Interview with NBA commish has BigSoccer flavor to it

Rocket · Oct 27, 2004

Here's an interesting Newsweek interview with David Stern that hits many of the same talking points seen here at BigSoccer:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6346650/site/newsweek/

Stern on whether glamour teams are good for his league:

If I could structure a perfect league, it would have recognizable players or team styles or personalities in 30 different cities. Developing different personalities for teams makes the league more interesting. I remember when we had the Bruise Brothers in Washington and the San Antonio Spurs would run past you and you wouldn’t know they had gone by. Those differences make our league more interesting
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On his main goal for the NBA:

The best we can do is try to come up with a system of competition where fans feel that with a little bit of luck—with a tweak here, a tweak there—this is a team that can compete. It doesn’t mean necessarily that you think they will go to the championship. But once you have a playoff-ready team, you never know what can happen.
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On the increase from 4 divisions to 6 divisions:

It’s a very modest change. We’re not even changing the schedule. [If a losing team topping a division happened] it would likely be a playoff team [anyway]. All we’re doing is calling it a division winner....most important is that there are a lot of fans in a lot of cities who think their team can win it, and that’s a great way to [come out] of training camp
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numerista · Oct 27, 2004

vw said:

Here's an interesting Newsweek interview with David Stern that hits many of the same talking points seen here at BigSoccer...

On the increase from 4 divisions to 6 divisions:
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... must've missed the threads that proposed 6 divisions for a 12-team MLS.

ThreeApples · Oct 27, 2004

The NBA will never succeed without promotion and relegation.

Rocket · Oct 27, 2004

numerista said:

... must've missed the threads that proposed 6 divisions for a 12-team MLS.
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6 divisions for MLS?

Let's hope MLS HQ doesn't see this thread -- knowing them, they might go and try it!

On a serious note, though, I could see MLS going to 4 divisions once the league reaches 16 teams. If each team played their division rivals 4 games and played 2 games vs. the rest of the league, that would add up to 18 home games per team.

FCDallas------ · Oct 27, 2004

VW sorrry to say it but prepare to be thrown to the wolves for this one

Rocket · Oct 27, 2004

FCDallas------ said:

VW sorrry to say it but prepare to be thrown to the wolves for this one
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How so? Stern makes some very good points, and one in particular stood out for me.

The more each team in MLS can develop an identity/style/flavor that it can call its own, the better off the league will be.

Obviously, Chivas USA should be a great success when it comes to establishing it's own identity.

But do most fans associate teams like the Rapids or Wizards with a recognizable style or personality? Probably not.