The world will be basketball crazy for the next few weeks, and I don’t mind that one bit, even though the sport comes in third for me behind football and baseball.
Still, there is nothing like the men’s NCAA tournament, which whittles a field of 64 teams down to four in three weekends. It’s got so many elements that give it its magic. The potential for some unlikely team to make a run as a Cinderella. The upsets, the intensity on every possession. The fans. The atmosphere from week to week.
Where I live, the weather is still a bit chilly. There is still some snow on the ground in places, but by the “Final Four,” the grass outside will be greening up and it will feel like spring has sprung. The tournament has conditioned me each year to expect to feel the change of seasons as I watch the games, get together with friends, or just track my bracket.
While I will watch college basketball throughout the season when it’s convenient, I won’t work my day around the games as I do when certain college football games are on. But “March Madness” is different. I will make time to watch a certain quota of roundball.
I never could say that about professional basketball, however. To me, when I watch the NBA it’s not the same game. It never was. Where’s the hustle? Where’s the defense?
Some NBA purists will take me to task, and perhaps rightfully so. Since they watch the games and I don’t, I’m sure they can come up with some great examples that prove me wrong. All I can say is when I watch the NBA, which is rarely, it’s just not the kind of basketball I want to invest up to three hours of my life in.
Since I don’t watch that often, my exposure to the NBA is mostly limited to what I see online, and this I can say is not my imagination. The pro game has gotten sloppier. Whatever happened to travel calls and double-dribble?
LOL
— Jacob (@Jacobtheclipper) January 11, 2025
This is the new NBA, where a player can double dribble and somehow they say the rules allow this 🤦🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
pic.twitter.com/AA5wTXA2wz
This isn’t just a one-off. Carrying the ball in the NBA seems to have reached pandemic proportions.
What’s a double dribble? Is that one of those old timey things like traveling? https://t.co/TYxCBUufCu
— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) May 22, 2025
It’s not that difficult to find clips like these. To be sure, the fans don’t watch the game to witness exceptional dribbling talent. They want to see beautiful three-pointers from the field, and slam dunks that evoke a visceral reaction when it’s your team doing the dunking. But the dribble still serves a purpose. It requires skill and a certain level of difficulty that makes those splash plays that much more exciting. So, when you watch the best players get away from, you know, dribbling, you start to think the game itself is declining.
Where are the “carry” police?
— BBiomechanics (@BBiomechanics) March 19, 2026
BCD executed by BI. @bballbreakdown pic.twitter.com/wlvOjCPsJQ
I know these guys can dribble and play the game the right way. They are still the best in the world. But players will get away with what they can get away with. Clearly the league no longer cares about some of the things that set basketball apart from every other sport.
The NBA clearly doesn’t need or want fans like me, and that’s fine. I’m getting my basketball fix right now, for this and the next two weekends.
