Spring Training to Start and NBA All Star Game Not Played Yet?

I blame it on the NFL extending its post season into February.  Nothing like squeezing the last shilling out of the golden goose.  But what it has done is really messed up the NBA. Still, it was the NBA's fault.  Apparently because they didn't want to compete with King NFL they moved their All-Star break.  The real half way point of the season is around the first week in February.  But in 2011 they won't celebrate the "break" until two thirds or more of the season has been played.

Now admittedly the NBA All Star game itself is not much more to see than the NFL Pro Bowl the activities surrounding the game and the honor a city receives for staging it is signficant to the league.  I just wonder how many fans--except those in the host city-- really care much anymore.

Too many of the teams know they don't have a chance at an NBA title.  Too many teams in the league are mediocre at best when compared to the powers in San Antonio, Los Angeles, Boston and Miami.  Too many teams are losing money.

Attendance is off in many cities and TV ratings have dropped precipitously.  Right now many NBA cities are on the verge of being in the same boat as the National Hockey League.  They still have their core backers who assure the clubs that 15-17,000 fans will be on hand for home games, but have lost the general sports fan from doing much more than spot checking during telecasts or waiting until morning to read the paper or on line and find out how the team fared.

Star players in the league are paid outrageous amounts. Even "non"-star players are paid well above their worth to a team. Too many of them have proven they do not know how to handle the riches and flaunt their wealth in front of the very fans who are supporting them by buying tickets. 

Now, though getting much less publicity or interest than the NFL--this should tell something of the NBA's plight in the sport pecking order--the league is facing a labor stoppage possibility.  In the past, with one exception, things have been cleaned up before NBA teams and players missed much if any time.  Now, howver, even the most die-hard unionist in the real world, would have a very hard time siding with the players demands.  Professional athletes do not live in the real world for many reasons.  NBA player may live in the biggest fantasy world of all.  Their sport is not universally healthy at all. 

On the other hand sport and the NBA specifically are hardly the only parts of life that have lost control of reality.  The news every day tells of some of the nation and world's business "leaders" whose greed or self sense of importance is far worse.