Originally posted on 12/05/2012:

The NBA season goes on for seemingly ever!

If you were making tens of millions of dollars as the star(s) of a franchise, would you bust your hump every night for 82 games? Probably not. What's in it for you?

Let's be realistic. Only a handful of teams have a legitimate chance of making the finals. If you are the Heat, Grizzlies, Thunder, Knicks, Nets, Spurs or Clippers you know that you don't need to compete every night, you just need to win enough to get seeded properly down the stretch. You know who knows these things? Greg Popovich and every brand name star in the association, so does David Stern!

I have no doubt in my mind that one of the teams, mentioned above, could reel off close to 70 wins in a season. I really do, but the players think long term these days and they position themselves and their brands for the playoffs! This league is about money and they don't pay any extra money to teams that win all of their games, they pay extra money to playoff teams. The NBA formula: be a star, win a ring, build your brand.