You Are Looking Live at a Worried Bunch

Further adventures and divergences in marketing and real life:

Love it live?

That’s the NBA’s new slogan, minus the question mark, of course, a takeoff on the old “I love this game” that served so well in the halcyon ‘90s.

“I love this game” was great, with TV spots showing players doing all kinds of artistic, joyous, zany things on the floor, capturing the intimacy that is the game’s great selling point.

“Love it live,” on the other hand, combines the old slogan with a tacit admission there’s a problem --falling attendance--making it a downer, like the NFL’s recent “Play Football” commercials or baseball’s “Rebuilding Baseball in the Inner Cities.”

If you’re reduced to asking kids to play your game, which used to be a given, all your ads do is alert the nation to your predicament.

Of course, even marketing savants get the blues. At a recent Orlando Magic game, owner and Amway founder Rich DeVos, hailed as a savior for taking the team off the market, took advantage of his new cachet by coming right out and asking fans to buy more tickets.

What a great idea! Let’s go see a game because: 1) Maybe the Magic will win! 2) We can see Tracy McGrady! 3) Some billionaire whose asset appreciates $10 million a year and who wants the city to build him a new arena, needs our money in the meantime for better cash flow!

Then there was David Stern, who taught the other commissioners how to market, at least in the ‘90s. Stern appeared at one of SuperSonic owner Howard (Starbucks) Schultz’s management seminars last week, and noted, “We have a product that the newspapers are doing a very bad job telling you about.”

It’s true, we don’t have happy-news features like “Inside Stuff,” but there’s a reason for that. Stern is partners with several TV networks, who donate the air time for sappy stories (Rasheed Wallace is a DJ when he’s not going after referees or running off reporters) but the NBA has no business arrangement with any newspapers.

Of course, our approach to covering the NBA was the same in the ‘90s when everyone was calling Stern a genius, so one thing is clear: Either we’re in a slump or Stern is.

Perhaps he should tell it to his TV audience, or the 60% of it that remains from peak levels.

Perhaps deconstructing his triumphs would help Stern see what he did right--and what he had nothing to do with. The ‘90s weren’t just Michael Jordan, the Bulls’ dynasty and Stern’s marketing savvy, but the zenith of an arena-building boom that provided an additional, widespread but ultimately only a short-term boost.

There’s an advertising slogan--sell the sizzle, not the steak--which may work in the short term (not to mention the ad biz, where sizzle is what they sell), but in the end, what counts is the product.

Without compelling games, it doesn’t matter if “Monday Night Football” has Hank Williams Jr., the entire Country Music Hall of Fame, John Madden, Dennis Miller or Dennis Rodman.

Without compelling games, it doesn’t matter what Stern thinks about the media, the new rules (which he took years to address) or the state of his game.

Stern now has the prospect of two exciting sets of playoffs, the problem being they’re on different levels. The little East winner must ultimately play the big West winner with the odds again in favor of another short Finals with a downbeat rating.

Of course, stuff happens no one could predict. For Stern’s sake, it had better.

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West

A week ago, I had four West teams tied for No. 1, but that was wrong. It should have been five:

Lakers--They keep insisting no one can beat them but them, they’ll be fine in the playoffs when Shaquille O’Neal has time between games to rest his toe, etc. There’s a point where confidence becomes dangerous; if they’re not there, they’re close.

Spurs--With nine new players, including a 19-year-old rookie point guard, it took longer than usual to launch their annual second-half run. In the meantime, Coach Gregg Popovich called them soft weekly, owner Peter Holt said they were “in transition” and everyone wrote off David Robinson. Now they’re back and looking firmer.

They’ll have plenty of cap space in ‘03, so if it doesn’t happen for them this season, don’t expect them to go away.

Kings--Best record in the NBA, on a 60-win pace. They’ll look formidable in any series they have home-court but less so in any series they don’t.

Mavericks--Hard to believe they’ll stay afloat in the playoffs when the games slow down and the opponents will be a lot bigger than they are, but this is Firepower Inc.

Trail Blazers--It’s really hard to believe, but soft-spoken Mo Cheeks, an afterthought hire for General Manager Bob Whitsitt, who couldn’t get Jeff Van Gundy or Flip Saunders, started 13-18 and then turned this asylum back into a team. As another West coach noted: “These guys would have run Dean Smith out of coaching.”

The Trail Blazers are no longer physically imposing, but they’re still the game’s most versatile team, with five players (Wallace, Bonzi Wells, Damon Stouadmire, Scottie Pippen, Ruben Patterson) capable of scoring 20 points any night, three (Wallace, Wells, Patterson) whom Cheeks can post up and four (Wallace, Pippen, Patterson, Dale Davis) capable of getting 10 rebounds.

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East

Don’t worry about picking a favorite here, there isn’t one.

Nets--They were 32-15 at the All-Star break, 15-11 since, leading voters to consider more MVP candidates than Jason Kidd. Kenyon Martin, now their second-best player, is a special problem, convinced as he is that he gets all those flagrant fouls because everyone picks on him. This season won’t be long enough to fit in all the personal growth he needs.

Hornets--Bummed out by exit politics, hampered by injuries to Jamal Mashburn and David Wesley, they went nowhere until this month. With Baron Davis taking over, they’re also the East’s biggest, deepest and most talented team, but hardly its steadiest.

Pistons--Gritty, tenacious, small, with a deep bench that makes them tougher than they look. Should be in over their heads in elite competition, but if they keep overachieving, more power to them.

Celtics--If I see one more reference to a return to their glory days when they won actual titles, I’m going to be ill. They’re three-point crazy and could be gone in a flash, but their Dick Harter-devised defense is legit.

76ers--Allen Iverson hopes to be back by the playoffs, Derrick Coleman has a sore knee that will require off-season surgery and Larry Brown is where he usually is in his fifth season, assuming he lasted that long.

Bucks--George Karl, one of the brightest but most insecure men, even in coaching, found himself in a dream gig, with a doting owner, Herb Kohl, who raised his pay to $7 million a year and didn’t even expect much. Of course, this made George wackier than ever. Ray Allen and Sam Cassell have nagging injuries and Anthony Mason is there--at Karl’s insistence--in case any shred of happiness remains.

Magic--Another season (this makes three) in which Doc Rivers ducks the bullet with his name on it, but postseasons are something else. Great as he is, McGrady can’t pull this wagon long in the playoffs.

Pacers--Promising but still unformed team. Isiah Thomas, fascinating guy, is still looking for his niche, has yet to prove it should be in coaching.

Wizards--This season is over and next season hangs by a thread. Coach Doug Collins spilled the beans, saying he’d be “surprised” if Jordan returns and Mike sounds skeptical too: “I’ve been saying all along, if I’m not feeling good physically, I won’t play.”

It’s not a good sign when he starts saying this is what he’s been saying all along.

Not that they’re desperate, but the story on the Wizards’ Web site said: “Jordan addressed the media following practice Thursday and remained adamant about his commitment to the team.”

OK, let’s all go out there and love it live! The fortunes you’re saving might be ours.