Why is there such a disparity between good and bad NBA teams?

The answer comes down to 1 thing: Lack of overall talent! In any sports league your top and bottom teams generally don't carry the league because its all about your avg. team. Once several average teams become mediocre the league suffers dramatically. Unfortunately, David Sterns stewardship of the game has killed the developmental stages of basketball. This has the effect of "stars" not being able to handle basic facets of the game, ie. proper dribbling, no traveling, full offensive/defensive games, while the "good" players are nothing but guys who can run and jump.

Here's the answer:

1. Stop the Lie!- Stern needs to get on t.v. and say i am not satisfied with the way our product has looked the last, oh just about 20 years next year, and will ensure the NBA will return to a professional league rather than a And 1 Mix Tape/Streetball League. Apologize for adding token changes such as making players wear suits, not allowing players to police themselves, allowing media stars to do whatever they want on the court and over expansion of the league.

2. Fire every single last one of those old officials-Walk into the next years meeting and say listen i don't care how it affects the game in the short term you call the game strictly by the rules and if you don't i will can your *** just like I did those old officials. So this means no palming, carrying, traveling and bulldozing to the basket!

3. Get rid of salary cap equalization in trades- Teams are stuck in the modern NBA because they cant unload dead weight with ease. If a team signs two bad contracts they are almost guaranteed 6 years of poor results. This is way to long and should be reduced to around 3 years. Ex. look at the Knicks, they still haven't recovered from Scot Laydens tenure!

4. Break the control of players- It's one thing to pay marginal players huge sums of money, baseball has been doing it for a long time, but it's something totally different when these players can hold teams hostage. Any time a player refuses to follow any order by their team, within the limits of the labor agreement, their contract should no longer be guaranteed and subject to immediate cancellation. You can provide arbitration to the union but the fact is if you cant have the inmates running the asylum.

5.Eliminate guaranteed contracts for any players first contract with exception to injury for the next 7 years. If teams are able to cut early first round picks next generation players will be forced to recognize they will not have a free ride.

6. End this bogus 1 year removed from H.S. graduating class. If any player can actually compete with full enforcement of the NBA Official Rules then by all means he should be able to earn.

All that would be left is to bite the bullet. The league would struggle the next 3 years as players find out (lebron, wade, howard, paul) that their previous success was based mostly on the poor officiating. I do believe most of these athletes would adapt and overcome. In year 4 you would start to notice huge developments in NCAA hoops as rosters start to look like they did in the 80's. Star college players would start to build a following and would be ready to capitalize on it once they hit the NBA court. 10 years out everything is back to normal and the dark age of NBA ball would be over! High School would lead to college then to pro, with only truly exceptional players. The likes of Moses Malone, Darrell Dawkins and a few others.

There are a lot of reasons, but here are a few:

Bad ownership and management. Teams like the Warriors, Clippers, and Grizzlies have bad ownership and the ineptitude trickles its way down to the product on the floor.

Large market teams have an easier time attracting and retaining good players. When Shaq was a free agent, he went to LA, because he wanted to play in a large market and to be in the spotlight.

Smaller markets usually have a tough time getting the big time players that can carry team.

I also think the disparity is even more dramatic now during these tough economic times. A lot of clubs were dumping salaries. A lot of the good teams were able to grab players at a discount. It seems like there is a concentration of talent on the top 6 or 7 teams. It makes for a great competition between the top teams, but creates a widere divide between the have's and have nots. On the bright side, it should be a great playoffs this year.

One last reason is that the NBA is a league ruled by superstars. There are only 12 guys on the active roster and as few as 7 or 8 play on a given night. The great teams, all have at least one star and sometimes 2 or 3. One player can't carry a team in other team sports like they can in the NBA.

1. Drafting based on "potential" instead of proven ability. So many teams often draft youngsters who either haven't yet hit their peaks (aka learning the game the right way) or haven't panned out at all. It feels like certain teams get lottery picks year after year; only to have many of these players languish in mediocrity or display "raw athleticism" that often doesn't translate to "good basketball."

2. Getting into salary troubles -- aka giving guys such as Larry Hughes, Eddy Curry, and Elton Brand team-crushing contracts only to get minimal production from these type of players. That can have a major lasting affect on a franchise.

3. Defense. Some play it; many don't.

Favorite: Lakers Worst: Celtics

The good teams have more and commit more revenue to attract better players. Therefore more victories.

Because the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.