Welcome to my NBA Articles, Here is where all of my NBA content will be, from teams, players, games, everytihng basketball wise.

Jake Yono 

5/22/25 

JY Journalism

Why Basketball Is the Most Exciting Sport To Watch At The Highest Level, And Fans Are Being Drawn Away From This Ideal

Many sports in the world consist of high actions, compelling plays between competitive teams in contests that matter such as end of the regular season campaigns, and competitive playoff battles are present in the MLB, NFL, Hockey, and Soccer where teams are making compelling plays exchanging possession and players truly showing that they are world class athletes, some examples of this in recent memory are Game 6 of the 2019 NLCS between Houston Astros vs. New York Yankees where the Astros won and went on to win the world series, this shows baseball is at the highest level when actual stakes are on the line and the 162 game money chambering regular season where players are conserved and every team has to deal with load management due to the tormenting nature of the long regular season but games like this still do exist once we get to end of regular season and playoff baseball, notable games during any course of the MLB regular season are the Subway series between the Yankees and Dodgers, and when they play in Japan at the start of the season and the London series which was postponed this season but I barely follow Major League Baseball but i do remember a significant regular season games in the 2019 London series between Boston and New York where the fence was 385ft at the deepest causing high scoring games (2019 MLB London Series). This doesn't mean I want parks to be shorter; I want more games that are more like these, where players have to show out and represent the MLB overseas. I have seen highlights of college baseball, and since their season is only 56 gam, less than half of the MLB season, the MLB should think this is a chance to shorten the season. In games like soccer and hockey which I don't necessarily cover on this website, the regular season soccer is very compelling to watch the Premiere League as it's 38 regular season games with stakes in the line such as being promoted to the Champions League tournament with every other league in the world and being relegated to the next tier down for poor performance, the only reason why I'm not putting this ahead of high-level basketball is even though there's more high-level action the actual game is not exciting which in my opinion out of the 90 minutes only 45 of them matter in terms of offensive attacks and scoring chances. Hockey is the same, ay, but to be honest, regular season hockey is the same as playoff hockey in my opinion, because I have little knowledge about it. I believe the emphasis of regular season hockey is taken more seriously than regular season basketball because of the emphasis on scoring, and that overtime losses count in the points system, so maintaining a tie in overtime will get the overall team ahead. The NFL which is my 2nd place choice is high level action but what takes this out of my top high level action is that standings are usually determined within the first 6 or 7 weeks of the season and fans have a clear picture of who they can see in the playoffs, this is not totally true as teams do come back and get into playoff standing, one notable altercation on this is the start of the Cam Newton Panthers dynasty where they started at 3–8–1 and won the NFC South, there have been other trsgic starts such is the year before the Lions made the NFC championship in 2022 where they started 1-6 and almost made the playoffs and finished 9-8, this doesn't happen often in the NFL as the champions in this day in age come from the same pool, for example out of the last 11 super bowls the Chiefs or Patriots have been apart of 9 of them, this is also because the game and clock can be controlled by one side more instead of rapid changing of possession and the game being wrapped up by controlling the clock for sme of the time but high flying competitive NFL action is vary compelling to see. My winner in the game being a high level is that even though it's portrayed the least in the NBA, it's basketball, the skills under pressure are portrayed the most out of any American sport.

