I think youre taking the wrong approach on this whole topic. I used to consume NBA at a pretty high level: watching full games (outside of my team), interested in big matchups, checking for specific players/teams, seeking out analysis/reactions/breakdowns, closely following all the player movement with trade talks / free agency, etc, etc
I don't think it's the wrong approach, at all, to point out the inconsistencies and hypocrisy around the complaints about how folks hate how the league has turned into a glorified 3-pt contest, stripping it of all its elements they used to love about it, yet the best player in the league is out here posting up, shooting middies and is a throwback big man, yet folks still find a way to hate on him, not ever speaking about him in glowing terms of what the league should be about.
Cats says they want the game they love back, but they don't like the best player in the world who's giving that to them. Trying to get folks to speak about him in a positive light is like pulling teeth. Some on here just straight up refuse to acknowledge how he's proven them wrong. Instead they'd rather harp up on about how they don't watch the NBA anymore, despite somehow having the strongest opinions on it as if they still watch it.
I couldnt tell you one matchup that would catch my eye enough that I would seek the game out, I dont keep up with the league in any meaningful fashion. I dont care to consume ANY of the media surrounding the NBA. I find it all incredibly boring and non consequential. People around me feel the exact same way. I dont know anyone that follows the league like that anymore.
I guess that speaks more to your gripe with how the NBA is covered than anything else. It seems the talking heads, hot take, controversial, contrarian nature of NBA discourse has worn you out, to the point where it's become the straw that broke the camel's back, after you were already hanging on by a thread dealing with a decade of the Bulls being irrelevant.
I bet the NBA would drag you back in if the Bulls had a period of dominance winning 1-2 titles because it would give you a reason to be invested in it again.
Go ask Celtics fans if they find the NBA "incredibly boring".
People around me feel the exact same way. I dont know anyone that follows the league like that anymore. TV ratings tell me the same thing, people arent watching games.
The people around you are of a certain older demographic, which aren't in any way reflective of NBA fans, as a whole.
The only thing TV ratings indicate is that cable is trending towards extinction and that fans choose different methods to consume the NBA. Furthermore, TV ratings for regular season games are hardly an accurate measurement to begin with, given how many times a team plays a week. It's not like the NFL where everyone has got to tune in on that one day to watch a team play. If you miss a NBA team play one night, you can either catch them the next night on a B2B or the following night.
You can blame cord cutting or whatever else, but its pretty clear that people just arent watching GAMES anymore. There is so much content out there these days, and people have put the NBA aside for other things. I cant stress enough how much of this sentiment is shared amongst nearly everyone I talk to IRL too, its basically universal around me. And I see it more and more online too. Its real, and it should be concerning for the NBA.
Globally, people are watching NBA games more than ever before because it's accessible to them now, when once upon a time it wasn't. Basketball has never been more popular, but yet you seem to think that the circles you move in are concerning for the NBA when -
30% of Americans are fans of the NBA, up from 27% in 2019, a new report finds.
Marketing news, voices and jobs for industry professionals. Optimized for your mobile phone.
www.marketingdive.com
Between 2016 and 2023, the number of basketball participants in the U.S. increased by 33 percent (
U.S. Americans who played basketball 2023 | Statista)
The number of NBA fans in this country has increased; the number of basketball participants in this country has increased.
And there's this -
After several months of negotiations, the NBA reached an agreement with ESPN/ABC, NBCU and Amazon Prime Video in a new $76 billion, 11-year contract. The media rights agreement begins with the 2025-26 season and represents an increase of 160% per season compared to the current contract.
A $76 billion media rights contract doesn't sound like the NBA should be concerned now does it?
also I couldnt feel any differently about football --- I find the games interesting, competitive and have a strong desire to watch and keep up with everything going on in the league
Expanding on what I said earlier - the media coverage around the NFL is more palatable, the game hasn't drastically changed like the NBA has, watching and following the NFL is less time consuming than the NBA, the NFL is condensed to a smaller window which is naturally going to bring more parity and competitiveness.
Most of all, football has never really had a down period (because its part of our fabric as a country), even if the product, itself, doesn't remain the same, it still has being
America's favorite pastime to fall back on. Hoops doesn't have that. It's why there's this perception when something is different about it, it has no safety net. When MJ retired for the last time, we saw the perception of the league going through a transitional phase where all those fans that were glued to their TV sets solely because of him no longer had that same interest.
Every single NBA era during modern times has had its detractors, so I'm not sure why you're acting like something is different now. Even the players, themselves, during the 90s were shytting on the product.
@Gil Scott-Heroin you have a strong reaction to this topic obviously, but my feelings are not me being disingenuous. At my core, I find the whole thing BORING, period. I dont really need much more justification beyond that as a consumer -- and its very evident to me I am not in the minority. I think the league should be concerned why so many people feel that way.
I'm not debating about whether anyone finds it boring or not (we all have our own preferences). Older generations found the 90s and 2000s to be boring; past players criticized those eras too because they deviated from the game they knew.
My point of contention is the excuses folks use against the game today which don't add up, not realizing that the game is not dying and is as popular as ever.
no zone no help the good old days*
“But but but Jokic!”
