I'll watch my Rockets, but outside that I'm done with the NBA

White Man can fly much?

 

GSW dynasty is starting to skyrocket NBA popularity. Wouldn't be surprised to see 40 million viewers in games 2 when they are on their way to win 4th, 5th championship.

 

Last year when the Warriors were blowing out the Cavs in the first couple of games, the refs started allowing more physical play so the Cavs could beat up Curry and extend the series. There is a huge incentive for the league to do that again. Watch for altered reffing patterns. But it's probably not enough, given that Warriors were already better than the Cavs even without Durant.

 

I wonder if the Finals viewership is going to translate to viewership/attendance across the league. The Finals are the highest profile event that the NBA holds, and ABC/ESPN/TNT can put the Warriors on as many national TV games as possible, but a big chunk of NBA's income come from local broadcasts and attendance in arenas. At some points, will fans feel that it is pointless to watch, say, a Clippers vs. Jazz or Rockets vs. Thunder game because these teams have no chance vs. GSW anyway.

 

Amen to that! Even better when it's the home team dominating and cashing spread, money line and over bets...but I digress, Astros are so boring right now.

 

There so many ways to bet now, and it makes it easier to root for these super teams. I remember I hated the 07-08 celtics and if this was 10 years ago I'd probably hate these warriors too except they cover so many spreads and routinely get the over for me.

 

cant believe those numbers and the games havent been close, imagine if these games came down to the wire

 

Man I miss David Stern. On the last night I just want him to come out the tunnel Vince McMahon style and **** on the Warriors parade, strip them of the title, and force them to beat every single team one last time in a 30 day gauntlet series. Then FIRE Adam Silver and sentence him to commissioner of the WNBA.

 

It's been Google box scores & YouTube highlights for me for awhile now...

 

Honestly, I really loved the NBA regular season this year. Good storylines all around, fun MVP races, some players developing into stardom, and most of the lottery teams at least have some rising star going for them. The playoffs have been pretty pathetic though, as they were last year. For whatever reason I can't bring myself to care about this Finals at all, I mean who wants to see the same two teams for the third year in a row? Even if Lebron evened it and we got a Game-7 I think I'd still prefer to watch the scorching Astros.

Wish NBA playoffs could be more like the NHL playoffs, but honestly how do you do that organically? To all those b*tching about the league, what would you suggest the NBA does to create parity? Manufacture close games? Break up the Warriors? Its all-around a tough situation.

 

I'm glad you realized game 6 against the Spurs was completely 'fixed' and intentional a Rockets Season shutdown imposed by Les and or the league.

 

Fox News is also the most watched news channel, that doesn't mean that its good though. People are just stupid and easily duped.

 

Silver has no ****ing idea how to run a company.

 

The Rockets are part of the NBA, how can I be done with it?

I won't watch it as much but I will follow it.

 

If I watch all nba basketball, but refuse to watch the mavericks, is it then safe to say that "inside of that I'm done."

 

I've grown a bit apathetic, but this is far from the worst the NBA has been for me. At least it was somewhat expected that the Cavs would compete. The East used to be complete joke in the early 2000s, the real finals was the WCF. That was a bad time. Last year was one of the best finals I've ever seen. The KD situation is not permanent and lots of teams will shake up during the offseason. Everyone that's bored to tears now will be back when the new season rolls around.

 

Well bye effeminate boy

 

NBA ratings were down this year in the regular season... we will see what the ratings are next season if the Warriors complete their demolition of the Cavs.

Simply having high viewership for the Finals does not sustain the NBA's business model. They need to translate it into viewership in what actually drives their revenue stream, which is more about the regular season. Why would ESPN or any local network overpay for TV contracts if it only means slightly higher viewership 2 months out of the season?

And another thing. Sure, having a few more casual fans tune in is nice in terms of higher ad revenue, but casual fans are still the ones who are going to cut their cable, not go to games, not pay for League Pass, or buy their merchandise. Once enough casual fans cut their cable, ESPN profits will continue to tank, and the next round of negotiating for broadcasting rights will be very dicey.

 

KD's already came out and said he's willing to take a pay cut to keep the core together. I don't think this nightmare is ending anytime soon. If they win this year they're guaranteed another 3-4 years maybe longer.

 

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