NBA Playoff basketball is so compelling to watch, with the constant changing of possessions and the inability to lay off the gas as the shot clock permits, this level is portrayed the least and a dive into this deeper in my article shows that only 10-15 regular season games matter in the NBA regular season in this article right here about this and other issues (The NBA Must Shorten Its Season). Despite this, playoff basketball where there have already seen so many high-level games, performances, and clinch moments. On the first day of playoff action, Denver came back from 15 points in an overtime thriller, where the Clippers were not giving up with their 3-point shooting. In game 2, LA won by 3, and this trend continued in the series until Denver came back and won in 7. In the Golden State Houston first-round series, a lot of fans thought 2 seed Houston was going to win, but the Warriors came back by their experience and won in 6 games which put a team that might not be as skilled at beating the emerging Rockets led by Jalen Green, The rise of compelling games has to end with the Pacers and Knicks in this NBA playoffs, after the Pistons tied the series at 1 with Detroit, New York led by the clutchness of KAT, and Jalen Brunson won 3 of the next 4 games by an average score of 2.5 shows that this series could have truly gone either way and the experience they had compared to Detroit's playoff experience gave them just that slight edge, these plays are just fascinating to watch (Pistons Knicks Series Highlights). Indiana team led by Tyrese Haliburton who in my opinion is tied with Brunson as the best clutch player in the league has propelled Indiana to the eastern conference finals where in their first-round series against Milwaukee to win the series in 5 games Indiana came back from 20+ points earlier on in the contest in overtime (Pacers Bucks Game 5). In their recent series against the 1 seed, Cleveland, Haliburton made a clutch game-winner in game 2 to propel them to 5 games, in which they won the series. This led to the clutch teams matching up in the east finals where this was one of the best basketball games I've seen in a while Indiana came back from down 15 with 5 minutes to go on the road and this game made me make this article, I'm not on a basketball high right now I just realized how the game can change so fast and how compelling the game and how players can perform under pressure and Haliburton made another clutch shot to send the game into overtime and the young player from Gonzaga Andrew Nembhard lit it up in overtime and led them to a game 1 victory. I'm so excited to see where this series will go next, as New York will not be done certainly, their fans are going to be fired up to get one back from Indiana. Overall sports are very compelling when something is on the line and athletes are competing and showing what the game is at the highest level,]in other sports this is limited compared to basketball where it's truly a game of runs and anything can change in an instant with the shot clock, changing of possessions very fast and high scoring games compared to other sports that have clock management practices and more established seeding and meaningless games in place. My argument is that when players are going at their hardest in games that can advance their teams forward, basketball is the best sport to watch, both at the collegiate and professional levels. Thank You.

Jake Yono 

JY Journalism

4/15/25

My 2025 NBA Playoff Predictions

The National Basketball Association is in a very compelling time currently, as the level of basketball on the court and talent from each player is going to shine the most compared to the regular season of 82 games, where I have a different argument on my page linked here (The NBA Must Shorten Its Season). In this article, I will focus on my playoff predictions, which teams I have going deep into the playoffs, and any surprises the NBA legacy media may have bet against. Dating back to February 27th around the trade deadline, and now only Miami has shifted positions in the east and must face Atlanta to enter the playoffs as an 8 seed friday night and in the west 2 seed at the time Memphis has dropped down to 9th, Denver and the LA Lakers exchanged spots from 3rd to 4th with Luka Doncic while Houston moved up to the #2 seed from the 5 seed and the LA Clippers took that spot and finally Dallas dropped from the 8 spot after the Luka Doncic deal, this all found in my (NBA Trade Deadline) article proves just how dormant and little action there is in the NBA. Now, with our established seeding and a couple more play-in games to go to determine 8-seeds between Miami and Atlanta and Dallas and Denver, let's get to where I think the 2025 NBA playoffs will be heading.

Beginning in my home conference the east all 6 top seeds from last season have returned, 1 seed Cleveland should handle either Atlanta or Miami in 5 games as they lead the association in PPG and Miami or Atlanta are not going to be able to keep up with this firepower led by Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, and their dominant rotation which despite only consisting of 8 key players has a lot of talent and experience involved. Moving on #2 seed, the Boston Celtics, which have the longest active streak of playoff appearances dating back to 2015, will be facing off against the Orlando Magic, which earned their seed by defeating the 10-seed Atlanta in the play-in round. Although Orlando does have the best defense in the NBA in terms of opponent points per game, I still see the defending champs beating the inexperienced playoff-deficient team in Orlando in 6 games because the tandem of Tatum and Porzingis is going to be one to watch. Next we will turn to my Detroit Pistons against the New York Knicks in a matchup that is fairly evenly matchup in my eyes as Detroit has more depth while New York has more stars, Draftkings sportsbook has New York taking it in 5 at -2500 for them to win at least 3 games in the series and +265 for the series to end 4-1 Knicks (NBA Betting Odds Draftkings). I am not going to heavily favor my home team here, but these odds are a little bit off in my opinion, as Detroit was 2-1 in the regular season series. I believe Detroit will win in 7 games, as the key matchup between Cade Cunningham and Jalen Brunson will be won by Cade, but if Brunson wins, New York will win the series. In the 4 and 5 match-up, Detroit was battling with these divisional opponents all season, Indiana and Milwaukee, but what concerns me is that in the regular season, they only went 1-6 with 1 Indiana win, so they should start with New York. To keep it clear and simple, I think Khris Middleton, Damian Lillard, and Giannis are too tall of an order for Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam, and Tyrese Haliburton, and they will take the series in 5. Now in the 2nd round, Milwaukee is going to face Cleveland, where I see a potential upset in a 6-game series where the Bucks will defeat the Cavaliers, as this is where their playoff hopes ended last season, and the seasons before that have nothing to show. Detroit must play Boston in which they lost 3 of 4 regular season games to them and I see Boston going back to the conference finals as they will defeat Detroit in 6 games, there's nothing to frown upon for Detroit tough as they are the worst team record wise with 14 wins (The Detroit Lions had more victories then them in 15) in NBA history the previous season to make the playoffs the next. In the eastern conference finals it will be a classic showdown between the Bucks and Celtics and one where i see Milwaukee winning in 7 games but players will half to step out of their roles in Bobby Portis, Brook Lopez, and Kevin Porter Jr. which will be the star of this years playoffs, they will half to outperform Boston’s Derrick White, Payton Prichard, and Jrue Holiday which has more playoff experience with Portar Jr. This role player battle should be won by Boston giving them the nod for a finals berth.

