As a whole, the NBA has lost around 45% of its viewership since 2012.

[Dallas' 4 Eva]

Product sucks. Instead of admitting it people want to keep gaslighting us into thinking it’s anything other than the actually product itself.

Blaming streaming sites, blaming nba tv. Blaming analysts blah blah

None of that shyt is why ppl stopped watching.

Nobody really likes this 3 point shooting no defense brand of ball being played now a days. Also while players are definitely overall more athletic now a days they are not as complete of players skillset wise as players back in the day. Players back then knew how to play in the post, they had a mid range, they knew how to play real man defense. People need to stop denying the problem that's right in there face.

 

[Dallas' 4 Eva]

45% less viewership but they signing the largest tv deals they ever have

Players signing some of the largest guaranteed contracts in sports history but viewership is down. NBA max and supermax contracts look like European soccer contracts now.

Meanwhile the nfl viewership is through the roof but the best running backs in the league can't make 12 million a year

I'd say the game is more international now a days and the style of play reflects it. Giannis is Greek, Jokic is Serbian, Luka is Slovenian, Wemby is French. That probably does drive up viewership in those countries. Same reason why the MLB has so many Japanese and Latin American players. Europeans love basketball, like Japanese and Latin American people love baseball. Football just doesn't have that international appeal. US and Canada and that's really it.

 

[Road20]

League has told fans that the regular season is meaningless. People don’t want to waste their time watching something meaningless.

I think it was all the chip or nothing talk in the media that influenced this thinking honestly.

 

[Road20]

I will never understand the no defense argument. Players are on average covering about 15% more of the court than before so its easier to maneuver as an offensive player. Plus teams have all shooters on the floor so if someone drives the lane, who are you helping off of?

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

I will never understand the no defense argument. Players are on average covering about 15% more of the court than before so its easier to maneuver as an offensive player. Plus teams have all shooters on the floor so if someone drives the lane, who are you helping off of?

It's because these cats don't understand hoops.

Defense has had to become better because of all the extra floor space they have to cover and the advancement in skillsets, where more positions can put the ball on the floor and create their own shot. These nxggas quickly forget the eras where a player would ISO out one part of the floor (or backdowns in the post), and the rest of the defenders would just stand around watching (and resting in the process).

Players actually sprint around screens now trying to defend their man, which wasn't a thing in the 90s.


Look at how embarrassingly bad the defense is in this clip. Just straight up pathetic. No effort to close out or to contest shots.

 

[livindajetlife]

Yall keep saying cable like nikkas don’t illegally stream nfl too it’s too many games, they don’t mean shyt .. yall old heads was so scared of Lebron yall made regular season pointless so nikkas don’t even pay attention.. start the season at Christmas

 

[Mr Hate Coffee]

Too many games in a hyper short attention span era. Reduce the games to 50 and the rest of this shyt sorts itself out. Including the 3pt shooting. Every game meaning more= more defense being played. It also takes away load mgmt

 

[Road20]

It's because these cats don't understand hoops.

Defense has had to become better because of all the extra floor space they have to cover and the advancement in skillsets, where more positions can put the ball on the floor and create their own shot. These nxggas quickly forget the eras where a player would ISO out one part of the floor (or backdowns in the post), and the rest of the defenders would just stand around watching (and resting in the process).

Players actually sprint around screens now trying to defend their man, which wasn't a thing in the 90s.


Look at how embarrassingly bad the defense is in this clip. Just straight up pathetic. No effort to close out or to contest shots.

I'm in my 40's now, and I realized that people my age just hate everything now lol. Music, sports, clothes, TV etc everything "sucks". We were young so shyt made us feel something.

 

[Black_Jesus]

Make 3s worth only 1 point like free throws.. Problem solved

 

[IIVI]

The league needs a high quality, organic storyline.

The last high quality, high drama storyline was if Curry and the Warriors can win a legit one without KD.

They answered that and general interest afterwards has been mid despite the league being stacked.

The players are good, but the style of play makes them cookie-cutter Steph clones. That said, I think OKC and Houston are good stories right now.

Also, I do think a lot of these biracial kids add to the disconnect and image of the league looking soft and cookie-cutter. Sometimes it feels more like college basketball than the NBA with so many well-mannered coach’s kids. Not saying folks need ignorance, but this is probably the most squeaky clean and square the league has been. Again, straight Steph clones everywhere.

 

[Soldier]

The league needs a high quality, organic storyline.

The last high quality, high drama storyline was if Curry and the Warriors can win a legit one without KD.

They answered that and general interest afterwards has been mid despite the league being stacked.

The players are good, but the style of play makes them cookie-cutter Steph clones. That said, I think OKC and Houston are good stories right now.

Also, I do think a lot of these biracial kids add to the disconnect and image of the league looking soft and cookie-cutter. Sometimes it feels more like college basketball than the NBA with so many well-mannered coach’s kids. Not saying folks need ignorance, but this is probably the most squeaky clean and square the league has been. Again, straight Steph clones everywhere.

The usual suspects will still tell you that the NBA is a league of selfish inner city street thugs with cornrows and tattoos.

Today, The NBA is whiter(slow but steady influx of white players in the league-both foreign and local), softer, lighter(more biracials), less aggressive, less gritty, more sanitized, and much more kid-friendly than 20 years ago. The NBA is more much culturally appropriate, socially acceptable and politically correct than in the Malice at the palace era. The Early to mid 2000s era (2000-2005) had its fair share of « scandals » and « controversial players ». But what’s the excuses now?

racists just hate the sight of young, tall, virile, powerful, skilled , talented, handsome () black men making hundreds of millions and enjoying national/international fame. They’re making life changing money and are worshipped by many. The hate, envy, jealousy and resentment burning slow inside them (Nas- Ether)

Dark skin alone turns someone into a «violent thug » according to these racist bozos/losers.

 

[fifth column]

The problem is, this is a nuanced conversation

There is not one singular reason for why viewership has changed, and I feel like the disconnect is people make it seem whatever their gripes with the league are, is “the reason”.

If it was just about wanting a more traditional style of play, why aren’t ratings up for Nuggets games? They shoot nearly the least amount of 3s, their offense runs through their center who also operates out of the post more than any other player in the league. And he’s the most statistically dominant player in the league right now.

Shouldn’t Jokic have a legion of stans if that’s the case?

Except Lemedia won’t get off a certain player’s nuts and highlight anyone else

 

[Remote]

Except Lemedia won’t get off a certain player’s nuts and highlight anyone else

You really are sick in the head.
Seriously. There's some kind of Skip Bayless-level obsession you have with that man.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

I'm in my 40's now, and I realized that people my age just hate everything now lol. Music, sports, clothes, TV etc everything "sucks". We were young so shyt made us feel something.

Music deserves to get hated on. Unless it's someone like Kendrick

 

[CHERUB]

Shyt boring. I said this would happen years ago and got negged into oblivion. No personality lite brights and euros. the nba hates individualism. Tbh I only watch certain players Bron KD Steph...I like B miller and Melo a few others maybe. Who really wants to watch the celtics play? BORING. Cleveland winning but BORING. Who else? Sixers BORING