Why is NBA Media so much worse than other Major Sports

[SchoolboyC]

Lowkey NBA discourse even among fans has always been kinda trash

Back in the day I used to regularly have ppl try and argue w/me that prime Shaq sucked

It was always nikkas throwing out crazy ass hot takes at the barbershop or at the lunch table

What changed is having paid analysts say the ridiculous shyt on TV and making debates around said hot takes the focal point of league discourse

 

[FTBS]

The league needs a Michael Jordan more than ever

Welp he is 61 and probably not in the greatest condition (relative to a top level basketball player that is) right now . League can't do anything about that.

 

[Don Homer]

Today's NBA media is geared towards haters. simple as that

 

[FTBS]

Jordan wouldn't be idolized the way he was in the 90s. Social media exists, and there would be a Skip Bayless on ESPN or NBA shytting on him for clicks every news cycle.

Skip was hating on Mike in the 90s. I remember clutching my pearls as a young Jordan stan People still appreciated athletes back then and journalists were still held to a standard and there was no social media so it didn't catch on like it did when he started with Bron.

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

NFL/MLB doesn't let big media downplay the past, and that is also instilled in the players. you might hear the occasional stray opinion from nfl players along the lines of 70-80-90's "janitors and plumbers", but their peers without fail push back and dismiss it

28 minutes in of this interview is a great example, djax is a big ego himself but he emphatically pushes back on mccoy downplaying the past greats. keep in mind this is their own thing, desean doesn't have anybody in his ear or a pre show producer telling him to defend past greats but he does it anyway



nba will bring up an oscar robertson if their records are in danger of being broken. Other than that? Crickets about past legends.

every yankee fan knows about past greats from the 60's or earlier, their broadcasts/national media won't allow otherwise. NFL fans know about historic defenses and offenses from 20-40 years ago. the steel curtain, ravens defense carrying trent dilfer to a superbowl, LT, 90's broncos, etc etc...

Can thank Ed & Steve Sabol/NFL Films created a lasting legacy that fans remember historical moments from decades ago.

 

[FTBS]

When you think about it, the 2010 free agency changed the way NBA media operated forever

That was when LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Amare, Iso Joe, Boozer, etc. all hit unrestricted free agency at the same time

That 2009-10 regular season was the first time where the media made free agency rumors a huge topic throughout the entire season and why NBA media going forward decided to lean into it bc of how much engagement it got.

That offseason is what made Woj a household name

And then as a result of LeBron picking Miami and how polarizing he became as a result, it gave way for Skip Bayless to skyrocket in popularity and First Take to be the most popular sports show. It’s also when the LeBron-Jordan debate really started become a big media talking point beyond just barbershop talk

ESPN made the LeBron and the Heat such a focal point of their NBA coverage that I remember they had a whole subsection of their NBA page just for Heat highlights and news

Ironic thing is that the overwhelming hatred from 2010 actual made Bron into a bigger star. He was obviously a big star before that but there was nowhere near the level of emotional investment in him prior to that. You could actually have a rational discussion about him. His every move or remark or silence was not a huge deal. Basketball version of Rock and eventually Roman eventually becoming megastars on the strength of being heels.

 

[mbewane]

It was always nikkas throwing out crazy ass hot takes at the barbershop or at the lunch table

What changed is having paid analysts say the ridiculous shyt on TV and making debates around said hot takes the focal point of league discourse

There's a parallel to be made with the trash political discourse.

 

[Soldier]

the target audience of both leagues are white while the dominate astethics of these leagues differ greatly

simply put, black people aren't and won't be marketed to white people in the same manner white people are marketed to white people.... thats in any arena... the cerebral human versus the mindless physical force is a fundamental component of American and western mythology

Please Explain what you have said in your post like we’re elementary school kids.

 

[FTBS]

Kool story but what about the actual competition of basketball? If a player comes along that transcends the game like MJ with the competitive spirit coupled with accomplishments/accolades and team success then the league will resurrect back to it’s highest heights.

That gets your ass on tape delay . If you need somebody to transcend the game what does that say about how invested people actually are in the bolded?

 

[FlimFlam]

Please Explain what you have said in your post like we’re elementary school kids.

there's much less respect and regard for the humanity of black people (which basketball is a proxy of) so its more effective to market them as cheap spectacles to be gawked and prodded at as opposed to skilled craftsman

Consider how people like bill bellicheck and the manning family etc etc are presented the public as studious geniuses. Im not even here to challenge that.

This may flip alot yall heads, but the Mayweather family could be justifiably presented just as such. A familial legacy of study, discipline, and calculation which led to generations of dominance in the science of boxing with minimal physical damage in Floyd's case....

But white people aren't interested in consuming that wholesale. So cheap spectacle it'll be

"entertainment " , sports included, is just another means of managing public thought and behavior. this isnt neutral competition and commentary.

a great text to check out is Darwin's Athletess

i can keep goin n goin, but for the sake of brevity ill leave it there

 

[Rakpo98]

NBA stars ducking games is a much bigger deal than people realize. It causes distrust with the consumer (especially since NBA tickets are some of the most expensive tickets around in the sports world). One clear example of this, is Joel Embiid. I'm not picking on him by choosing him as an example, but this made me remember an incident that happened last season that really captures how frustrated fans get when stars sit out games. I was in Dubai last January, and my friend hit me up on the phone, excited that he was going to go to the 76ers-Nuggets game last minute in Denver. He was there on business, and decided to drop $600 for some pretty damn good seats. Right before the game, it's announced that Embiid would be sitting out due to rest. My homie damn near had a heart attack when he found out. It ruined his experience, and he swore to never go to an NBA game again. He sat next to a father, and two kids, and the father flipped out when my friend told him that Embiid was out. His tickets cost damn near $1,800,

The league has to be careful with player rest, because fans spending all that money to see their favorite players, will become disgruntled and angry if they spend their money for nothing.

 

[Standing on business]

Today's NBA media is geared towards haters. simple as that

Boxing is the same, all the greats (besides Mayweather) have multiple losses. you lose one fight now and you're trash and nothing you did before that matters.

 

[Greenhornet]

media isnt real its owned by the nba

 

[boskey]

The NBA audience is younger and blacker than all other sports. That’s a market that is usually going to get sold “subprime” products

 

[360Waves]

The answer to this is simple: The product is in a bad place, because everybody wanted to mimic the Warriors style of play, and because stars nowadays don’t respect the paying customer. I remember during Kobe’s prime, he mentioned that he had an obligation to play as many games as he could, because he knew that there were only so many chances a season for fans to see him play live. If the Lakers were playing on the East Coast, they only had one trip per year to towns like Washington, Philly, Orlando, etc. It would kill him to miss playing games, and giving the fans a show.

These new NBA players aren’t cut from the same cloth. A lot of them are getting paid obscene amounts of money to spam 3-Pt shots, and sit out games because of a sore toe, or a hanging fingernail. Some of this has to do with teams trying to protect their players for the playoffs, but the regular season is virtually useless now. They had to create an in season tournament, just so players could play games during the regular season. It’s embarrassing. The paying customer probably feels like their money is being wasted going to games where you have no idea if a star will be playing that night, and the viewing public is frustrated by this as well. The ratings so far reflect the uselessness of the regular season.

You idiots don’t realize that you are directly responsible for the current day culture of the game. You old heads became so obsessed with protecting MJs legacy that you reduce every player down to ring count and can’t appreciate a great player if he doesn’t have the hardware. So the players stopped caring about anything that isn’t the playoffs. Hence the load management, trash all star game effort and up and down regular szn effort. And now you complain they’re “disrespecting paying customers.”