With the East complete, let's get out to the Western Conference. First, firepower, OKC will defeat either Memphis or Dallas, who have both declined since the trade deadline. With Golden State climbing their way into the 7th spot from 10th at the trade deadline I see experience winning out over the Rockets as this is their first playoff appearance since 2020 whereas Golden State has Jimmy Butler now with finals experience along with Curry and Andrew Wiggins but key big man Johnthan Kamminga will be the X-Factor in this series against a Rockets team similar to Detroit which they have a star guard in Jalen Green but the rest of the team is a bit shaky, that’s why I have Golden State Winning in 6. For the Nuggets Clippers series, LA has a lot of talent but like I said prior, experience in these playoffs is key and that is what the Denver Nuggets have, even though they have the same record if LA Denver won the finals 2 years ago but lost to Minnesota in the 2nd round last season in 7 games and they should take care of LA in 5. Now for the Lakers Vs. Timberwolves series, this one should go down to game 7 as Minnesota has more talent, but LA has always been somewhat there since their 2020 ring. I’m going to say LA will take it, but with the group's lack of playing together and the significance of Anthony Davis, this could all go south, but with the talent on their roster, I believe it can just barely beat out Anthony Edwards and Minnesota. In the 2nd round between OKC and Denver, I could see the Thunder getting challenged but not defeated by Denver in a 6 game series where the guys surrounding Jokic falter by OKC’s defence which is 3rd in the NBA and the numbers have shown when the Joker is not scoring at his per usual rate the team suffers and I see that happening here. This Timberwolves and Warriors series is going to be entirely dependent on Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, and Naz Reid, who stepped up heavily last postseason, but these are on-and-off players, and I think Golden State will win in 6. In the western conference finals I truly believe Golden State can beat an inexperienced Thunder team as they have 24 combined finals appearances compared to OKC’s 2 and I still think it will be a close 7 game series within game 7 being a low scoring game statistically speaking with the Warriors Claiming their spot in the finals to take on the Celtics for a 2022 finals repeat.

Closing the NBA Playoffs, the 2 teams with the most finals experience on their roster will be going head to head in an intense battle. I am not jumping on the bandwagon here, but I see Golden State taking Boston in 7 games. The key to victory in this series is if the Warriors can eliminate Jaylen Brown and match up Porzingis with Kevon Looney and Kamminga, and if Jrue Holiday doesn’t take off, Golden State can win their 5th title in 10 years, tying the streak the Lakers had in the early 2000-2010 period (NBA Champions). That’s going to conclude my 2025 NBA playoff predictions. These playoffs should be an interesting one to watch, as a lot of upsets and star players and bench players are going to arise in their quests to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Jake Yono

JY Journalism

4/1/25

The Detroit Pistons Are Enroute To A Playoff Season For The First Time In 6 Years

The Detroit Pistons are closing out their 2024-2025 season, which was deemed successful and the greatest comeback record-wise by a franchise relating to the previous season. I will be explaining how the Pistons got to this magical height and how they can stay there to eventually win a playoff series, which, in my opinion, will be a successful season.

