[jammin' jamey]

If you are blaming the loss of intrest in NBA on international players then I can justly blame you for war in the Middle East. Players such as Allen Iverson with comments on practice, Rasheed Wallace always gettin T'ed up and ejected, the overall thug appeal the league has is why no one cares anymore. You say international players I say too many kids playing in a man's sport. Look at how many hgigh school kids entered the draft in the same time span. International players can actually play the game. Our home grown American players can only dunk and are too worried about their image. In short the NBA is dirt with few exceptions.

I think the downhill spiral of the NBA is a combination of several things. Thugs and thug appeal like Amun-Ra has mentioned is a big part of it, as is the International flavor because neither appeal or reflect the mainstream American viewing audience. It's not a race thing either. Whites/Blacks alike worshipped Bird, Magic, Jordan. They were classy guys with blue collar backgrounds that appealed to mainstream America - the Red States folks on the East/West coast ignore. Even a team like the Detroit Pistons with Lambier, Rodman, Thomas, Dumars, Vinny "the microwave" Johnson and others was appealing because they reflected hard working Americans, not thugs and foreigners trying to change the game.

I loved the NBA 10 years ago. Watched the draft coverage. Huge Patrick Ewing fan/Knicks and I loved the days of McHale, Parish, Bird and the C's.

LeBron is the new face of the NBA. He has a chance to resurrect the league. He's clean cut and winning for a city that hasn't celebrated a championship since the Indians on a World Series some 40+ years ago. What makes it better is that he's from the Toledo area and that gives fans something they can relate too. Who can really relate to Kobes/Rashheeds? Not me.

LeBron has to win a championship first though, and that requires a better supporting cast than he has now. The Cavs will retool their roster in the offseason.