Two Situations in Disarray: How fixing the NBA can fix the Legal Profession

-- By HoangTruong - 14 Feb 2008

I.Intro

At first glance, such a comparison of two more ill fitted entities would be difficult to find. The differences between the two are endless, and the similarities uncommon. Law is a war using words and ideas; basketball is war using muscle and agility. Law has always required a higher level of education of its combatants; basketball simply requires two arms and two legs (and not even that at times). Law is dominated by the privileged class, often Caucasians with a smattering of color here and there. Basketball is dominated by the genetically gifted, often African Americans with a smattering of “high basketball IQ” players whom according to stereotype simply can’t jump.

On second glance however some similarities might present itself. Both are highly regarded professions to outsiders, and both have employees that are reviled for being overpaid. Both recruit new top tier talent with ferocity only to lose their prospect a few years down the road to a higher paying/more competitive competing firm or team. Both are professions where the most cold hearted and driven succeed, while both also requires such success to come with many sacrifices. Finally, both are currently in a state that can be characterized as dismal.

II. What is wrong with the NBA?

At its peak, the NBA enjoyed enormous growth under the great rivalries of the 80’s between the dynasties in LA and Boston and the perceived individual dominance by Jordan in the 90’s. It was at this time when the league’s popularity was peaking, taking its place as America’s favorite sport.

Flash forward a decade later and NFL football has easily taken over the claim of America’s most favorite sport. The decline of the NBA has been attributed to many things from the lack of high scoring games to the lack of truly dominating teams. However, there are a few things about the NBA model that is empirically flawed that makes it be in a state of disarray.

The first problem with today’s NBA is the control that officials have upon the games. Officiating has always been a bane of all sports with mishaps like the recent Seahawk-Steelers Superbowl or the Miami Heat-Dallas Mavericks Finals leaving a poor taste for any fan. However, the NBA has instituted rule changes that have essentially guaranteed a wider variation of standards of calling its games. With a bias towards the offensive perimeter players, the NBA has allowed referees to basically decide the flow of the entire game by giving the licensee to call any kind of contact a foul. The consequences of such deference to a referee’s judgment and preference for perimeter offensive players leads to a less genuine product where defenders can be seen jumping away from incoming players than actually challenging them. With incentives to not compete and also to fake physical contact by falling to the floor, the authenticity of athletic competition is diminished. This lack of control of over the outcome is one of the pivotal reasons why a fan or a player would become frustrated by the current state of the NBA.

Another aspect of the NBA’s model that is inherently flawed is its arduous and somewhat tediously lengthy schedule. By having a season of 82 regular season games spread over a six month period, the significance of each game is diminished by both players and fans. Without much stake in the regular season, players and fans could care less about a particular game in January. The length of the schedule also has its effects on the NBA’s highly paid employees in the high occurrence of physical injuries and wearing down the body in general.

The last flawed aspect of the NBA’s model is the tendency to sell us “stars” prepackaged before they even accomplish anything on the court (and sometimes before they even get on it). The culture of praising everything a star does while turning a blind eye to the flaws in his game is both insulting to intelligent fans and players alike. By telling us what to like and admire instead of letting us figure it out for ourselves, the NBA has given us a prepackaged product for us to take in that is really just a lie.

III. How can fixing these problems fix the legal profession?

In fixing the feeling of helplessness that both players and fans feel alike in the power of officials to determine games, the NBA can go a long way to truly establishing credibility. In a similar way, by having young associates actually take their part in meaningful work, big law firms can salvage a great deal of work satisfaction amongst lawyers. Taking away that feeling of helplessness and uselessness is pivotal in fixing the problems in both situations.

By shortening the lengthy NBA schedule, regular season games would hold much more significance and priority. Also, the chance of injury to players would be drastically reduced while their overall state of health would improve. Likewise, if law firms reduced the amount of hours worked by associates, the worker satisfaction would increase tenfold. Worker burnout would occur less frequently and thus would help reduce the trend of high turnover rates at large law firms.

By letting us choose for ourselves who we think are the superstars of the league, the NBA would be less like a prepackaged entertainment product and more like a sport. This would also lead to less people anointing the next “savior” of their franchise before they realize it was really an illusion helped along by marketing. Similarly, if all law firms would agree structure their summer programs simply a preview of what’s to come rather than an extended vacation, students would be able to discern for ourselves where we actually want to work.

IV. Conclusion

In conclusion, although they are separate things that have little in common, fixing some of the problems with the NBA today can be analogously helpful in fixing the dismal state of the legal profession.

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