Led by 2021 first overall pick Cade Cunningham, Detroit has seen substantial gains with him leading the charge. Before Cade was implemented into the system in the 2020-21 season, Detroit was averaging about 20th league-wide in every major category (Scoring, Defensive Efficiency, FG Percentage, Turnovers allowed, etc.). That number has shrunk to around 1,5, making them 5 standings better. This hasn't been all Cade, as many players around him were acquired to make this possible, including players such as Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr., Malik Beasley, and a culture setter who has been there since 2020, Isaiah Stewart. All of these players contribute to the upbringing of the team's total point total per game, and their top 5 players average 5 more points per game this season compared to last, which has already amounted to over 200 more points during the 1st half of this campaign. Cade’s leadership has extended beyond the stat sheet, setting a tone of accountability and resilience. His improved playmaking and decision-making have helped elevate the team’s offensive tempo, while his commitment on defense has sparked intensity among teammates. Cunningham’s versatility has also opened up space for role players to shine. Whether it’s drawing defenders to kick it out to shooters like Beasley, or running pick-and-roll sets with Stewart, his presence on the court is as strategic as it is athletic. He’s taken the leap from promising young player to franchise cornerstone. Just like any pro sports team, all these moves begin in the front office. GM Troy Weaver deserves some credit here, although it has been a slow start, the 1st half of this season has been above all expectations thanks to the hiring of J.D Bickerstaff, with this 7 new coaches including Luke Walton, Trajan Langdon, and Dennis who are the president and vice president of basketball operations have been hired and 4 new front office staff were hired in terms to change the culture around the team and so far they have been successful. The Pistons have embraced a steady-growth approach, focusing on player development, building chemistry, and refining a modern, adaptable system. This patient but focused rebuild has allowed them to not only exceed expectations this season but also establish a sustainable foundation. The defensive system under Bickerstaff has also clicked, transforming the Pistons from a bottom-10 team into a top-10 defense, allowing them to close out games more effectively. Much of their identity now stems from defensive grit and unselfish ball movement. The Pistons no longer rely on isolation plays or last-second heroics — instead, they run a system predicated on execution, effort, and communication. The improvement has been as much cultural as it is tactical.

In the end Detroit has a lot to be optimistic about for their basketball club, form J.D Bickerstaff and the front office which went through a much needed renovation after the team averaged 18.5 wins over the past 5 seasons New veteran talent such as Tim Hardaway Jr., Tobias Harris, and Malik Beasley have arrived have led the team in the +/- ratio only being short of Cade Cunningham who just signed a contract extension of 5-years and $224 million (Detroit Pistons Contracts) who leads the team in scoring 24.5 Pts. Per game, which has trended up each year he has been with the team. All of these players including Cade are optimistic to see what comes with this newly formed Pistons organization which leads me to say the rest of the National Basketball Association should be on the lookout for the Detroit Pistons as they hope not just to make the playoffs but advance in a playoff series for the first time since 2008, this in my opinion will fulfill their goals going into the year. If the Pistons continue building around a healthy Cade, maintain their defensive edge, and stay active in developing young talent like Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, the future of Detroit basketball looks vary promising and the narrative of DETROIT BASKETBALL is starting to come back as Detroit hopes to win a playoff series and establish themselves as one of the most prominent teams in the association by winning high pressured playoff games.

Jake Yono

JY Journalism

3/5/25

The NBA Must Shorten Its Season

As discussed in my previous articles, one of the main reasons I’m not an enthusiastic NBA fan is the way the league has allowed the NFL to take over its most valuable regular-season day—Christmas. The NBA failed to put up much of a fight to maintain its dominance on that day, and that’s just one example of the problems I see with the league. Another significant issue is the NBA’s 82-game regular season. The sheer length of the season makes many games feel meaningless in terms of playoff positioning, and the addition of a play-in tournament only exacerbates the problem. In my view, if the NBA wants to increase its popularity and ensure more meaningful games, it needs to address these issues.

The 82-game season is simply too long, but the league continues with it mainly for the revenue generated from TV contracts and sponsorships. From a business standpoint, the NBA is less concerned with basketball itself and more focused on generating revenue. A key example of why the 82-game season is excessive comes from the 2023-2024 season. From December onward, when the playoff picture began to take shape, only four teams fluctuated in and out of the play-in and playoff picture. Out of these, only one change occurred in the Eastern Conference (the Atlanta Hawks). This meant that for nearly five months, the playoff positions remained mostly static with minimal drama. In comparison, sports like the NFL or MLB have a more engaging playoff system, where higher seeds earn bye weeks and there is more competition for those spots. The NBA, however, just has 8 teams per conference and a play-in tournament. This setup fails to incentivize teams to fight for top spots, as even slight drops in performance don’t necessarily hurt their chances. A shift in the playoff structure could help resolve this. To address this, I propose a more competitive playoff format, perhaps borrowing from the NFL’s seven-team structure. In this format, the top seeds of each conference would automatically advance, and the league would benefit from additional drama and competition as teams strive to secure a coveted top spot. This would not only make the regular season more meaningful but also encourage teams to play harder throughout the season. The current playoff structure simply doesn’t align with the number of games played. Reducing the regular season and adjusting the playoff format would restore some balance.

