The Knicks made headlines with their decision to forgo in-game music during the first half of Sunday’s games against the Warriors. As Andrew Joseph of USA Today wrote, the result was a genuinely interesting example of what professional basketball games could be.
We know now, per Chris Haynes of ESPN, that Draymond Green was not a fan of the experiment saying that it interrupted game flow but Joseph and Kenny Ducey (whose videos were embedded in the USA Today piece) aren’t the only ones who appreciated the gesture. Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post thought it was a good idea, too.
Not only did the stadium avoid the in-game music that typically plays sporadically while the clock is ticking and during timeouts, it served the national anthem and starting lineups acapella as well.
What do you suppose you would prefer at the next professional game you attend? And would this differ if you were a player who had grown accustomed to playing under certain conditions?
Finally, should it be up to the discretion of each venue to determine whether music gets played during games or should there be some element of uniformity throughout the league?
Weigh in below!
Dray is full of s***. I think it was a great idea. Maybe not every game, but what’s wrong with an acapella night on occasion? Most other sports don’t need noise playing when the game is happening, why does basketball? How is the lack of music even distracting? Dray really needs to learn what his nose and ass are for.
He also called it”pathetic” which I can’t understand at all
Well, this is normal in leagues around Europe and international tournaments as well. No music during gameplay, which allows the crowd noises to be heard. I like it.
It’s ridiculous to have music at all; it’s like they’re afraid the game isn’t exciting enough.
In Europe we don’t have music and it allows the players to concentrate and the crowd to create its own tension/atmosphere.
Not to mention that the music in NBA games is abysmal
I’m also a fan of no music during gameplay. Breaks and timeouts are fine, just not when the game clock is running. I like the occasional racetrack tune on the house organ, but that’s it.
Look at how baseball operates with the music. I want basketball to mirror this and it should be a mandatory rule.
I use to like Green but ever since last year I can’t stand him. He has just been finding anything and everything to complain about and doing just that. And he shouldn’t worry about the music shouldn’t he be more focused on the game?
If the NBA doesn’t mandate this league-wide (which it should), I’m really hoping this idea takes off and other arenas follow suit.
I remember way back when as a young kid I first noticed this, I asked my grandfather, “how are they allowed to play music while the game is being played?” Obviously he didn’t have an answer for me, because it’s ridiculous! Finally the Knicks got something right…
I’m sort of indifferent. I think it’s a cool idea but they probably should have tried this out during the pre-season rather than in March when all the players are used to a routine. So I can get the player’s gripe about it disrupting their normal mindset. Draymond completely overstates things and now seems like he’s just complaining about stuff or saying outrageous things to generate hits to his podcast, etc.
I think players/fans would get used to it and I think most would actually come to appreciate that you can hear everything that goes on on the court from the coaches yelling to the players talking trash or calling out plays. It reminds me of a high school game or a small college game.
We’ll see if other teams do it. But like I said…should probably have been tried in the pre-season and not during crunch time of the season.
If you want to listen to music, there are plenty of opportunities to go to a concert or a club. There aren’t any other places to go to listen to a basketball game.
I liked it able to enjoy it