Titans of Basketball

"A groundbreaking five-year, $50 million deal between the NBA and NCAA not only includes ambitious goals for overhauling youth basketball but also marks a new level in the relationship between two powerful organizations that, until a couple of years ago, had never sat down together"

"This is a historic deal," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will coach the U.S. men's Olympic team in Beijing this summer and who has been a longtime proponent of revamping youth basketball. "It's going to make basketball in our country better. That's the motivation. To help kids, but to make the game better."

The former BAA and NBL is now the world's most powerful basketball organization. In 2008, the NBA and NCAA enter into their first joint venture to address the quality of basketball in the United States and begin to address the rise of European Basketball. This will produce a more consistent and higher quality of basketball player and possibly prevent some of the most talented players from slipping through the cracks. But, I question the motivation. The bottom line is both the NBA and NCAA make billions from basketball. The fuel for their engine is players. So, this initiative is about making money but also upgrading the quality of basketball to compete with the rapidly improving basketball in Europe and the emergence of the European Super Leagues

"It was never clear why we didn't have a relationship, but what we learned is that our agendas are very similar, and that is to grow the game of basketball," said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. "For both business and basketball reasons, we needed to be brought together, and as everyone introduced each other, it became very clear how much everyone owed to the game."

The NBA is a multi-billion dollar organization, which operates various subsidiaries that promote the interest of the association. In a 2008 issue of Forbes magazine, the value of the NBA franchises exceeded 10 billion dollars; the league's annual revenues were $3.5 billion. To put the NBA's wealth into perspective, the league's annual revenues are equal to the Gross Domestic Product of Barbados and more than another 43 countries in the world.

"CBS is paying the NCAA $6.1 billion over 11 years for the rights to telecast March Madness. The economist Andrew Zimbalist notes that advertisers will pay CBS an estimated $100,000 for a 30-second spot in the first round of the tournament, and the rate will increase to $1 million for a 30-second spot in the finals. The NCAA will take in nearly $600 million between the TV rights and ticket sales, assuming last year's numbers are a reliable guide. This accounts for 96 percent of the NCAA's annual revenue."

Is there any question why the NCAA needs the story of the McDonald's` all-American, who is a guaranteed 1st round NBA draft choice playing for the national championship before he jumps into the NBA? As much as football is promoted as the lead sport in the NCAA, basketball funds the vast majority of the NCAA's activities. Without basketball, the NCAA is financially poor. The NBA, NCAA and to some extent the AAU are the self-appointed stewards of basketball and wield tremendous power and influence over basketball in the United States. Yet, the contribution of these Titan's in urban communities around the world is indefinable.