Now that we’ve established that the season is too long, let’s look at ways to reduce it. While TV contracts and sponsorships are a key source of revenue for the NBA, there are alternative ways to address the loss of income if the season were shortened. One potential solution is for the NBA to invest in the Overtime Elite League. This league has already produced high-caliber players such as Amen and Ausar Thompson, Rob Dillingham, and Alexandre Starr—all of whom were top 10 draft picks. As the Overtime Elite League continues to grow, more high school players might opt for it over college basketball. The league is already sending players into the NBA, and its growth could help the NBA scout talent earlier and reduce some of the pressure to keep the 82-game season. As for the format of a shortened season, I have a clear proposal. In the current 82-game setup, teams play 16 games against division rivals (2 home and 2 away), 36 games against other teams in their conference (4 games against 6 teams and 3 games against the other 4), and 30 games against teams from the other conference (2 games per team). This totals 82 games. I propose a simple alternative: reduce the season to 58 games by playing 1 home game and 1 away game against every team in the league, which would result in a total of 58 games. Alternatively, the league could increase divisional games to 4 per team, which would make the season total 66 games, but I believe the 58-game schedule is the most efficient. Reducing the season to 58 games would shorten the NBA calendar by approximately two months, bringing the total length of the season down to four and a half months instead of the current six and a half months. This would not only create a more compact and exciting schedule, but it could also lead to more engaged viewership. When every game matters, players are more likely to play at their best, and fans are more likely to tune in to see high-stakes basketball.

To conclude, the NBA must consider implementing changes to make its season more engaging for both fans and players. The current system, which has been in place for over 40 years, is outdated and leads to too many meaningless games. The play-in tournament, while well-intentioned, only adds to the issue by giving teams who have struggled for 82 games another chance. If the NBA were to shorten the season to about 18 weeks, the same length as the NFL season, it would bring more focus and excitement to each matchup, much like the NFL does. While the NBA may be reluctant to make such drastic changes, it is clear that these adjustments could significantly improve the fan experience and the quality of the product on the court. My goal is to help the NBA adapt and evolve, and I hope these suggestions can spark the conversation toward a better, more engaging league. Thank you.

Jake Yono

2/7/25

JY Journalism

My Reaction To The NBA Trade Deadline Madness

Several deals have been executed across the league with the NBA trade deadline approaching. Some notable trades include Jimmy Butler going to the Warriors, Marcus Smart to the Wizards in exchange for a notable player, Marvin Bagley to the Grizzlies, and the Raptors receiving Brandon Ingram in a deal with The Pelicans, which involved Blake Houn and Kelly Olynyk, along with a couple of picks. The Bulls and Hawks made a deal for DeAndre Hunter, giving away Caris Lavert and a couple of pics. Meanwhile, the Wizards and Bucks struck a deal in which Milwaukee received Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr., and Precious Achiuwa, while the Wizards acquired Khris Middleton and Alondes Williams. The Sixers traded De’Aaron Fox and Jordan McLaughlin for Zach LaVine and future picks, while Chicago received three notable players from Atlanta: John Collins, Kevin Huerter, and Tyus Jones. Luka Dončić was also involved in the Mavericks’ blockbuster deal.

Wow, that was a lot of trades! Based on my data analysis, this season—leading up to the deadline—has surpassed even the 2018-2019 season regarding trades. This marks the most trades in NBA history, topping the previous record set by the Pro Basketball Reference Database. Now, let’s examine how each team has positioned itself. Will they come out positive, or will they face negative consequences? In this article, I will reveal my projected standings for the end of the season and break down each trade, analyzing how it can help or hurt each team.

