Essay Sample on Trends in Basketball

Introduction

Basketball is one of the most interesting games in the world. It was invented over a hundred years ago by Dr. Naismith. This game has grown in both popularity and tactics, and it is the second most famous game in the world after soccer. As it continues to grow, Basketball has metamorphosed into many trends and fashions. All the trends and fashions in basketball later converge to a simple act of dribbling the ball and putting it into the loop more times than your opponent. Unlike in the past, today basketball coaches emphasize much on forcing the players to the corner and baseline for defense. Basketball amateurs across the world are learning these trends on YouTube to keep up with the change. Also, the defense technique in the basketball game is changing, and the new trend for defending is running with the player you are guarding to ensure they don't get the ball. This trend has grown rapidly, and basketball communities across the globe have embraced them. Additionally, dribble drive offense is another trend in a basketball game that has turned basketball offense upside down in recent years. Unlike the traditional "triple threat position" tactic, the dribble drive offense emphasizes dribbling while driving the ball without paying much attention to ball screening. This is the latest trend that is taking over in all the communities across the globe with fans learning them through social media posts by the basketball legends who are brands for the game. These trends are continuing to spread in many countries with stars like Yao Ming and Manu Ginobili playing a crucial role in popularizing basketball trends in China and Argentina respectively without forgetting legends like Kobe Bryant and Iverson. Globalization of the hometown team is also another big trend in basketball. This has grown the team's market through mobile technology and social media.

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SWOT Analysis of Basketball Trends

Strengths

Basketball trends can be linked to the availability of game legends like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Lebron James. These stars act as brands for the basketball game and the trends in the game can be greatly associated with them. Also, basketball game has large fans followers who are loyal to the game and are always updated on the trends in the game. Such fans have impacted the spread of basketball trends by sharing the clips on their social media networks. The strength of the basketball trends is the excellent broadcasting and merchandizing of the basketball game. This has helped the trends to reach a large population in many markets across the world. Additionally, the presence of various competitive leagues for a basketball game is a big strength for the trends. Professional leagues in America such as MLB, NFL, HNL, and NBA have enabled this game to attract many fans thus making an impact on the spread of basketball trends across the globe. Moreover, the presence of celebrities in many basketball events with some being players is the strength of the basketball trends. For instance, Chris Brown is a famous pop music artist who likes playing basketball. His social media networks have many videos that he posts practicing basketball trends in many cases. It, therefore, implies that his followers get such trends through his social media platforms. Finally, many basketball teams have vibrant Facebook and Twitter accounts where they interact with fans, create conversations add events, or even have their players talking to their fans directly. For example, Kobe Bryant has a video on YouTube where he is teaching some of the basketball trends. The video has over 10million views.

Weaknesses

Some of the weaknesses facing the basketball trends are the inadequate spread of basketball game in most of the European and Asian markets. Although the basketball game has many fans in the US, most of the European and Asian markets remain untapped, and the trends have less penetration to those markets. Also, although there are competitive leagues for the basketball game, there has been a lot of one side-affair case, especially with the hitherto creation of "super teams." This angers the fans since they feel that there is less competition in the leagues and they can even predict who will play the championship in the next season before the end of the current season. Additionally, when the management of some basketball teams concentrates on a few players instead of the whole program and team, fans get angered, and sometimes they lose interest in watching the games. Such a weakness affects the basketball trends to the fans. Also, high ticket prices are a big weakness in basketball games, and are GRE affects basketball trends. Few people can afford to watch a basketball game. Most of the best teams in the four major basketball leagues charge an average of $58 to attend a game. The value is average, and we can have charges for VIP seats going for up to $500 per game depending on the teams playing. The rate is expensive for many fans who would wish to watch the games live. This weakness has affected the spread of basketball trends to the fans. Some teams face drug allegations thus affecting their global reputation negatively. For instance, the Syracuse basketball team has faced drug allegations in several cases which led to a decrease in its global position and the loss of many fans to other teams. Consequently, the fans would not be in a position to check any basketball trend from the club's website.

Opportunities

Many opportunities exist for basketball trends. First, the organizers of basketball games should develop strategies for tapping the global fan outside the USA through organizing exhibition matches in European and Asian markets. Such markets have many potential fans that are only lacking exposure to trigger their interest. Moreover, there is an opportunity for the basketball teams in the USA to bring on board more Asian players who will work as ambassadors of the basketball game and the trends. People are easily influenced by their own. Therefore, the inclusion of more Asian players in American basketball teams will make it easy for games' popularity to grow in the bigger Asian market. Also, there exists an opportunity for the basketball trends to become a truly global game by bringing in more international players to join the four famous professional leagues. For instance, soccer has grown popularity in African due to much incorporation of African players in the big football leagues across the globe. Similarly, basketball teams can spread the trends by seizing such an opportunity. Massive use of social media to air live the basketball matches is also a great opportunity for the basketball trends. For instance, the "live" feature in Facebook can surely help the playing team reach many fans across the globe which will later develop an interest in learning the trends. Also, writing articles on basketball trends is an opportunity for the basketball trends. Many people across the globe can read such articles, and it will affect their loyalty to the basketball game positively. New technology can also ease the hassle of accessing top league basketball games. The major leagues such as NBA should give subscribers to their websites an opportunity to watch their games in virtual reality. Such a move will enable the basketball trends to spread to the fans quickly.

Threats

Basketball trends are facing threats from other games like the popularity of soccer in the USA and the football skills trend. More fans are getting interested in football trends thus robbing basketball fans and endangering the basketball trends. Also, other American sports such as baseball and ice hockey have continued to grow rapidly, and this poses a threat to basketball trends. Fans are turning to the upcoming games to reduce the beauty of creativity in basketball trends. Additionally, the future of basketball trends is undetermined owing to the cropping of doping cases that have threatened the credibility of the league as well as the trends since the journalists focus more on the team investigation rather than the game and trends. Moreover, bad coaching is a threat to basketball trends as it reduces the possibility of coaches coming up with unique tactics for the benefit of the team. The loss of funding is another threat that faces basketball trends. For instance, if the people who run social media for specific basketball teams lack funding, then access to trends in basketball will be blurred. Finally, data interpretation is a major threat facing basketball trends. Many basketball teams receive the team's data, but they lack experts to analyze and interpret the data. This is likely to affect the fans based on the data they receive from the team's end.

Conclusion

Basketball trends are continuing to spread across the global market. Many youths are now playing basketball incorporating the new patterns of a dribble and drive offense as well as baseline defense tactics. I would encourage more use of technology to ensure that many youths who are playing basketball across the world get access to basketball trends from the major league's websites. Trends in basketball are important at triggering the evolution of the game thus adding its beauty every time. The world is very ready for basketball to take over and defeat the other games. Therefore basketball trends will lift the game to higher heights. Rapid youth participation in basketball games in urban areas implies a tremendous impact of basketball trends on youth's social life. Cognizant of the fact that in urban areas there are land limitations, basketball trends will help a lot in improving the way youths spend their leisure in urban areas since basketball pitches need a small size of land. The impact of basketball trends on communities across the world is evident on the way it helped in cultural development in America through various movies and dramas such as the "Hoosiers" film which is based on a real-life story on winning a basketball team. The development of basketball trends can help more youth come together regardless of their race thus fostering peace and integration across the world.