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“He’s a good player, definitely coming up,” Bynum said. “It’s terrible that he has to play in Sacramento. He could take his take his talents somewhere and really help a team.”
Terrible?
“Yeah,” Bynum said. “It’s not working out.”
This was a comment made by Lakers center Andrew Bynum during Friday’s All-Star Weekend media tour, about second-year Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins. It was a throwaway line that Bynum probably didn’t give a second thought to after he said it, and it’ll undoubtedly be buried among the many more high-profile storylines in play this weekend. But it was a strangely revealing sentiment, one that not only dovetails with the messy forthcoming departure of Dwight Howard from the host city of this weekend’s festivities, but also speaks to the state of the NBA star in 2012 in ways that can be difficult to stomach.
Market lust has become a status symbol among NBA stars, something that goes beyond the actual, tangible benefits of playing in New York, LA, Dallas, or wherever else. The phenomenon has gone beyond a group of stars deciding to control their destinies: the NBA’s biggest names flocking to the most venerable cities will be the legacy the 2010s leave in the annals of basketball history. And the irony is that in 2012, market size isn’t the end-all and be-all of a player’s ability to win fans. Kevin Durant is as lauded by the mainstream sports media as anyone, and he plays in Oklahoma City. Fans can watch Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love in Minnesota whenever they want thanks to League Pass. Chris Paul wasn’t exactly flying under the radar in New Orleans. Becoming a household name in a small market is harder than it is in New York or Chicago, but it’s not impossible, and it’s certainly easier than it was a decade ago. Yet, this is the time when the NBA’s best players are deciding they must play in cities with built-in advantages.
Howard’s impending free agency and the will-they-or-won’t-they trade rumors have been unavoidable this season, and their presence is magnified by All-Star Weekend’s visit to Orlando. However, unlike last year’s similarly ubiquitous Carmelo Anthony rumors, something about this round of superstar-wants-out feels off. Whenever I hear Howard talk about his future, I come away thinking his heart isn’t 100 percent in his trade demands. That’s not to say he wants to stay with the Magic, because I’ll be shocked if he re-signs. But I’m not even sure he knows what he wants, or ever has known. It seems as though he’s demanding a trade to a big market simply because he feels like that’s what superstars are supposed to do. That’s the culture LeBron James helped create with The Decision, during a summer that also saw Amar’e Stoudemire bolt Phoenix for New York, with Anthony forcing a trade there soon after. Howard’s act has a distinct air of “me too.†All the advantages big markets can offer—be it greater national TV exposure, opportunities to do commercials, or some vague idea of a player building his “brandâ€â€”are things the NBA’s elite have started to want almost out of obligation to their peers.
Even though Cousins has expressed a desire to stay with the Kings in the weeks following Paul Westphal’s firing, he now has players like Bynum in his ear telling him that developing his skills on the court is no longer enough to make him a superstar. This is, of course, not without precedent. Bynum’s comments and Howard’s soap opera coming in the heart of Orlando’s All-Star festivities brings up the specter of Shaquille O’Neal, who left Orlando for brighter lights and a bigger city in 1996, and in many ways laid out the blueprint for the modern-day superstar big man. Howard’s following Shaq’s lead as an inevitability; Bynum’s doing it in the name of self-preservation, as his job in LA may be displaced if that’s where Howard ultimately decides to go; Cousins may not even want to, but Bynum is leading him to believe he has no choice.
These three centers occupy various levels of the league’s food chain. Howard is the bona-fide superstar, almost inarguably the most dominant big man the game has seen since Lakers-era Shaq; Bynum isn’t on Howard’s level, but he’s the closest thing to it, and Howard’s current drama is affecting his career, since rumors are swirling that Bynum could be the centerpiece of a Howard-to-the-Lakers trade; Cousins is an up-and-comer with enough raw talent to eventually reach Bynum’s stature, trapped on a bad Sacramento team. Howard’s wanted out of Orlando for a while, and his efforts to place himself in a bigger market have trickled down to Bynum and, whether he invited it or not, to Cousins as well. Cousins and Bynum have a lot in common. They’re both noted head cases, and Bynum took a while to put his game together into something complete, just as Cousins is attempting to do now. It’s not hard to see why Bynum is taking an interest in Cousins’ development, or why he thinks the Kings aren’t the venue best suited to fleshing out his talents. That perception may not even be accurate, but all Bynum has to work with are his experiences and those of the superstar he might be traded for.
What’s interesting about the nonchalance of Bynum’s remark about Cousins is that his suggestion that Boogie should leave the rebuilding Kings isn’t even a radical idea. He wasn’t taking a dig at the Kings themselves as much as he was acknowledging the new reality of how stars are crowned, especially star centers. If Cousins really wants to raise himself to the next level, the new school of thought says, he has to go “somewhere†(read: a bigger market than Sacramento) and turn himself into a brand. Bynum got lucky—he was drafted by the Lakers and has won two championships there. Now, he’s perpetuating the idea that transplanting oneself into a bigger market is an integral part of the fabric of NBA stardom today.
