals, which saw the Los Angeles Lakers defeat the

in six games, were widely panned by apolitical pundits and conservative critics, with myriad theories given as to why the ratings for the event dropped 65% from

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. Some cited the NBA's embrace of the Black Lives Matter movement, while others cited the league's struggles in the ratings as playing at an abnormal time of year, especially with the MLB postseason and the NFL regular season—two traditional fall events—undercutting casual fan interest, as opposed to the traditionally robust numbers the NBA's final gets in June. Bobby Burack, a columnist for ''Outkick'' attributed the declining NBA ratings to the league's "

woke ''Woke'' ( ) is an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination". Beginning in the 2010s, it came to encompass a broader awareness of social inequalities such as sex ...

" politics, cord-cutting, and the lack of playing time for star players. By contrast, Dan McQuade of '' Defector Media'' stated that critics of NBA players who express their personal political views on the court were relying on racist "coded language," likening it to the aforementioned

controversy.

References

{{NBA Criticisms and controversies Criticisms of companies