The NBA 2024-25 season has been underway for some weeks now and I have some clear frustrations.

The biggest one for me is the high scoring. Though the 24 second shot clock has been around for decades now, it’s designed to keep teams from keeping the ball too long. The game is up and down the floor with little to no plays being ran, players are forced to go iso if the first couple of passes don’t go their way. So teams are just jacking up shots for most of the game. The damn Celtics, who are the second team in the east right now, have been blowing out teams and two nights ago they put up over 50 three’s!!! Not to mention guys who drop 30-40 points nowadays don’t get praise because it’s normal now. You can make the case that players have gotten better skill wise, or maybe guys have gotten worse defensively. I think there’s a case to be made of both.

Another issue I have is players sitting out games and also doing tricks to get traded. Enough. I’m all for player empowerment, at times the media and fans can treat players like they’re just entertainers and not really humans. However, I’m tired of players sitting out knowing damn well they can play. Kawhi Leonard for example, I’m not going to say he wasn’t hurt last season, but completely missed the playoffs but was going to play for the Olympic team? It’s a slap in the face to the Clippers fans. Or when players show up to training camp out of shape, don’t go to practice, have a sad look, and do all these other things to get traded. Newsflash, you signed a contract, honor it.

The All-Star game has been a joke for some time now and I doubt it’ll ever get better. Players don’t want to get hurt, and there’s not much pure competitive spirit in the league now. No real team rivalries, guys being able to jaw at each other without a technical, and little to no personality. They play basketball, answer some media questions, and go on their way. I’m naive to think these players are going to hate each other, they’re millionaires playing basketball, of course they’re likely going to be happy most of the time. I just wish there’s something to do about it.