First in the Jimmy Butler Warriors trade, in part of a 5-team deal, the direct beneficiaries were Golden State and Miami. I think this trade helps Miami the most as they only sent away Jimmy and 2 second round picks to receive Star players Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, and Davion Mitchell from Toronto who are all at least 5 years younger than Butler and can last longer and help the Heat come Playoff time as they are currently in seed #6. For Golden State, they hope to enter into the back half of the playoffs with a championship high-level experienced player in Butler to give them a leap come the postseason. In the Marcus Smart deal with the floor general, this trade also gave Washington Colby Jones and Alex Len and Memphises a 2025 1st-round pick. Memphis, in return, received Marvin Bagley, a power forward with great work in the post and outside range, and 2 Wizards 2nd round picks. Given the circumstances of both of these clubs, I believe the Grizzlies benefit from this deal as Bagley can take them very far in the playoffs in my opinion and Washington also gains players Alex Len and young star Colby Jones to help them with their rebuild and a first-round pick to further improve their chances of getting better in the long run. In the deal with 2-way star Brandon Ingram, New Orleans made the smart deal in realizing that players and picks are way better than keeping a good leader for your organization by only giving away Ingram they received Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, and a first and second-round pick these are players that can break out and control a game once in a while. New Orleans needs as much help as they can get, and Toronto could use Ingram to push into the play-in tournament. The soaring Cleveland Cavaliers in my opinion gave away too much to Atlanta as they got Deandre Hunter a key player that averages 19 per they gave up Caris Lavert and Georges Neing and 3 second round picks which is too much but I think Cleveland shouldn’t drop a lot as this will be put forth in my rankings in the end. The Bucks and Wizards were the primarily involved teams in a 4 team deal with New York and San Antonio, but the main 2 players were Kyle Kuzma and Khris Middleton. While Middletons' numbers are declining and Kuzma is one of those guys that can be up and down, this was a relatively fair deal, in my opinion, also noting Milwaukee received 2 future second-round picks. One of the more league-wide deals consisted of De'aaron Fox and Zach Levine both top 20 in scoring this trade also consisted of San Antonio getting guard Jordan McLaughlin and the Kings who in my opinion didn’t lose anything gained 6 future draft picks 3 first and 3 second round and they did give up 3 mediocre players in Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins and Tre Jones. With Sacramento sitting at seed #10 with all these acquisitions and a good roster, I could see them jumping into the playoff picture and potentially making an impact in the West. Last but certainly not least, we have the deal that sparked all these other ones up between the Lakers and Mavs consisting of Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris in exchange for Anthony Davis, young guard Max Christie, and a 2029 1st round pick. I think this provides more defense for Dallas, who were simply an average defensive team, with Luka Carried on offense, who led the team in offensive rating. Now Davis can make their offense and defense better as so far this season he is 10th in PPG, 7th in RPG, and 3rd in BPG, truly an all-around player coming to Dallas. I think it will take some time to get used to, but Dallas will have success from this deal, and so as LA now has LeBron James and 25-year-old generational star Luka Doncic playing together, this is truly something to see.

Wrapping up my article on the busiest trade deadline in NBA history this period is changing teams left and right as new schemes and planning will be taken into account with new players on each team, the Detroit Pistons as they are currently 6th in the east and have a lot on the horizon, Thanks.

Current Standings As Of 2/27/25                                                                 My Predicted End-of-Season Standings With Trade Applied

The NBA and NFL Need to Solve this Christmas Day Problem Really Quickly

Jake Yono

12/26/24 

JY Journalism

Yesterday was the holiday of Christmas, and as has become tradition, sports leagues seized the opportunity to hold games for fans seeking entertainment on this special day. The National Basketball Association (NBA) was the first league to host games on Christmas, beginning in 1947, and this tradition has continued to the present day. For many sports fans, Christmas has become synonymous with waking up to watch five competitive basketball games featuring superstar players from across the league.

This arrangement worked well for the NBA until 2020, when the National Football League (NFL) began scheduling games on Christmas. As most people know, the NFL operates on a different level of popularity compared to the NBA, averaging approximately 16 million viewers per game over the past decade, compared to the NBA's 1.6 million. This disparity means the NBA must strategize to maintain its market share in the competitive landscape of American professional sports.

In my opinion, the NBA should negotiate an agreement with the NFL to preserve Christmas as its exclusive day for games. A contractual arrangement could ensure that only NBA games are held on this holiday, allowing the league to regain its foothold. As always, money plays a crucial role in this conflict. Eight months ago, just before the release of their schedule, Netflix signed a three-year deal with the NFL to broadcast games, starting this year on Christmas Day. Reports indicate that these broadcasts generate approximately $80 million per game for Netflix, which recently entered the live sports broadcasting space with a major success: the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight.

