Ruler of the World-The NBA

This is the first of a possibly recurring feature based on the premise that I rule the world and can make changes in said world.
Keep in mind some of these are silly,some are things that would be useful if they truly happened and others are just things that I would like to see.

In our first column,I take over the NBA,which has evolved from a passion to a barely casual part of my life.The NBA needs help and I'll try to give it with both ideas to help and change things that bug me....

1) The NBA establishes a franchise player rule to help smaller cities keep their stars.
This could be known as the LeBron rule.
As I noted last week about Hank Steinbrenner's ludicrous thoughts on smaller cities-if something isn't worked on in sports,then just have eight team leagues and be done with it.
I understand if money is the issue to leave a town,but we can tinker and make the franchise player fair salary wise and if the small team doesn't want to pay that cost,that is their call.
Under this rule,Cleveland,Toronto,Denver,Utah and coming soon New Orleans would all have their star attraction and be in playoff contention instead of watching them fly for pennies on the dollar or no return at all.....

2) Kick the draft lottery to the curb.
If a team wants to tank a season that is their choice in order to add a franchise changing player in the draft.
It might not make for interesting late season games,but it sure beats losing and having the luck of the draw (or David Stern) determine your future....

3) Immediate name changes for all teams using the singular term.
Goodbye Miami Heat,Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder!
This is one of the dumbest things in sports,next to only the idiotic Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim mess in baseball.....

4) The Washington Wizards return their silly name and return as the Washington Bullets as they should be complete with the old Elvin Hayes red,white and blue unis.
Abe Pollin's well intended but ultimately useless decision to change the name to a less violent nickname needs to be changed.
Hell,this happened years ago and I STILL call them the Bullets!
Besides it can do nothing but help my game used Jimmy Black home jerseys worth!!!

5) A new salary cap goes into place without the ten thousand exceptions and provisions that currently litter the landscape.
One number and you stay under it-Period.
You might talk me into the old rule of exceeding the cap to keep your own players as a way of building your team and keeping local fans happy,but that is it.
You should not need a Economics degree from Princeton to figure a cap for a 12 man roster!

6) The following teams need to return to previous logos,uniforms or colors immediately!
Washington-Name change,old uniforms and logo
Milwaukee-Back to the Buck with the basketball spinning on its hoof (?) logo and the forest green..
Cleveland-Original logo
Atlanta-Red uniforms
Denver-Logo with the miner with the pick and basketball
Utah-Green uniforms
Dallas-Original logo and either the green or blue uniforms,their choice as I liked both....
Phoenix-Original logo and uniforms-The Suns uniforms went from super classy to maybe the worst in the league and get rid of that stupid PHX on the jersey front.
It looks like an ad for an airport!

7) Change the All-Star game to a true charity event.
Assign each team a charity and the winning side donates two million and the losers one million.
Imagine the goodwill and rooting interest with the American Cancer Society and Habitat for Humanity each getting nice checks.
The charity changes every year and you can only be selected once every five years....

8) Set small zones for bonus points-If you drill a shot from mid court to the free throw line of your defensive zone,it is worth four points and further back than that five points.
Makes the end of quarter and half a bit more exciting doesn't it?

9) Eliminate the playing of music DURING the game.
No problem with during time outs,but when the ball is in play,I don't want to hear Dr.Dre!!!

10) The ball used is the red,white and blue of the old ABA.
The ball looks better live and on TV,the rotating colors makes the ball appear slower in the air via optical illusion and we will sell the hell out of it to kids making money!!
This also accomplishes one other thing-the ABA ball is a terrific ball to teach shooting fundamentals with it and maybe it becomes used at all levels to help the game down the road.
Why a marketing guy like David Stern didn't do this 25 years ago makes me wonder what they are thinking about!

11) Considering the NBA is the most vulnerable to game fixing (See Tim Donaghy's corruption) and just awful arbiters (See Dick Bavetta in any playoff game involving a marquee team),the league starts a new program for officials to train them full time from day one and will be unafraid to fire bad refs.
If not for the fact,we have to start somewhere,I'd fire all of them now for creating this mess of not calling fouls on the superstars...

12) And finally,we give Michael Jordan the acknowledgments that he always has deserved.
One for being the greatest player ever.
And the other one for ruining the game.
Bear with me and check the link out to read as we go along.
Eliminate the "Bullet" comeback season and look at his Bulls stats.
With just one exception at 19.8,Michael Jordan never played a full season without shooting twenty times or more per game.
Granted,that is what it took to win,but not everyone looks at things that way...
To the less nuanced watcher,that screams look at me!
Combine that with his dominant attitude and constant needing the ball in his hands,Michael Jordan and his indisputable greatness influenced the game in the most negative manner possible.

Tons of players grew up watching Jordan and to this day attempt to play the game his way,with one small problem-THEY ARE NOT MICHAEL JORDAN!
Michael Jordan gave us Tracy McGrady,Vince Carter and the list goes on.
Mid sized swingmen that can be spectacular dunkers,but hog the ball,don't handle it well at all,shoot a low percentage,usually have tons of turnovers,have a it is not MY fault attitude and generally make fans scream at the top of their lungs for help!
Thanks Michael and No thanks as well.....

Feedback on this appreciated,if it is well received,I'll think about adding it to the feature rotation....

Photo Credits
Logos:Chris Creamer's Sportslogos.net
Others:Unknown