The thing is, whether right or wrong (and I won't get into what I think is right or wrong, because this is the GARM), if all the leading figures of the league basically talk down to half the country as if they were morally reprehensible human beings for not agreeing with these leading figures, it is not that surprising that a certain percentage of that half of the country gets turned off by that.
Biggest issue to me is accessibility. I think the product is actually pretty good all things considered. Teams are shooting better and at a higher pace. Several hard nosed defensive teams. Tons of parity. I think it's just trendy to hate on it, but really NBA is up it's own ass about accessibility. I watch sketchy streams almost exclusively for this reason.
do not deny the obvious they wacked half their fan base who actually pay the bills with the political bs do not pretend it was not a factor it was and is a huge factor
Rockets are at a good point. Watching a legit rebuild builds memories and loyalty. But if we drafted a Lebron, it could go away at any minute. If you're not living in a big city players where want to build a superteam around, it's hard to build that new fanbase or even draw fans from other cities. I guess Giannis made a culture with the Bucks and is an exception, but whatever. I'm still doing pure streams because **** the refs.
Too much Black Lives Matter and politics = players are too Black to too hip-hop The players aren't as good as they were in Lebron's prime = the post-MJ era sucks team shoot too many 3-pointers = isolation ball isn't fun to watch all the points here are just new versions of old arguments familiar to anyone over the age of 30. Everything that's old is new again. Popularity moves in cycles in all sports. The NBA has dipped before, many times over history, and always come back. I swear, the way some of you talk it's as if you're not aware that most of conservative America bailed on the NBA after Jordan retired, or that there was a small popularity crisis when teams could barely average 90 points a game, or the endless debates people would have about why Steve Francis and the Rockets' one-on-one offense was bad for basketball. The only question is whether 'coming back' translates into ratings, given that TV -- or whatever replaces it -- obviously isn't coming back. That'll be a problem when the media rights are up next decade.
If you look at the ratings on a yearly basis it has always correlated with superstars at their peak. When woke Lebron was at his peak is also the last time ratings were better. When I was a kid the majority of my friends and extended family were at least casual nba fans. Once MJ retired and Shaq left the Lakers most of the casuals left too. All the guys I work with that gripe about woke nba when I engage with them about basketball to figure out the last time they watched it's always back to MJ era or Shaq/Kobe and most never really watched. I mean, even if you look at clutchfans from as far back as when I first started lurking on this forum, it's obvious that culturally conservative folks haven't been a part of the core nba audience for decades. Far before the term woke was a part of the vocabulary of the masses. The nba stopped going after the demographic that has a problem with cornrows and rap music a long time ago (or whatever the culturally conservative concern with its players is of the time).
How many of you guys are old enough to remember Derick Harper hand checking his opponent the entire game, and it wasn’t a foul in the mid 90’s. The paint was not for the faint of heart. Besides MJ, everyone earned their fouls because the refs didn’t really live on the whistle. Back in the 90’s it was a wonder to score over 100 points, only the elite offensive teams could pony up 100+ every night. Nowadays, allowing a tad over 100 points is likely the top defense in the league. But in my opinion solid defense makes for a much more palatable viewing experience.
There's truth to some of this but Stern implemented a dress code in 2005 for exactly this reason. The peak of the "NBA is too woke" was ~2019-2020. Even with Covid and the bubble Lebron winning a title with the Lakers probably would've been a bigger deal for presence of the league if it was not during such an intense cultural and political moment with the league on a very clear side of that. I don't think many folks are actively tuning out the NBA anymore because it's "too woke." I do think there are a non-trivial amount of casual fans that just sort of checked out on the league around 2020 for that reason and haven't had a compelling reason to come back. As many have said, there are a lot of factors behind why the NBA ratings are pretty bad right now and there's historical precedent for this type of thing as well. I'm not at all worried the league is on it's way to becoming the MLB but the 90's era will probably never happen again either. Most are right that the main thing to bring the league back to mainstream popularity will be the league having an updated version of Bird/Magic, Jordan, Kobe+Shaq, Bron, or Caitlin Clark. But the NBA has some structural challenges with each team having 82 regular season games and up to 28 playoff games that aren't as great of a fit for modern sports broadcast consumption habits.
The key elements are the same for all entertainment: The story has to be interesting The characters have to be interesting ( Bird, Magic, Kobe, Jordan, Lebron, the Bad Boys ) (They need to grow and develop ) We don't know what the outcome will be ( Magic vs. Jordan ) We need to root for or against someone, the story must evoke an emotion in us ( joy, hate, sadness, excitement ) We need to escape from reality So do we have any of these key elements right now.... It's storytelling. The NBA can initiate that. The players have to fulfill it. but in addition, there can't be other forms of entertainment options that are better.
Well this says it all. You truly are fuc$ing hateful idiot. I was right. It goes beyond basketball. It was never about Basketball. To you it’s about race and the left which you clearly hate. Jalen Green is just another outlet for your hate. You’re a fuc%ing hateful piece of shi+. It reflects in how you think and your expressions on this site which are all assumptions and shallow observations and bias. You and your ilk. It all makes sense now. Thank you for this post. Very enlightening.
facts on one side … then this on the other The World Series in 1978 had a rating of 32.8. 2023 it was 4.7. Did baseball also alienate 90% of their base with woke bs? the challenge of arguing with a political group whose demographics are defined most easily by their lack of education is, well, their lack of education. To them, everything is a symptom of whatever cultural bogeyman they have been told to hate most recently. Data, broader macro trends, and the world outside of themselves don’t matter - screaming from talking heads and what they can see in their own suburban bubble is what matters. Linear TV ratings are down MASSIVELY for everyone in the last decade. For the NBA there is also a correlation to major market team success. All the rest is performative whining by snowflakes who are offended at the idea of thinking beyond themselves.
Unsurprisingly you have the dumbest possible take. There was literally nothing hateful or even controversial in what I said.... those are just the reasons for the decline in viewership, but of course you throw a temper tantrum anyway. It's so predictably pathetic.
it never matters what you say. But now it’s clearer why you think and feel the way you do. The hatred and resentment is deep within you as I suspected all along. Really not a surprise. Thanks for the insight!
Lol explain yourself kid... random non sequiturs just make you look unhinged. Are you just trying to get people to laugh at you? Since I'm amused by your outburst, what "hatred and resentment" do you think you are babbling about?
I don't see political stuff having anything to do with NBA ratings. I think the problem is just that people consume the game differently now. They watch clips on YouTube or TikTok instead of the full games. (One could argue that is a symptom of a bigger problem, and I would agree.) I also think another problem is the lack of interesting, American superstars. Jokic, Giannis, Luka. All great. All foreigners. American superstars are the aging Steph, KD, LeBron. We need Ant or Ja or someone about to be drafted to become a charismatic superduper star (although Ja's opportunity might already be over). As far as the very casual NBA observer is concerned, the league is just about LeBron and/or Warriors/Steph. And it has been for like 15 years. Ho-hum. Boring. Not interested.
