The NBA has officially entered the NEW era of basketball. 2_ year Head Coaching veteran Jerry Sloan is probably the last part of the “old school” NBA that existed in today’s game. The simple explanation for Sloan’s resignation is that both the game and more importantly its players have changed. These days players are valued more by franchises than the coaches that coach them. The commercial appeal, branding and entrepreneurship of players in today’s NBA is unmatched compared to the 80’s and 90’s. From the days where Magic and Bird were the only players with featured sneakers on the Converse line or Michael Jordan created his own line of sneakers from the Nike brand a lot of things have changed. Corporate brands have followed suit and offered border line all-stars to endorse their sneakers like Steven Jackson, Monta Ellis, Al Harrington, etc. Obviously the superstars like Lebron, KD, CP3, Deron Williams and more are being offered multi-million dollar contracts which has caused today’s superstars to have their own agendas on top of their teams. With word from a trusted NBA insider, Deron Williams was supposedly changing flight times to stay nights in certain cities as most teams fly out the night of games. Obviously he wanted to make his presence known in the nightlife of major cities to extend his brand and network. So my question is, is the days of NBA superstars simply focused and prioritizing basketball and world championships over? If I was Jerry Sloan and came from an era where basketball was the #1 priority, I would resign too!
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