If I were the NBA, I would have fought hard to prevent this deal from including Christmas Day broadcasts. Yesterday alone, the NFL generated around $280 million from two games—Chiefs vs. Steelers and Ravens vs. Texans—featuring a halftime show with Beyoncé that reportedly earned $20 million. In comparison, the NBA brought in $26 million for the day, which, while an improvement over recent years, pales in comparison to the NFL's dominance. The NFL’s reach on Netflix, which is available in one out of every four households, creates an enormous challenge for the NBA.

The NBA has yet to take significant precautions to address this shift, but players are speaking out. For example, after his team’s Christmas Day win against the Golden State Warriors, LeBron James stated, "This is our day." As a general sports fan, I appreciate James’ efforts to preserve the significance of Christmas Day for the NBA, which features its most important slate of games all season.

A potential solution to this issue is implementing scheduling rules similar to those already in place between the NFL and college football, which prohibit games from overlapping. This rule was slightly adjusted last weekend during the first round of the College Football Playoff, where SMU played Penn State and Texas faced Clemson. Similarly, on Christmas Day, the NFL’s games conflicted with the NBA's schedule. The adjustment occurred because the rules have yet to reflect the expanded College Football Playoff format.

Relating back to the NBA, it’s now or never for them. With Netflix’s NFL contract set to expire in 2026, the sums of money involved will only grow. As the world’s most popular streaming service partnering with the most valuable sports league, this creates a monopolistic scenario that threatens other sports leagues and their TV deals globally. Using this NFL-Netflix partnership on Christmas Day—a marquee day for the NBA—signals a dangerous trend of the NFL overshadowing other American sports.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting the NFL-Netflix deal shouldn’t have happened, but Christmas Day should have been off-limits. Allowing the NFL to dominate this day diminishes the NBA’s significance and strengthens the NFL’s monopoly on American sports. I want to see a balanced representation of all sports, with each league retaining the days they have traditionally “claimed.” This approach not only respects the history of these sports but also helps bolster the branding of each individual league in the United States.

I n the end, there needs to be greater fairness among sports leagues when it comes to broadcasting schedules. Christmas is the NBA’s day, and the league cannot allow the NFL to encroach on this tradition, pulling away viewers and diminishing the importance of professional basketball. All five NBA games on Christmas Day were competitive, with margins within 10 points, showcasing the league’s excitement and talent. This legacy should not be overshadowed by the NFL’s monopolistic tendencies and their partnership with Netflix, which risks eroding the greatness of NBA basketball on Christmas Day.

Jake Yono My Current Thoughts About The NBA After the 2024 Finals

JY Journalism

5/28/24

Hello everybody, it's been a long time but I am back to business as school and track have taken up my time in the last month but now since it's summer I will be posting more articles about various sports and topics going on. Since the NBA Playoffs are in full swing with the Eastern Conference finals ending and the Western Conference finals continuing on I will be writing about that as well as a couple problems I believe the NBA has and how they can fix them. Again I am back and let's get started.

As of right now, the Boston Celtics have secured their spot in the NBA finals and the Timberwolves extended their series against the Dallas Mavericks in game 4 last night in a very tight contest forcing a game 5 with homecourt advantage. Leading up to this, Minnesota swept the Suns in 4 games then battled with Denver for 7 games last round in which they defeated the defending champs with Anthony Edwards leading the team in scoring with 27.5 points per game during this series. The Maverick's path here was by beating the Clippers and then the Thunder both in 6 games by a reasonable margin with Luka Doncic almost averaging a triple-double with 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists per game this postseason. The Pacers first beat the Giannis free Bucks in 6 games then they beat the New York Knicks in 7 games with game 7 being in New York. During this series Jalen Brunson led both teams in scoring averaging 30 a game in this series, He is someone special and a guy teams must watch out for. Finally, the Celtics played the Heat without Jimmy Butler and took them in 5, then they beat the Cavs in 5 games who were truly outmatched with Jalen Brown and Jayson Tatum. In the East finals, they played the Pacers without Tyrese Haliburton for the last 2 and a half games which weakened them with the average margin of victory only being around 7 points the Pacers played one heck of a series and just like New York they are another uprising team to watch out for. Also In this Western Conference Finals series, the margin of victory has been very small as it only being 4 and a half, so far this has shown that the Mavericks have one of the best closing backcourts in the NBA with Luka and Kyrie as this team has played in the most clutch games this postseason with 9. This series is not over yet, as they always show on TV teams are 154-0 in closing out a series when leading 3-0, this is very hard to do but I think the Minnesota Timberwolves can do this with Anthony Edwards, KAT, Naz Reid, and Kyle Anderson playing at their best and trying to stop Luka and Kyrie for 3 more games.

