Flashing lights, stars, high profile guests, criminals. This isn’t Hollywood; this is what the NBA has become. Once a premier professional sports league in the United States with massive worldwide popularity and appeal, the NBA is now a place for athletes to show off and entertain those who pay money to attend a game. (I, for one, refuse to watch the NBA besides a select few teams–the Cavaliers, Celtics, Thunder.) Defense is hardly seen in games, and the players seemingly find new flashy ways to get the crowd cheering: fancy dunks, dribbles and passes.

The Phoenix Suns, for example, have the highest-scoring offense in the league. However, its defense ranks among one of the worst, causing the team to lose many games it should easily be able to put away with a little work on the defensive end of the floor.

The Boston Celtics, on the other hand, play on both ends of the court and have a record of 26-10, which is better than the 24-14 record that the Suns possess.

Another reason my respect for the league has gone down is due to the weak fines system in place. While being indefinitely suspended is a fair punishment, the action came almost a week after Gilbert Arenas had pulled the gun. You know that if Arenas had done this in a baseball club house, or an NFL locker room, that he would have been suspended immediately and probably banned from the game. The NBA could not afford to do that because he draws Wizards fans to the game, and by banning the player, the league would lose badly needed profits.

I will have no respect for the league until David Stern cleans up his mess of a league and proves that the players can entertain with their talent, not their flashy moves and ‘gangster’ attitudes.