3 things the NHL can learn from the NBA

The NBA is the fastest growing league for many reasons and their success could teach a lot of lessons to the NHL. Here are 3 things they can learn from the NBA.

The NBA is the best league in the world at attracting fans and promoting their sport. We always learn from the best and there are plenty of pages that the NHL can take out of the NBA’s book when it comes to managing a league.

Here are three things the NHL can learn from the NBA.

3. Logical Contracts

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The best players in the league deserve to be paid. In the NHL, the highest paid player is Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid who makes $12.5 million a year. The best hockey player in the world should not be making any less than $15 million, but because of the way NHL general managers sign their deals, McDavid isn’t getting his due.

However, the biggest problem is that mediocre players are getting big contracts too. On the Oilers, Milan Lucic makes 6 million dollars, half of McDavid’s salary. Lucic recorded 20 points last season, 96 less than McDavid. That’s ridiculous.

In the NBA, star players make the biggest piece of the pie, and the supporting cast splits the rest. The Los Angeles Lakers have Lebron James making $34 million a season, Anthony Davis makes $22 million, and the rest of the team doesn’t have anyone making more than $14 million.

The NHL is a team league, but the stars are what separate good teams from the great. If the league is filled with mediocre players making way more money than they deserve, then what happens is that teams can’t be as flexible as they would like and it becomes harder for general managers to build a Cup contending team.

If you go back to the Edmonton example, they have two phenomenal players in McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but the team is bogged down with cap issues. But it’s not because their star players are getting paid. It’s because their supporting cast is taking way too much of the pie.

2. Load Management

The average sports fan doesn’t pay attention until the playoffs. What makes the NBA so exciting is that the fans know that the star players are at their peak and are ready to play for what really matters. Both leagues are 82 games long and strong teams normally guarantee a playoff spot around February.

The 2019 NBA Champion Toronto Raptors used load management on star Kawhi Leonard in the regular season and it paid dividends for them in the playoffs. He didn’t play any back-to-back games and participated in 60 of the 82 Raptors’ games.

Load management isn’t just about rest – it’s about recovery and maintenance. The season before Leonard came to Toronto, he played only nine games due to a leg injury. The Raptors wanted to make sure that his injury didn’t reaggravate so they kept a close eye on him.

Obviously, NHL star players shouldn’t sit out all season until the playoffs, but seeing two teams who are actually healthy in the playoffs would be a nice change. The hockey season is a grind. Allowing players time to recover and maintain their health would go a long way in improving the game quality in the playoffs.

Fans don’t want to see an Erik Karlsson who can’t pivot because of a groin injury that’s been nagging him all season. They want to see him at 100%, playing the best hockey of his career when it matters most.

If a player has a minor injury that he says he can play through, sit him down. The NHL needs to recognize that they need these players when the spotlight is bright, and not during game 53 of the regular season.

1. Market Star Players

The NBA is great at letting their players be players by letting their personalities show off the court. Seeing that the stars you look up to are human and have similar interests makes the game much more appealing.

For a long time in the NHL, players had a “team first” mentality and they would suppress their real thoughts and personalities because they didn’t want to be a distraction to the team. Well, it’s 2019 and it’s time for this mentality to change. The best way to market the league is to market the stars that make the NHL so special. Instead of hiding them, let them be known to everyone – even if they’re not a hockey fan.

You don’t have to be a basketball fan to know who Lebron James is, or an NFL fan to know who Tom Brady is. You shouldn’t have to be a hockey fan to know who McDavid and Sidney Crosby are.

P.K. Subban is doing phenomenal marketing for the NHL and he’s really getting his name out there. All the media tours and interviews he does doesn’t just promote himself, but it promotes the league. If the NHL can do a better job at marketing their great players, it will attract way more casual fans into the sport.

Getting people to actually turn the TV on to watch a game or actually going to an arena is the first step and the NHL needs to find ways to attract people. Sure, the on-ice product is really important, but these people won’t see it unless they have a reason to.

Hockey is the greatest sport in the world. It’s fast-paced, physical, and high-intensity but the NHL needs to do a better job at getting people interested. The NBA grew big and grew fast for many reasons and the NHL can really learn a thing or two (or three) from the fastest growing league in the world.