Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 10:00 am  |  53 responses

Denver/Orlando Finals: Not Necessarily a Bad Thing

by Marcel Mutoni

The NBA is a League of stars. This we all understand fully. The question, for some, is whether or not it’s too much of a star-driven business.

And then we have the lunatic fringe, who pop out of the woodwork each spring and summer to decry the puppet masters who supposedly rig things so that the biggest stars always manage to meet on the biggest stage possible.

Reality, though, is that even if Kobe vs. LeBron doesn’t happen this year, folks on the business side of the League won’t be too upset. There’s still plenty of money to be made from the alternatives.

CNBC reports on what the conspiracy theorists ain’t trying to hear:

It’s one of the most popular conversations. How much will the NBA and ABC suffer if the ideal Finals matchup of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers doesn’t pan out? Millions of dollars? Tens of millions? Actually, the answer is closer to no loss of money at all and that’s even if the worst case scenario of the Nuggets-Magic matchup comes to fruition.

Sure, Kobe and LeBron give the league and ABC the chance for a perfect storm, but it’s not only the stars that lead to ratings gold…In fact, a series between the Cavs and the Lakers that isn’t competitive and is a sweep might do worse than a series between the Magic and the Nuggets that is close and goes seven games, according to Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports, who runs his own television consultancy firm.

“The only people who pay attention to the ratings potential is the media,” Pilson said. “At this point, about 95 percent of the advertising has been sold and and the sponsors are there for the long haul. They understand that the numbers fluctuate from year to year.”

At the end of the day, the League is all about lining its pockets. And like any good business, it doesn’t have all of its eggs in one proverbial basket.

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  • Blue Posted: May.29 at 10:06 am
    I would love to see this, although I’m pretty sure the NBA will not allow a Finals to take place without at least one of the muppets playing…

  • Joe Posted: May.29 at 10:06 am
    first

  • Joe Posted: May.29 at 10:08 am
    i dont really care either way, at least with the magic and the nuggets playing i wont get force fed the question whos better lebron or kobe, answer chris paul

  • Sesa Posted: May.29 at 10:08 am
    Imagine how ironic if Melo won the ring before LeBron

  • Mo Charlo Posted: May.29 at 10:23 am
    That’s what I’m pulling for. None of the Cavs besides Bron deserve a ring, and the Lakers don’t respect the game enough.

  • Sesa Posted: May.29 at 10:31 am
    except for Kobe

  • truthteller Posted: May.29 at 10:34 am
    Mo Charlo,
    I see you’ve been watching a lot “inside the NBA”

  • Ken Posted: May.29 at 10:37 am
    Yeah, Melo winning a ring before LBJ would really sting LeBron. Oh, and props to Blue for denying Joe the idiotic “firsties!!!!” post. I can’t believe people still do that.

  • AR Posted: May.29 at 10:39 am
    Nobody deserves a ring unless they win one.LeBron has no innate right to win a ring,it’s not written in the stars.People have been acting like it’s a foregone conclusion all his career.Asking “How many will LeBron win?”,opposed to “When will LeBron win one?”,which is still presumptuous.Having said that,I hope he does.

  • Sesa Posted: May.29 at 10:42 am
    LeBron won’t win one. Not until he gets a better supporting cast a.k.a a big man who can finish strong on the rim.

  • TADOne Posted: May.29 at 10:46 am
    This is the Finals I want to see.

  • Weezy F. Leezy Posted: May.29 at 10:50 am
    dwight howard tore the league apart this year. but these playoffs hes really showin me something. like moses malone said: “come hard, or dont come at all”. ans melo deserved all-nba 1st team in my book. this dude is just ballin. 2nd to none as a finisher inside and a sweet j.

  • nate the great Posted: May.29 at 11:00 am
    yeah, id rather have melo, and or dwight get a ring before lebron.
    it feels to me, lebron has everything come to him so easy, he expects it to be easy.
    i feel it will be awhile before lebron wins a ring, unless they get more superstar calls by the reffs. with that happening right now, i wouldnt be suprised if he still made it to the finals.
    i hope he doesnt tho. not now. not so soon.

