No they aren't stop watching that Orange lying idiot, the ratings were fine.........the DAY ratings were less because most people work during the day but the evening ratings and others were fine. DD
https://theathletic.com/2026060/202...stop-nba-season-in-emotional-players-meeting/ LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Lakers and Clippers of Los Angeles voted to stop the NBA season in an emotional players’ meeting of all remaining bubble teams Wednesday, sources tell The Athletic, in a move that leaves many questions unanswered but could nonetheless bring an $8 billion industry to the brink. Following the postponement of all three playoff games Wednesday, due to the Milwaukee Bucks’ refusal to come out of the locker room for their Game 5 matchup with the Orlando Magic, in a protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, the remaining teams met at the Coronado Springs resort at Disney to decide what’s next. Only two teams — the Lakers and Clippers — voted to end the season, while the others, including the Bucks, voted to play on. Sources said the Lakers and Clippers cast their vote, the Miami Heat’s Udonis Haslem asked how the season could continue without them, megastar LeBron James got up and left the meeting, and the rest of the two teams followed. The meeting, which lasted about three hours and at one time included coaches, ended “ugly,” sources said, though another league source said the vote was more like a first ballot jury vote, with more deliberation to come. An NBA spokesman simply didn’t know what this all means for the league, its pursuit of crowning a champion, saving $1 billion in national TV revenue, and continuing its $180 million bubble. An emergency Board of Governors meeting was called for 11 a.m. Thursday. At minimum, it appears the three playoff games scheduled for Thursday, as well as the three postponed on Wednesday, will not be played in the next 24 hours. Sources said LeBron said he wanted more action from owners on racial justice matters; it’s possible the owners could put together an action plan that convinces the two L.A. teams to stay and play. The Bucks want the Wisconsin state legislature — controlled by Republicans — to convene and pass stricter safety protocols for police to follow. Perhaps the owners could agree to fund political advertisements or even campaigns for candidates who would support the players’ causes. Or, the Lakers and Clippers could simply go home, and their two opponents in first-round series — the Portland Trail Blazers and Dallas Mavericks — move on to the second round. Or, well, the NBA goes dark, exposing its collective bargaining agreement with the players to a likely cancellation, and putting the financial future of the sport in doubt. Sources said there was some frustration in the room with the Bucks, whose protest was last minute and not shared ahead of time with the Magic or any other teams. George Hill told the players in the meeting that he first sparked the idea of a “boycott” — the players’ word — and his teammates supported it. Most of them had completed their early, on-court work, and Kyle Korver was dressed in his uniform to play the game. The shooting of Blake took place in Kenosha, Wisc., about 45 minutes south of Milwaukee. Blake was shot seven times in the back, with his family watching, in an altercation with police that escalated. Since the NBA bubble was formed in early July, and even before it, players and coaches, and really, the whole league, has gone to great lengths to bring attention to systemic racism in America, and specifically the killing of unarmed Black people by police. The Bucks, Lakers, and Clippers are the league’s top three title contenders. A fourth, the Toronto Raptors, had several players considering a “boycott” of their second-round series with the Boston Celtics, which was to start Thursday. The Celtics were considering the same thing. “People are upset or angry and we’re just trying to come together and figure out a way how we can do something,” Celtics star Jayson Tatum said. “Obviously people are going to say, ‘Well, what is sitting out going to do?’ Obviously if we sit out a game or the rest of the playoffs, we understand how big of an impact that will have. Everybody’s going to have to talk about it, continue to raise awareness. “We don’t want to just keep playing and forget about what’s going on in the outside world, because it’s affecting us. It’s affecting everybody. We’re more than just basketball players; we’re people. And we have these raw emotions and feelings.” “I have heard a couple of our guys say that they’re thinking about going home,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “But I don’t know if that’s a team-wide thing. I think I’ll stay with my original statement when I said, ‘do you think it’s a good idea to go to the bubble?’ I say yes, I think there’s much more we can do here playing and using the platform.” The NBA’s top fear was the virus — the thing that stopped the season in March and necessitated a bubble in the first place. The league was sure COVID-19 would penetrate the bubble, infecting someone and testing the rigorous protocols put in place to prevent community spread. That didn’t happen — no one among the 1,500 or so living on Disney’s campus has tested positive. But the league had other serious concerns, and they’re materializing. The mental strain of the isolation, boredom, and restraints of bubble life is taking its toll on players and coaches. They’re admitting it — Paul George said he sought counseling before the Clippers’ Game 5 win over the Mavericks because of it. And also, that another instance of racial injustice would occur outside the bubble, which, in addition to being just plain bad, would also further enrage the players who had already spent weeks kneeling for the national anthem, wearing “Black Lives Matter” t-shirts and devoting press conferences to the cause. The mental anguish of bubble life and emotional distress of the Blake shooting were a dangerous mix, and it snapped something inside the players. “As much as we’d love to go back to our communities and stand with our people, we’re in this bubble and kind of isolated from everybody else, and I think that’s very frustrating,” Tatum said. “A lot of players have voiced that. I know some guys have talked about going home to be there instead of being isolated.” But Tatum and the Celtics voted to stay. As did most of the players still here. It’s just the aging face of the league, LeBron, the reigning Finals MVP, Kawhi Leonard, and current NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, whose teams either voted to shut it down or launched the protest that brought things to this point.
LeBron thinks he's the commissioner This never happened under David Stern, even during the Michael Jordan peak.
But the under-34 demographic generally has very little purchasing power and they aren't who fills the expensive seats
NBA ratings are really bad. Especially given the fact that there were no sports for 4 months and to come back and they are even lower. Yikes.
[Charania] Sources: The Lakers and Clippers have voted to boycott the NBA season. Most other teams voted to continue. LeBron James has exited the meeting.
Wrong! https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2020/08/19/nba-ratings-orlando-bubble-games Up during prime time, down during the day when people work. DD
- All teams boycott the season - except rockets - Rings - Tillman puts trophy on display in Golden Nugget CLUTCH CITY IS BACK BABY!
I'm not a lawyer. But I know that the NBA has a contract for TV. That's the main reason why we are playing games in the first place.
If they boycott the season the players, especially the younger non mega rich ones, will look back and compare this to the MLB strike in how it set back the sport. It’ll take 5-10 years to catch back up and cost the next wave of players mega millions.