Although the NBA playoffs have been great so far the NBA has a couple of major problems according to me. First I believe both of these problems stem from the league's financial purposes. The first one is that the season is way too long. When I say this I mean players aren’t taking 82 games competitively in my opinion in terms of players resting and the overall meaning of the game in the long run. One game can but most of the time not influence a playoff spot or seed significantly in the beginning and/or the middle of the season, this is why the season must be shortened. The league realized this by implementing the 65-game rule for players to earn awards but they will probably not shorten the season length. Another alternative is shorting the lengths of games to 40 minutes instead of 48 but the league cares about all-time stats so this probably won’t happen shortly. An example from other leaguers is the NFL which contains 17 games and every game means way more than having 82 games in the schedule the same thing goes with college football and college basketball having 30-35. This means every game matters more than the NBA schedule. It’s very unfortunate watching the NBA playoffs and seeing how talented these players are and realizing very few of these high-flying competitive-style actions happened during the regular season.

My other issue is the time of games being played on the West Coast for example in the regular season games are starting at 10:00-10:30 on TNT and ESPN with good teams on the network's prime-time nights. For example on April 4th on TNT the Nuggets and Clippers faced off but since it was in LA, the game tipped off at 10:00 pm Eastern time this has been going on for years but I guess the league sees it as the best way to make money, this game was a competitive worthwhile to watch the game but it is at 10 p.m. on a random Thursday make it very tough to watch. If it was earlier on a weekend day it would be easier and more enjoyable for more fans to watch. The NFL a competing league has their prime-time games starting at 8:30 on average even if it’s on the West Coast. The NFL is different because most of their games are played on Sundays but there is no cramming in of West Coast night games which makes it an enjoyable experience for all. The NBA should take a look at this and I think this problem can more likely be solved than the first problem.

Wrapping this all up, it has been a great NBA season especially in the playoffs, not for my Detroit Pistons though as they were the worst team this season and only got the 5th pick in the draft from the lottery, hopefully, they can pull it together and rebuild. Good luck to the Mavs Timberwolves, and Celtics as they hope to win an NBA title. If the league solves these problems I think it will be more enjoyable and competitive to all involved in it.

Jake Yono

JY Journalism

4/27/23     

My Thoughts on the 2023 NBA Playoffs So Far

The NBA playoffs have been very intriguing, surprising, and exciting so far. In this article, I will be discussing the first-round results of the NBA Playoffs and my predictions for the rest of the NBA playoffs. I am intrigued by the L. A Lakers performance as they are down 3-2 to the Memphis Grizzlies, I’m surprised by Jimmy Butler and the 8-seed Miami Heat on defeating the 1-seed Milwaukee Bucks and his performances during these games, also I’m excited for the finish of this NBA season and who will be crowned NBA champion as there are many contenders for it. 

In the east the Miami Heat defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in 5 games, The 76ers swept the Nets in 4 games, And I think the Celtics will beat the Hawks in game 6 tomorrow night. So going into the second round of the east the Celtics are playing the 76ers, and the Heat are playing the New York Knicks. Both of these series should be awesome as I think in 5 or 6 games the Miami Heat Will win and go to the eastern conference finals. I believe that Jimmy Butler and the deep Bench of the Miami Heat will lead them past the Surprising New York Knicks who defeated the Cavaliers in 5 games. I think Joel Embid will lead the 76ers to the eastern conference finals with his leadership. And for this 2023 Eastern Conference Finals I do think it will go to 7 games and it will be a toss-up.

In the Western Conference, the Suns with KD (Kevin Durant) beat the L. A Clippers in 5 Games, Also in 5 games the Denver Nuggets defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, There are 2 series remaining to play. In both game sixes, the Warriors and Kings play and the Grizzlies and Lakers play. The Lakers are up 3-2 and the Kings are down 3-2 to Golden State. I believe both of the home teams in these game sixes will win as the Warriors are at Home and the L. The Lakers are also at home on friday night. Moving on with the rest of the Western Conference Playoffs I think the Suns and the Lakers will both come out of the West and show out in the western conference finals.

Thank you for reading my paper on my thoughts on the NBA Playoffs so far. Also, I would like to say a great job to the Detroit Lions for selecting Jahmyr Gibbs (RB) and Jack Campbell (LB) in the first round of the NFL draft last night.