Player Introductions

Wednesday night figured to be just another ordinary matchup between the Chicago Bulls and the New Orleans Hornets, but before the game could even start, the Hornets discovered something which may change the way pre-game player introductions are done forever.

When the game of basketball first started, back in the early NBA and ABA days, pre-game introductions did not exist.  Then teams started to try and find unique ways to introduce the starting lineup to the fans at the arena.  They would turn out the lights and play some music as the names of the starters were read.  Up until Wednesday night, that would have been the protocol at New Orleans Arena, but instead the Hornets struck gold.  Comedian Will Ferrell introduced both the Bulls and Hornets starting lineups, plus a fun made-up fact about each player.  If you have not seen the video, click here it is one you must see.  After watching the video I believe it is something every team should attempt to do, for several reasons.  

This is something which will draw more fans out to the arenas around the NBA.  People pay good money to see both NBA games and comedians separately, but together the combination would just be plain good for the game of basketball.  Not only is it a great talking point to get fans talking about the team and the game, but it would create more of a buzz about the home team.  Buzz the NBA seemed to lose once the lockout hit and the season started late.  The NBA had a lockout at the worst possible time, the league was rising with stars such as Lebron James and Derrick Rose, but with the season starting late people just continued to watch football and ignore the start of the season.  Most people seem to have a negative image of professional basketball players and having pre-game introductions such as the one the Hornets had can only help the image of the league and its players.  David Stern, take my advice and look into having something such as this permanent, there is hardly any downside other than the fact you would have to shell out some money to get the comedians there (but in what business do you not spend money to make money?), but it will be well worth it.  The upside is tremendous with more fans in more stadiums it will only help the league grow to the point where it was at before the lockout and beyond.  If this happens, boy I can not wait to go see a Utah Jazz (my favorite team) game and see who they have lined up and the funny things he/she says.  Until then, I can only wait and hope they take my advice.