Welcome to The Circuit, a monthly newsletter about the intersection between sports, culture, history, and numbers. Subscribe using the form at the bottom of the page.
May Newsletter
Uniquely American: 20,000 Lost Teams Under The Sea
Everyone has a love story. If not with a person, likely with a sports team. Perhaps their love started at a young age, watching their team score more points than the other. Or maybe their love developed later in life after a cross-country move. For the lucky few, sports mean National Championships, elite players, and an exciting stadium atmosphere. For others, the risk of horrible trades, poor management, and relocation looms over them. In the United States, a sports team relocation happens at a jarring rate. No team is safe, no city is safe, no fan is safe.
Last month, I wrote about the day the NBA decided to relocate the Seattle SuperSonics to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a move that hurt fans and caused a revolt against the lies politicians and the NBA told. Through my research, I found a phenomenon in which sports teams in the United States can pack their bags, their players, and worse, their history, and relocate to a completely new city that has no connection to its old city. Seattle isn’t the only victim of team relocation– Cleveland, Hartford, and even Brooklyn fit in this category, too.
April Newsletter
On This Day: The Fate of the SuperSonics is Decided
On this day in 2008, the NBA Board of Governors gave approval for the Seattle Supersonics to relocate to Oklahoma City in a 28-2 vote. After two years of rumors, speculation, and disappointment, the legendary Supersonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
To look into the story behind the deal, we have to go back to 2006 when Oklahoma City men, including Clay Bennett, acquired the team from former Starbucks CEO and majority Supersonics owner, Howard Schultz.
In the Battle Between Front Office and the Court, Does Anyone Win?
Coach Michael Malone of the Denver Nuggets and Taylor Jenkins of the Memphis Grizzlies were both suddenly fired in the last month. The decisions were especially confusing since both teams are likely to make it to the playoffs.
What is curious to me is why, in teams that fail, there seems to be such a battle between front office executives and coaches and players. Why do owners think they make the right decision for the team and players?
It’s a fascinating culture topic and one I hope to cover more in depth in future articles. It’s also one that was emphasized by Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr.
March Newsletter
Why Not Soccer? Our Current Relationship with the Sport in the United States.
To understand why soccer is not a major sport in the U.S., we have to understand why soccer is a global sport. In short, it brings three continents together – Europe, South America, and Africa – through a single art form. Many countries in these three continents all compete in soccer at the international level and participate in the World Cup as a fierce contender. On top of that, there is no presence of another team sport that has the history, cultural ties, and money pouring into leagues like soccer does. It is just soccer.
In the United States, soccer competes with three culturally important American sports: basketball, baseball, and American football for the attention of American sports fans. While the big three have leagues that exist outside the United States, they are not at the same level. The same way in which MLS exists in theU.S., but it is not nearly at the elite level as the Premier League, La Liga in Spain, or Ligue 1 in France.
February Newsletter
What the TGL?!
If the words like “Tomorrow Golf League,” “simulator golf” or people like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlory have no meaning to you, let me give you some background. Golf began back in the 15th century in Scotland… ok, not that kinda background.
If you know anything about golf, you likely know that it’s a game played outside, on real grass, and usually when it’s blisteringly hot out. Although the PGA Tour, (Professional Golf Association) is played all year round, its biggest championship is in May. Other golf majors (majors are the golf equivalent to the Super Bowl, but there are four of them) such as the U.S. Open, The Masters, and The Open Championship are also played during the summer months. These summer months are golf’s “peak season,” conversely, golf’s natural off-season is during the winter months. This off season is crucial for players to develop their game and become stronger. This is also how golf has traditionally been. However, what happens to the game when companies stray away from traditionalism and break into something not only modern… but futuristic?
The Position No Team Wants: The Fate of Second Place.
There is no prize for runner-up.
If you’re not first, you’re last.
Or worst of all: Nobody remembers second place.
All of these quotes detail the harsh, but honest reality of being a runner-up.
January Newsletter
The Jimmy Butler Timeline
I told myself I wouldn’t write two basketball articles in a month, but I couldn’t help it. The news about Jimmy Butler was so fascinating to me that I just had to say something.
On Jan. 2, at a post game conference, Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler said he wasn’t feeling the “joy” on the court anymore and wasn’t sure if that joy was going to come back to Miami.
The next day, the Miami Heat suspended Butler for seven games “for multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks.” They also said that his “actions and statements” have shown he doesn’t want to be a part of the team and the Heat are open to listening to other offers.
Chasing Points: Why has Defense in the NBA Decreased?
The other day, I read a story in The Athletic about the NBA’s downfall in viewership. This is what the comments had to say:
“Interest is absolutely down. The NBA today is beyond boring – a bunch of 7-footers shooting 3s… No offensive strategy. No rebounding. No defense… and that stupid in-season tournament that means absolutely nothing and, worse, includes the awful uniforms and vomit-inducing courts.” (Anonymous)
“Vomit-inducing courts” is a bit dramatic…
“The product sucks, the culture sucks, the politics of the league and their attitude towards their fan bases sucks.” (Alex E.)
And my personal favorite, short and sweet:
“Your product stinks Adam. Zero interest!” (Stephen O.)
It is really difficult to pinpoint one reason for the NBA’s recent lack of interest. There are dozens of possible reasons as to why viewership is down– boring games, boring play, lack of rivalry, lack of story, the length of games, number of games, social media highlights that youngsters enjoy more than watching a three-hour game, and more. The list could (but will not) go on.
This article started out as an investigation into the lack of defensive strategy in the NBA, however, it took a life of its own and merged itself with other topics currently plaguing the league. To answer the Defense Question (DQ), I had to look at a variety of data from two different NBA eras. I decided on the 1996-1997 and 2023-2024 season, mainly because 96-97 was the first season the NBA started to record these advanced player and team statistics but also because we are able to see some significant changes from only two decades prior.