Why The NBA Needs “Hard Knocks”

When Floyd Mayweather Jr. and “Sugar” Shane Mosley took center stage on HBO’s hit program “24/7”, they sat across a table from each other in a room that looked like one of the interrogation chambers from “Law and Order”. They bickered back and forth as Max Kellerman moderated:

Mosley: Remember at the Olympics at Turin, when you first was comin’ up, what were those words you said to me?

Mayweather: Whatever I said, I don’t remember. You can refresh my memory, but I still don’t remember.

Mosley: You said, “I think you’re a great fighter, and I want to be just like you when I get up in the ranks.”

Mayweather: Shane, I barely know who the f—k you are! What do you mean I wanna be just like you? How I wanna be like you. Come on, man. I’m the face of boxing. I’m the cash cow. I hold the record for Pay-Per-View. Me.

Real drama. HBO concocted a setting in which the brash, cocky Mayweather could tell the aging Mosley straight up: “I don’t give a crap about what you’ve done. I’m next. I’m coming to take your crown.” Of course, boxing is based off of this type of ridiculous pre-fight hi-jinx. For every big fight, the two fighters share a dicey press conference in which the underdog gives thanks for the opportunity and the favorite thanks the sponsors for the chance to earn more millions in a mop-up fight. Tempers then flare.

But HBO’s “24/7”, now in its 10th installment since 2007, has found a way to go beyond the press conference, and instead has taken you into the lives of these fighters as they train, prepare, and talk trash. Heck, we even got an inside glimpse of the glitzy Floyd Mayweather Gala as he squared off against his father in a dance off. Classic stuff.

Of course, the blueprint of this program was the hit show “Hard Knocks”, which originally aired leading up to the Baltimore Ravens’ 2001 season. But the formula may have been mastered with 24/7: The 2011 NHL Winter Classic, which took an inside look at the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals as they prepared for the biggest game of the regular season. Baseball even got into the act this summer with The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants and DJ3K, both gritty inside looks at the lives of baseball players. What if something like this existed for the NBA? Of course, NBA players seem to like and respect one another, but could you imagine if Durant could sit across a table from Dirk and say: “Move aside big guy, next year it’s my turn. I’m the man now.” Or what if we could watch LeBron trash talk Kobe as he tossed his 50-pound medicine ball of the wall? “I’m coming for you.”

Yeah, and as much as I love “Hard Knocks”, I think we can all admit that we’re getting a little tired of watching third-string quarterbacks like Kellen Clemens waltz into the GM’s office in flip-flops, and try to negotiate a contract to stick around another year. You know what? I really don’t care what Nick Mangold stuffs his face with in the morning post-practice buffet. Antonio Cromartie trying to name all eight of his children? Yeah, it’s entertaining, but it’s been done.

The point is the NBA needs more of these types of programs. They gave it a shot the last two seasons with The Association, a miniseries that followed around the Lakers in 2009-2010 in their pursuit of another title and this past year as Boston sought revenge for the Game 7 loss in the Finals. But the blueprint for this show did not deviate very far from NBA Inside Stuff of the late-’90s. Sure we got to see Kobe and Phil Jackson try to teach Ron Artest the triangle offense, but why am I supposed to care about Ron’s “get-to-know-the-neighbors” beach football game with random L.A. residents? Let’s see more of Kobe mic’d up, chewing out Big Ron after a boneheaded three with eight seconds still on the clock at the end of the first. Or what about inside footage of the Mavericks partying it up at Club Liv in South Beach after winning the title on Miami’s home floor? Tell me you wouldn’t rather watch that than, let’s say, the Dallas Cowboys’ Felix Jones and Martellus Bennett tied to the goal post getting the hose treatment from the veterans in training camp. Yes, we already saw that scene back at Chiefs camp in ’07.

Everyone knows that NBA players are the most entertaining. They carry around at least one smart phone and probably a flip-cam too. The lockout has only made these players more available, more out in the open. Heck, I saw Steve Nash twice in one day last week! Let’s get a camera crew to follow around an actually interesting ball club (i.e. not the Lakers or the Celtics). I think Kevin Durant, with his plethora of off-season activities, streetball appearances, his sometimes unwieldy relationship with teammate Russell Westbrook, and his pursuit to get to the Finals would be perfect. The Chicago Bulls might make for some entertaining television, with such a mish-mash of different personalities and ethnicities. Hey HBO or Showtime, that’s two episodes right there! The only hard part will be getting permission from the Czar, David Stern.

What team or players would you want to see on a reality show?

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