Finding the "face" of the NBA

My take, the face of the NBA is: THE SPURS & PISTONS

The thing is, back in the days before the Jordan media frenzy, you associated players with the teams they played for and vice versa not the player and his sidekick(thus Jordan and the BULLS or Jordan and the JORDANAIRES). In the 80's when you said Lakers you knew Magic, Kareem, Worthy etc, or Celtics it was Bird, McHale, & Parish. The 90's brought about the whole STAR and Team, one on one image. When the Lakers battled the Pistons at the end of the 80's two years in a row it was about the teams, not so much players though they were significant it never really over shaodwed as much as in the 90's.

The 80's are probably better remembered as the decade of the Lakers and Celtic and because of the 90's Magic and Bird era. The 90's are all BULLS and ALL JORDAN. Despite Detroit, San Antonio and Houston winning atleast one championship title during that span.

When you think of the 70's if you only think of players it's because well, you don't know who won from year to year and the 60's it's like the Celtics were the NBA. Then you have Russell, Cousy, Havelichek and all those guys against Wilts and the rest of the NBA.

So, the face of the league since Jordan has been long gone now should be the best two teams who will probably battle it out again in the 2006 Finals.

I disagree, that may be true for the more knowledgable fans of the NBA, but to the casual fan, the Spurs and the Pistons aren't really that attractive from an entertaining standpoint. While we may see them and such and a lot of us like their styles of play, most people who aren't from San Antonio or Detroit will rarely think of these two teams when they think of the NBA. That face should more or less be very marketable and also be considered as one of the best players/ teams in the league to the more hardcore fans. The Spurs and Pistons just don't have great marketbility, IMO that face is Lebron's

As for the need of a so-called "face of the NBA", from a basketball standpoint, not really. On the business side, it's definitely needed.

Then I stand by my original post, LeBron & Wade. They dunk!!111!1!! OMFG!! Im gonna get da jersey!

00-05: Shaq
05-10: LeBron

The face of the NBA.

thanks for the pic im gona make him

Right now I agree with people saying that the league is pushing Lebron as the face of the NBA. They always talk about he is the youngest this, nobody has scored this much this early (not even Kobe) and blah blah blah. What I dont see alot of is those said people giving people like Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant credit for giving Lebron this opportunity. Before they came along and showed that highschoolers had talent, no GM was gonna draft any kid out of high school and give them a starting job while tagging them their franchise star. If they didnt push and show everyone that these kids can play with all those college grads, then most would still not take the chance on the 18ers.

Lebron and Wade will be "the face."

As for teams being marketed by the NBA, I don't think they're entertaining that idea just yet especially with teams such as the Portland Jailblazers.

didnt want to read it.

^^ Don't want you here.

Lebron and Wade will be "the face."

As for teams being marketed by the NBA, I don't think they're entertaining that idea just yet especially with teams such as the Portland Jailblazers.

one of the biggest causes for the problems in the nba is that the nba markets it's individuals.

by promoting only the perceived superstars...
it has promoted selfish play
rookies are given millions even before setting foot on an nba court
other then stern, the players have the most power in the league
players like baron davis and vince carter are able to force their teams to trade them because they want to play for their team anymore
when someone like steve nash comes along and plays "team" ball, everyone gets excited and gives him the mvp award
the list goes on

face of eras

50's-mikan???
60's-chamberlain, russell and his celtics
70's-dr j
80's-bird vs magic, boston vs la
90's-mj
00's-???????????????

Good selections you've got there #12...
To add your lists:

2000's- Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan

200+?'s- Lebron James, Dwyane Wade


Very good article Andrew!

Thanks patrixxx.

didnt want to read it.

No need to post in a thread you have no interest in.

to find the face of this decade, the decade must be over to find out the face of the decade. the 90's era wasnt mj's(could of been hakeem's if mj didnt come back) untill year 1999 after mj won his championships and retired

Not necessarily, though no doubt MJ's legend and public profile were elevated by extending his career during his second run with the Bulls. He was already the most recognisable player, from both a basketball and marketing standpoint, in the early 90s, right up there with Bird and Magic who were the most prominent players in the 80s, even before the decade was through.

You might be able to sit back and make a more educated assertion as to the greatness of a player and his accomplishments once his career is through and the era is perceived to be over, but that doesn't mean we can't nominate a player as being in the prime of their "superstardom" (again from both a basketball and marketing point of view) before they're past that phase of their career. Obviously it's easier to pinpoint the pinnacle of a player's career when it's over but using the obvious example of Michael Jordan again, it was easy to see the kind of heights he had reached by 1993, even if history would remember him slightly differently had he remained in retirement.

I just thought this morning... Face[s] of the NBA... ?
I mean... Right now, the league is filled with foreigners...
With Allstars like Yao, Dirk, Manu, Zydrunas and so on.....
Imo, they're definately the faces of NBA to the whole world..