The NBA rushed teams and players to play this season just a couple of months after last year’s NBA Finals.
They decided to shorten the regular season to 72 games and keep the play-in tournament format for this campaign as well, something that has raised a lot of controversies.
Recently, LeBron James backpedaled on his own comments and claimed that whoever came up with this idea needs to be fired, now that the Los Angeles Lakers are in jeopardy of being forced to play it:
“It doesn’t matter at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter where we land. That’s my mindset. Whether we end as sixth or fifth. Whatever the case may be or we end up in the Playoff whatever that thing is. Whoever came up with that s**t needs to be fired. But whatever,” LeBron said.
And even though LeBron drew some criticism for changing his stance on the tournament, Shaquille O’Neal claims that he’s actually right if the league intends to make this a permanent change:
“These two years, I am okay with it. But if you are trying to change the rules and say ‘forever’, (then) I am in agreeance with LeBron (James). Because you know last year with the Bubble, shortened games and this year starting the season late and ending late – I am in for the Play-in tournament. But after this, I don’t ever want to see it again,” Shaq said on NBA on TNT.
In all fairness, the players have every right to complain. It doesn’t make sense to work your heart off for a full season just to miss the playoffs after a couple of bad games. I mean, injuries and tough luck are also part of the game, and you shouldn’t punish playoff teams for that. Also, it would prevent them from getting some much-needed rest before the postseason.
