Passion. It is something hard to find nowadays in the National Basketball Association. Some of these paid athletes look at the regular season as a joke, while college players are playing their hearts out in an effort to convince the NBA scouts that they belong in the big league. Some college athletes are playing just as hard knowing it might be their last time playing basketball at such a high competitive level. There will be some people that might argue the truth in this, but there is definitely no comparison when it comes to the difference in passion between professional and college basketball.
This difference in passion really grabs the attention of the viewers. There was a time when there was equal passion and love for the game between both levels of basketball. It is amazing to look back at basketball in the 90s. Whether it was Michael Jordan winning all six of his championships, or the revolutionary University of Michigan basketball team being nicknamed the Fab Five, the fans and the players were filled with much more emotion and love for the game overall than what we see now. If evidence is needed, all that is necessary is sitting down and watching a couple of games.
The NBA has fallen off the map partly due to the rules that have been instituted in recent years. Whether people like it or not, a major part of this game is trash talk and intimidation. It was never about getting in anyone’s face; it was about getting into their head. But the NBA has really cracked down on flagrant fouls and altercations between players. The NCAA has also done some similar things, but the game has not lost its integrity because of the passion these young college athletes have for the game.
Even when it comes down to the end of the season, the playoff format for college basketball is much more exciting than the NBA. It is a highly competitive race to the finish in a 68 team, single-elimination tournament. Every team plays the best basketball they have learned to play all season as they try and put together six straight wins to call themselves NCAA Champions. The NBA has four rounds of a best-of-seven games matchup. This can sometimes cause fans to lose some interest compared to knowing that it is a win-or-go-home situation in college basketball.
At the end of the day, you have the world’s best players showing their skills on the same court, and it does not get much more interesting than that. But now that they have made it this far and are getting all the money and fame, they treat their jobs as easy and feel that they have less to work for in comparison to these college players who are fighting to be the best player they can be.
