The Business of Basketball

Sports economics your thing? If so, read this story. The National Basketball Association is off to a rather unusual fast break this season. Player controversies and coaching changes off the court have stolen the headlines from on-court play.

Midway through the season, only one of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference has the same head coach as last year. In January, the New York Knicks fired their general manager and hired Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas who subsequently fired the coach and hired Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens. If that's not enough tumult, the New Jersey Nets, after being sold to a real estate developer (pending league approval) who wants to move the team to Brooklyn, fired their head coach. As for players, Kobe Bryant, once the heir apparent to Michael Jordan, is being charged with sexual assault. And the always-controversial Portland Trail Blazers are, well, the Portland Trail Blazers.

Thank goodness for King James. LeBron James, that is. The teenager, drafted last summer by the Cleveland Cavaliers straight from high school, has been scoring big-time both on and off the court. That's great news for the league, which last season began a six-year $4.6 billion broadcasting deal with ESPN, ABC and TNT. The excitement over James has bolstered television ratings and attendance, not to mention team values, at a time when basketball really needed a big play.
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