Does Winning Really Matter In The NBA?

In some cases, yes. In others, well...

As kids, we’re taught a couple of things as it pertains to sports. For one, we learn pretty quickly that people like you more when you win. On the other hand, losing is a stain on your résumé that remains till you redeem yourself through better play. It’s often a cycle or “doom loop” if you want to refer to it in economic terms. Though participation trophies are handed out more today than they used to be, one thing still remains: winning matters — or does it?

For you NFL fans, you might be wondering that yourself. On Wednesday night it was announced that the Dallas Cowboys would be retaining head coach Mike McCarthy, despite the team’s consistent poor play in the playoffs. After losing to the Green Bay Packers in embarrassing fashion, it looked like McCarthy was going to be the first out the door. Instead, Cowboys’ owner/leader/seemingly immortal conquerer Jerry Jones chose to keep the guy around. This then raised the question for many fans: does Jerry Jones actually care about winning? One of the things that came up in many a comment thread was the fact that the fans would keep showing up regardless, so Jones didn’t necessarily have to do anything. After all, nothing says a successful season like over a billion dollars in revenue, right?

Then I looked over to the Chicago Bulls, who have refused to make any trades for what feels like years despite their mediocrity. As a franchise, the Bulls feel very similar to the Cowboys, with both teams riding the coattails of what they used to be instead of the extremely disappointing things they are today. So the gears in my head started to turn (and probably need some WD-40) as I began to think: does winning really matter to NBA owners? Should it?

There are a couple of answers to that question, and even some of it is a little subjective — but let’s try to find out anyway.