Madrid Miracle NBA Champs?

So the NBA is thinking of crossing the Atlantic and starting some franchises over here. Mr. Stern is actually postulating that the NBA brand is strong enough to warrant opening new markets over on the continent (or at least, Madrid, London, Berlin, Rome as far as we know).

The potential for 24 hour game days (start in the afternoon in Italy, continue with an evening game in England, then just several hours later you could have games starting in New York, then Detroit, Minnesota and finally L.A.) is huge. NBA TV would have serious round the clock original programming. If you are a punter that wants to see everything, you're going to get so little sleep.

Of course it's a great opportunity to see the big stars of the NBA in Europe more than once. The Kobe's, the Shaq's, VC, the Boston Three, the Spurs Collective, would all have to come to the old country at least once every season. Saves me a ticket to the States.

I however doubt if these wild plans have any chance of succeeding. The sports culture for starters is severely different on both sides of the Atlantic. Americans decide their championships in playoffs, where success and failure is determined only and solely by winning the final game. Americans believe in Cinderella stories, and their sports leagues allow that story to propagate itself.

In Europe however champions are usually decided based on season long performance. You have to be pretty good all year long, if you want to win. You don't need to peak as much at the end, as long as the long-term performance was better than the others. It also means that if you're bad, you're bad. No redemption for you. No final playoff spot, or wildcard that can save your season. If you're toast, you're bread.

Bringing the American league system to the European mainland is to introduce the Lie to the audience. The Lie is that, no matter how bad you are, how unworthy you are; you can always win at the end, as long as you make the postseason. Also no matter how good you were, how much effort you spent to become the top dog in the league; if you lose in the playoffs, all that energy is wasted. You are not always rewarded for your performance. That is the Lie, which I think the Europeans will not buy into.

Maybe I underestimate the NBA brand a little, but I don't think a team such as the Madrid Miracle will be a long-term franchise (although my opinion may change if Team USA proves to be the second coming of the Dream Team come August).