  • nate the great Posted: May.29 at 11:02 am
    quick question.
    Lebron has 0 rings.
    Kobe has 3 rings.
    .
    say kobe and lebron make it to the finals and lebron wins.
    is his 1 ring > than kobe’s 3?
    or what?

  • rikson Posted: May.29 at 11:03 am
    Yeah – cause he would have done it without Shaq…

  • Sesa Posted: May.29 at 11:04 am
    LeBron gets all the call but the supporting cast got none of them. I think this is also one of the Cavs’s disadvantage.

  • AR Posted: May.29 at 11:12 am
    I don’t want Orlando in the finals because I don’t think I can deal with Tyronn Lue winning another ‘chip.

  • Mo Charlo Posted: May.29 at 11:46 am
    I don’t want the Magic to win because I don’t JJ Redick to win a championship. How great would it be if Dahntay Jones beat Reddick for the win?

  • Zee! Posted: May.29 at 11:51 am
    Diamond crooks.

  • bakers' dozen Posted: May.29 at 12:08 pm
    Kobe can’t win a ring without Shaq…that’s my whole MO lately…hated what he did to that team to salve his own ego.

  • MKP Posted: May.29 at 12:13 pm
    MAGIC VS NUGGETS would pretty be considered an under card match up in the world of boxing of MMA. CAVS VS LAKERS is the MAIN EVENT.

  • Blue Posted: May.29 at 12:34 pm
    @ AR: Wow…in the midst of all the Kobe/Lebron/NBA conspiracy debates we have unearthed one of the more rare specimens…the Tyronn Lue hater, lol!

  • truthteller Posted: May.29 at 1:06 pm
    Denver vs Magic NBA finals matchup doesn’t stand a chance at becoming a reality. At least one of them (LA or Cavs)will make it to the Finals. I don’t see both of ‘em missing the finals! It ain’t happening!

  • Nawlins Realest. Posted: May.29 at 1:14 pm
    i agree with whoever said that no one in the cavs besides lebron deserve a ring, especially MO WILLIAMS. i think nuggest vs magic would be more competitive anyways.

  • truthteller Posted: May.29 at 1:22 pm
    Lakers vs Magic would be pretty interesting.

  • DONEONE Posted: May.29 at 1:34 pm
    melo man is going to win it all mane!!nuggs in 7 nuggs defeat maggots in finals

  • MalanaCream Posted: May.29 at 2:00 pm
    varejao deserves a ring.

  • MeloMan22 Posted: May.29 at 2:10 pm
    if the nuggets make the finals i will turn every single tv on my floor to that chanel

  • vic21 Posted: May.29 at 2:21 pm
    I think that the only really crappy thing to see would be a magic/lakers cavs/nuggets…at least on paper it would be like the spurs/cavs series

  • basketballallah Posted: May.29 at 2:28 pm
    i just pitched a movie based on jr and linas’ lifestory. brokeback mtn meets white men can’t jump, so considering they wont win the obrien, they might win an oscar. don’t worry nugglelovers, i have a part for chris anderson… every athlete is a selfish, egotist unless you knew them since early high school. stop pretending you know these guys as some reason to hate.

  • madamerica Posted: May.29 at 2:47 pm
    @MalanaCream: Who do you think will be the lucky guy to put one on her finger?

  • Yassi Posted: May.29 at 4:03 pm
    Denver-Orlando a dream match up.
    i would love to see that but as someone posted here earlier. Its gonna be one of those *** puppets at least.
    And we would be lost without our conspiracy theory ;-)

  • chazz michael michaels Posted: May.29 at 4:49 pm
    this is perfect
    Dwight vs Nene
    Melo vs Rashard Lewis
    Chauncey vs Rafer
    jr Smith vs Hedo this would be perfect compared to: bynum vs ilgauskas
    gasol vs anderson v.
    ariza vs lebron
    kobe vs delonte
    fisher vs mo will

  • Tarzan's Jane Posted: May.29 at 5:12 pm
    This is what I am hoping for. Nuggs vs. Orlando. My #1 vs. #2! I am so sick of all the analysts and all the reporters hanging all over LeBron and Kobe’s nu*s. Yeah! They are great players. They don’t need your lips permenantly glued to their a**! And my ears are begining to bleed from all of the hype over them. How about Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkgalu, Chauncey Billups, Carmelo Anthony, Nene, Chris Andersen, etc? They have been shuttin it down and showing the Cavs and the Lakers that they have to actually play and play hard. GO NUGGS & MAGIC!!!

