Fandom is, by definition, not objective. And that’s okay. As a fan, you’re supposed to root for your team and your players. I have yet to see an objective fan of any team or any player - and I'm no different. That leads us to this: ⭐️ Thunder fans standing up for SGA. ⭐️ Lakers fans standing up for LeBron. ⭐️ Knicks fans standing up for Brunson. ⭐️ Sixers fans standing up for Embiid. ⭐️ Cavaliers fans standing up for Harden. …and the list goes on. Lakers fans during the Thunder-Lakers series: “LeBron doesn’t get enough calls. SGA flops all the time.” Thunder fans in the same series: “SGA doesn’t get enough calls. LeBron flops all the time.” Neutral fans: “This is hard to watch.” You can copy and paste that template for any team and any series - just swap the player names and fan bases. I’m a Mavs fan. When Mavs-Luka got fouled, I was the first to shout “FOUL!” When he flopped, I was also the first to say, “Well, I can see some contact there if you zoom in and freeze it right there!” - justifying something that I hated in other players. Double standards. Yet deep down, once the emotion wore off a few seconds later, I admitted that embellishing and flopping sucks (including Luka's). So let me ask you this: Should we keep complaining about the players who do it? These are skilled athletes who know how to draw fouls and sell contact to help their team win. Getting angry at the symptom (embellishing, flopping) while ignoring the cause (the NBA’s rules) doesn’t make much sense. The NBA has taken steps to reduce tanking. It’s time they also take steps to reduce flopping. I don’t want to watch first-class actors flailing their limbs - I want to watch a sport. We can keep having these endless back-and-forth battles (“SGA sucks because he flops” - insert any other star player’s name, and rinse and repeat), or we can accept that players are simply pushing the limits of what is currently allowed and, in many ways, encouraged by NBA rules. If you take off your SGA, Luka, LeBron, Brunson, Embiid, Jokic fan hat for a moment and ask yourself honestly: Would you prefer a league that focuses more on real basketball instead of theatrics? If the answer is yes, then don’t wait for the star players to change. You wouldn’t either if you were in their position. You’d do the same in your job right now if you could (and maybe you already do it, it’s mostly human nature, I don't blame you for it). Change has to come at the root, not the symptom. One last thing: Stars are role models. Naturally, the spotlight on them is stronger - that’s why SGA (the reigning MVP) gets the most backlash right now. But he’s really just a placeholder for many other stars. All of those stars are role models for the next generation, for kids. Do you want them to grow up emulating this kind of behavior? I don’t. It’s simply not right, and I think (and hope) all fans deep down see it that way too.

Basketball is very much an emotional sport (as much as any other sport, I suppose), not only for the players but also for the fans. We watch the game to be entertained, to feel something (good or bad), to have some sort of an emotional connection to the team. In other words: Is your team fun to watch? Another part of that experience is winning. It is obviously part of any sport, you have a winner and a loser. Naturally, you prefer your team to win. In other words: Is your team successful? Now, there are several combinations between the "fun to watch" and "win/lose" aspects. The issue I have with the current way the Mavs are playing, it's neither fun nor successful (they are in the "D" quadrant), and that's a real shame. If at least the team played a brand of basketball that was fun to watch while losing (B), or if they played successful basketball while being boring (C)... but the combination of boring and unsuccessful is a real killer. I feel that this aspect gets forgotten quite a bit. Yes, Luka could drive you nuts with his complaining to the refs, the lack of defensive awareness... but man, name a better showman than Luka who also played winning basketball? The current iteration of the Mavs is not fun and not successful. It's lacking soul and joy... and wins. No wonder the arena is half empty. Every game feels like a slog. #nba #mavs