NBA Schedule 2012: Disrespect by the Numbers

NBA Schedule Release Day

Every NBA team plays the same number games in the regular season. Most games are shown on television somewhere, but not all games are created equal because some get shown to a national audience. Maybe I'm too sensitive about this but I see these national telecasts are a badge of honor. It's a sign that people believe in your team, or at least that a TV executive does. It's exposure for your players. Some nationally shown games run unopposed on the schedule meaning most of the league can check you out. For lack of a better way to say national TV is mainstream love for those who get chosen. For the teams that don't, it's pretty much the opposite of what I just said.

The Hawks have 6 National TV appearances this year. 3 on ESPN and 3 on NBA TV. Better than Charlotte, but it sounds low for a season (tied for 20th most in the league). How many games did we deserve? When trying to decide if that is a fair amount of coverage nationally, you should first consider that there are 216 National TV games this year. That means 432 appearance opportunities or about 14 per team (we are low). Then you can factor in market size, we're not New York, LA, or Chicago, but we're not small either. Then you look at finish and changes to the roster. Last year we did finish 4th in the East in spite of not having one of our top players for almost the entire season. Are we that much worse this year? I guess the TV decision makers really like Joe Johnson.

Rather go on a long rant and type ATTICA over and over again, I decided to provide the numbers compiled from the schedule at nba.com and let you decide fair or unfair in your comments.