College Basketball is better than the NBA
With March Madness and the NBA Playoffs just around the corner I wanted to really put down on paper why I enjoy watching college basketball far more than its professional counterpart. If the NBA is winning in the money aspect and the players make way more money while playing virtually the same sport, then why is college basketball better? The answer is that the players and coaches simply care more. The way college basketball is structured requires players to be at the top of their game almost all the time where the NBA has a far more laid back approach.
The first major reason why college basketball is more interesting to watch is that the players are playing for their team not just themselves. For 95% of college players the NBA is not an option, so they play harder because they know any game could be their last. The NBA is so focused on who can score the most points and have the most rebounds and assists that the incentive is no longer about the team but individuals themselves. Basketball is a team sport but the NBA has become a sport that worries about statistics and big names than the sport itself. College is overall better because the teams play more as a team and they give it their all every game
The second reason why college basketball is better is the postseason. In my opinion March Madness is the greatest postseason in all of sports. With 68 teams in a bracket of single-elimination games anything is possible and the players know that. The threat of losing to each team makes every game thrilling with upsets happening all over the place. Unfortunately the NBA Playoffs come nowhere close to matching the intensity and excitement of March Madness. In the NBA 16 teams make the playoffs and each series is a 7 game matchup with the first to 4 wins moving on. This essentially takes away the one game excitement of a win or go home threat to both teams. The NBA does this because they want to make money and it makes sense, but the appeal is lost through this system. To me it is far more interesting to watch people playing for their love of the game than the money the make.
To me college students playing for their teammates and universities will always be more exciting than adults playing for money. The NBA has become a money producing machine focused way more on how much revenue they produce than the basketball being played. College players simply have more incentive to give it their all during the postseason because any game in the tournament could be their last. NBA players only really care about their stats for a paycheck than their teammates and they just can’t compare to the passion of college players. All in all college basketball will always be more exciting than the NBA.