  • KB24 Posted: May.29 at 5:30 pm
    the NBA will not allow the finals to go on without one of the superstars(lebron or kobe). period

  • Blinguo Posted: May.29 at 5:37 pm
    Adonal is getting a ring. Democracy matters and works.

  • gu-red Posted: May.29 at 6:12 pm
    I would love to see it but i dont think it will happen…Lakers vs. Magic, and Mamba gets his first……Well, 4th?

  • Jacob J Posted: May.29 at 7:29 pm
    Im tellin ya my prediction of the nuggets and magic is gonna be true with denver winning it all.

  • al Posted: May.29 at 8:22 pm
    I want to see clippers vs bobcats

  • Twitted by LegitMoneyMaker Posted: May.29 at 9:27 pm
    [...] This post was Twitted by LegitMoneyMaker – Real-url.org [...]

  • Dacre Posted: May.29 at 10:18 pm
    I’m always amazed when I meet someone who honestly thinks it’s a pre-arranged setup for who makes it to the finals, it’s just redonkulous…

  • Google Alert – Denver « Denver Locksmith – 303-209-1015 Posted: May.30 at 12:16 am
    [...] Denver/Orlando Finals: Not Necessarily a Bad Thing SLAM Online – Palm Coast,FL,USA Denver vs Magic NBA finals matchup doesn’t stand a chance at becoming a reality. At least one of them (LA or Cavs)will make it to the Finals. … See all stories on this topic [...]

  • J Dizzle Posted: May.30 at 12:22 am
    Jacob J.. what happened to the Nuggets tonight?? Oh yea.. they are chokers, how could I forget.

  • Dave Posted: May.30 at 1:24 am
    Are they coached by George Karl, JDizzle? My, yes they are.

  • Dave Posted: May.30 at 1:26 am
    Can’t honestly get excited about a Magic/Lakers Finals, though. I don’t feel like the Magic have really been ‘burned in’ yet as a team and will flounder badly, whereas the Lakers don’t play at 100% more than 25% of the time, which just doesn’t make you love them.

  • Peter B Posted: May.30 at 3:50 am
    “Yeah – cause he would have done it without Shaq… ” When will the stupidity end. I guess magic doesn’t deserve any of his championships because he played with kareem when he won them and pippen doesn’t deserve any of his because he won with jordan. Having a great team mate doesn’t negate a player’s contribution to their team winning a championship. Basketball is a TEAM game, the team wins the championship not the individual, you guys act like shaq played the teams 5 on 1 and kobe and the rest watched from the bench. Kobe earned those championships and many times out performed shaq, how many game winners did shaq hit? how many clutch free throws did he make?

  • jdstorm Posted: May.30 at 8:13 am
    To make a Lakers Magic series Huge, All you have to do is have Shaquile “the big distractionl” O’Neal guest commentate. Kobe will go all out so shaq doesn’t steal any of his glory, and Orlando is just starting to get over him. The series would be Kobe v Superman II. Aka, could Kobe beat shaq to get a ring? Could Dwight get the ring Shaq never got orlando?

  • Scruffz Posted: May.30 at 2:45 pm
    Why are people still so caught up in this “He won it with Shaq” garbage? Wade wona ring with Shaq on the team too. Does that make his accomplishment any less impressive? Also, Shaq wasn’t able to win rings himself without Kobe and Wade, so what does that say about him.

  • twahc Posted: May.30 at 8:47 pm
    i was hoping for this to happen but too bad nuggets are gone now. can anyone finish the lakers please? either lebron or dwight will make me smile.

  • Joey E. Posted: May.31 at 2:16 am
    Lakers/Magic isn’t too bad either

  • ENDSwizzle Posted: May.31 at 2:21 am
    Not is it not My friend

  • CHE Posted: Jun.1 at 11:52 am
    Lebron needs to find another team. After what the Cavs did to him this year it’s just sad watching greatness go to waste.

  • truthteller Posted: Jun.1 at 1:30 pm
    twahc,
    Sorry. The lakers will not lose this year. Sorry to dissapoint you.

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