Hi there. I perceive, as many of you do, that there is an anti-houston nba media bias (among national media types). I dont think there is a conspiracy but group-think can be just as effective for creating and driving narratives. I have a theory I would like you to either confirm or destroy about where this originates: The reason national basketball media prefers other franchises is because they don’t consistently threaten preferred nba darling franchises in key eras. Think about it: Jordan’s bulls, Kobe’s Lakers, and Steph/KD Warriors. The rockets have stood out as a legitimate threat to these franchises during these key eras. NBA media made/makes a ton of money off of dynasties like these because they elevate player reputations, increase conversation and jersey sales (nationally/globally) etc. The league has made a lot of money by turning Steph and KD into the face of the league. The national media have, in turn, made a ton of money by centering virtually all casual NBA conversations around KD, Curry, (and LeBron). Harden and the rockets threaten that. The rockets are bad for business. Tell me how I’m wrong and/or how this is obvious and/or how there’s already a million threads for this etc:
There's isn't. It's just a pro big market bias, like everything in the world. No one is sitting in a media room plotting against the Rockets.
That's not how media markets work. The Bay Area is not more populous than Houston, but Durant/Curry and a dynasty is a massive market. They bring clicks. Still there are easily 20+ teams that get worse coverage than Houston. Harden gets plenty of well deserved superstar calls. When we were first seed we got excellent praise in the media. People are just locked in the stupidity of believing what their social media algorithms show them is representative of the whole. Your social media is going to show you things that will infuriate you hence cause you to interact somehow. That's all that's happening.
Yes but you described a bias, I'm just saying there's no bias. It's not that the Rockets are a threat. It's that they prefer to get behind the ones who make most money for them, and Rockets like many teams are not one of those teams at this moment.
Hypothetically: if you were to take every NBA franchise’s best player and have a national popularity vote: where does Harden rank? My guess is he’s going to be towards the end. Why would national media spend time praising a guy like that or his team? I don’t think there’s a conspiracy.