Don't you want to see the Atlanta Hawks?  Sure you do.  You know Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Childress, and Al Horford, because you watched them in college.  You know that Josh Smith is a stat-sheet stuffer that's even more exciting to watch than his numbers indicate.  And you know that they've got a serious shot at breaking the longest current playoff drought in the NBA.  So you want to see them.

I hope you've got the NBA League Pass package, because otherwise you're screwed.  They're not on ABC once the rest of the season.  Or on ESPN.  Or on TNT.  Or even on NBA TV, which you at least get if you get most sports cable/satellite packages.  Nope, there's no Hawks anywhere on the schedule, nor are there any Philadelphia 76ers or Charlotte Bobcats games (and though they're not playoff bound, Andre Iguadola and Raymond Felton are really worth watching).

But you know what you can see on those networks?  Shaquille O'Neal's fat ass hauling itself up and down the court alongside Dwyane Wade and his bum shoulder for an 8-25 ballclub.  Yep, you can catch the Miami Heat, one of the NBA's five worst teams, 16 more times on network or basic cable TV this season, plus another five on NBA TV. 

How about Ben Wallace's overhyped game?  You get 16 more chances to see him and his Chicago Bulls struggle to get back into the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Meanwhile, New Orleans is in great shape to make the playoffs, and boasts young stars like Chris Paul and David West.  You'd better be free this coming Friday night, because that's the only chance you'll get to see them this season (fittingly, playing against Miami). 

Would you like to see Dwight Howard, perhaps the most exciting player in the NBA, and his Orlando Magic, who are way out in front of the Southeast Division?  You get two more chances to see them; don't you feel lucky?  Well you're luckier than the folks who were hoping to see Chris Bosh and his Toronto Raptors, because they played their last game on basic cable last night.

I'm sure that the NBA will say that people want to see superstars, and that's why Miami and Cleveland (who is struggling to get to the .500 mark) are on ABC six times this season.  Maybe they need to realize that these superstars might not get very far in the playoffs, and if they gave themselves the opportunity to swap out games with below .500 teams for ones involving playoff bound teams so fans can get more familiar with them and get them interested in seeing them go deep into the playoffs.

Or they could just keep jamming Shaq, LeBron, and Kobe down our throats.  It could go either way.

NBA espn, shaq, abc, atlanta hawks, tnt