I think all of you guys have hit on the points of why NBA isn't successful and when you put all of those together, it equates lack of success. 1. Not promoting teams/franchises, like the NFL or MLB, or is it the over promotion of the stars. 2. Season and playoffs are way too long, I've said that personally, the first round and possibly the 2nd shouldn't be any more 3 or 5 games. Especially, when you don't get to see all of teams play on national TV (TNT/ABC). Some teams would have played 4 games in 7 days, most weekday games. Again, I said most games should be near or on the weekends with only one or two during the week. ABC seems like it is very much disinterested in basketball, especially if there is no Lakers, Celtics, Kobe, or LeBron involved. 3. The Brawl at Auburn Hills, this event got more coverage on ABC and other networks more than 4 of the last 5 NBA Finals. I didn't think it was that big of deal, since players fight all the time. But, many pointed to Ron Artest running up into the stands...it got crazy from there from what conclusions most media outlets were jumping to. 4. There is no more MJs, Larry vs. Magics, or even Wilt's out there...I think for everyone who grew up in 80s and 90s got spoiled off the type of talent that was in the league. 5. Lack of talent at the center and point guard position Watching great athletic dunkers/scorers, like MJ, Nique, and Clyde Drexler and having at least 8 - 10 teams who had centers who could be all-stars and 13 to 15 who had all-star caliber point guards (in fact, most of them had been all-stars at one point). If you look at 90s and see how many good to great point guards who were in the league at time, you would fall out of your chair. 6. The Great White Hope? I do think the league would be somewhat more popular, if there were more white (Americans) in the game. It's natural, because that's the biggest demographic in this country. Look at how many votes Luke Ridnour had this year for the all-star game. So, instantly you have disconnect. It's not one of the primary reasons, but it is good reason why people are disinterested in basketball, because it is filled with certain stereotypes...which I won't get into. 7. Overpriced compared to other sports... 8. Officiating, Officiating, and Officiating. . . It might be the "most poorly" officiated game in all of world sports with NFL following. The referees couldn't get call right to save their lives, almost every game in the playoffs, I've seen at least 2 to 6 bad calls in....one quarter. It's almost to point, where I think they should only call rough or hard bumping (knockdowns) fouls, and even after 4 team foul limit, teams should just take the ball from out of the bounds and only get free throws on harder fouls and shooting ones. I also think the illegal defense (is illegal at every other level, except the NBA), hand-checking (which is a defensive fundamental), and 3 in the key (is allowed in other leagues) should be changed. The style of play has been great in every decade, but the officating hurts that though...it doesn't let players play the game or it tries to favor a certain style over another. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association_criticisms_and_controversies
As a native Texan I never watch or pay any attention to Highschool sports but then again I grew up in Houston not in the boonies out west where there aren't professional sports.
This. The whole concept of being a fan in any team sports is to follow the team as a whole, not one individual. Stern did a shrewd marketing move that made the NBA what it is today by marketing the stars like Magic/Bird and Jordan, but it's bad for the league when those identifiable stars aren't around anymore, and the new stars can't quite capture the attention and interest of the fans that the old stars generated.
The popularity of basketball in the cities and the suburbs and the dichotomy that exits between the two is probably the main reason. I used to live in Los Angeles and now I live in a suburb of 75,000 people. In LA, I could get a game anytime and yes most of the time the games were with "minorities" where I live, the population is around 70% White and I can barely even see people playing at the parks but when there are games, usually its the minorities who are playing again, it just doesn't seem to have a similar following by the white youth in this country. They'd rather be skateboarding,off-roading,biking,etc. That maybe one reason, but there probably are a few other reasons.
I'd believe they have a place in the NFL. My point though is more about the public perception of which sports use drugs and they don't acknowledge the most prevalent case.
Ummmm..no it's not. Record attendance and rapidly increasing revenues that have caught the NFL's revenues in the last few years. MLB has never been healthier. The only place I ever read/hear that it's suggested otherwise is an NBA forum that I visit!
