Tomorrow could very well be a pivotal day for the NBA -- not because of what takes place on the floor but what could happen off it.

Whether or not it is by design, NBA executives have created a perfect marketing experiment with the games they scheduled for Christmas Day. On the one hand you have the Spurs-Pistons matchup that has substance and embodies the idea of team play, as opposed to the Lakers-Heat game, which will be all about style and the relationship dynamics of the individuals who are playing in it. The ratings for each game could help determine how the league should sell itself going forward.

 Style or Substance?

Courtesy UPI

In the past, the NBA and Commissioner David Stern have used the names of certain players to sell the game. Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were pitchmen for the product and helped establish a worldwide following for the league. They were known simply as MJ, Sir Charles, the Mailman, Larry Legend and Magic, and they proved to be ideal representatives for their teams. However, in recent years, the NBA has been looking hard for their replacements.

They have used Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant along with Coach Phil Jackson to drum up interest in the NBA during the post-Jordan era. All three, of course, were once part of the soap opera that was the Lakers and each of them has been used to hype the game tomorrow. By now, even the most casual fan knows who Shaq, Kobe and Phil are.

That part is good for the NBA. But it still doesn't make up for the fact that  the NBA has lost a lot of ground since Jordan left. The NFL has become by far the most popular sports league and its appeal seems to grow each year. Interestingly enough, Paul Tagliabue has marketed his league through the teams, not the players. Fans turn out to see the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts, not just Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. Other franchises, like the Pittsburgh Steelers, continue to embody the qualities of their city. They have a rough, hard-hitting defense and a big, lumbering quarterback who looks like an everyday worker. They are part of the city's fabric.

In many ways, the San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons follow the NFL model. They are teams comprised of great players, but none of the individuals involved are superstars. Tim Duncan is unassuming and Ben Wallace does not produce enough offense to draw fans by himself. What sells the Pistons and Spurs is that they are more than the sum of their parts and they have the potential to be dynasties like the Patriots are in the NFL.

The NBA realizes this. It is why the matchup between the last two champions was scheduled for Christmas Day along with a game that has all the storylines, rivalries and glamour. By comparing the viewership both games attract, the NBA can see if it needs to alter its marketing strategy and follow the NFL's archetype. Tomorrow, the real matchups are not the Heat-Lakers and Pistons-Spurs. Rather they are are Individual vs. Team and Style vs. Substance.

As much as Stan Van Gundy proved a good sport by preaching the company line, no one in South Florida or the rest of the country believes that he resigned his position as head coach of the Miami Heat on Monday because he wants to hang out with his family. After all, for a man who has spent his life working his way up the ladder in the coaching profession, it is rather odd that Van Gundy suddenly realized that games, practices and road trips are time consuming.

Instead, Van Gundy appears to be the victim of a power play orchestrated by his star center Shaquille O'Neal and his boss Pat Riley. O'Neal, who returned to action Sunday after being out for a month with an ankle injury, had complained about Van Gundy's offense towards the end of last season.  O'Neal's frustration seemed to mount after the Heat's loss to the Detroit Pistons in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, when he lamented the fact that he did not get the ball enough in the closing minutes of the 88-82 defeat.

Less than a month after San Antonio knocked off the Pistons to win the NBA Finals, rumors began surfacing that Riley might return to coaching so he could work with the prized center he acquired the summer before. Riley, who had stepped aside from the Heat bench before the start of the 2003-2004 season after suffering through two dismal campaigns that saw Miami post a combined 51-103 record, reportedly expressed that he wanted to get back on the sideline after watching Van Gundy win 59 games and get to the cusp of the NBA Finals in 2005. Riley appeared willing to push his loyal pupil aside to get back to the top again. This really wasn't that surprising, because the man with the slicked-back hair and Armani suits had shown his true colors before.

Ten years ago, Riley suddenly resigned as head coach with the New York Knicks, citing "serious questions about authority and final decision-making." He had a year left on his contract and was only 12 months removed from guiding New York to its first NBA Finals since 1973. It seemed like a strange time to suddenly leave. However, Riley had been planning his departure for more than a week after the Heat began courting him with a more lucrative offer to take over its coaching duties. The Knicks filed tampering charges and eventually received a first-round pick and $1 million in compensation. Yet the bad blood that resulted from Riley's machinations persisted.

Riley appeared disingenuous then and he does so now, especially in light of the rumors that were circulating this summer. Riley explained Monday that Van Gundy's sudden resignation was a decision his pupil had made with no external influences. But it appears that a center's return to the court and a former coach's lust to roam the sidelines once again pushed Van Gundy to spend more time with his family, not a sudden epiphany that coaching in the NBA is time consuming.