Hmmm…what’s happening with the National Basketball Association? NBA ratings are in the tank and it’s looking like the trend’s gonna continue. It’s pretty easy to figure out why.
In a recent piece at Breitbart, Colin Cowherd compares the NBA to the Democrat Party saying they lost connection with the people:
“I’m sorry. Go ask the Democrats. Be warned. Once you detach from regular people in America, you will pay a price. And it is not easy to run these leagues,” Cowherd warned.
You can read the full article here
Of all the professional sports leagues, the NBA has seen a steady 12 year decline in viewership. Ratings are down 48 percent since 2012 and this season shows no signs of improving.
As we near the end of 2024, ESPN ratings are down nearly 30 percent from last year , while TNT games are averaging just 1.8 viewers per game. Consider also, that in the past 30 seasons, four of the lowest rated finals have been in the last four years.
Why is this happening to the league of Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Dr J, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird?
Is it too many games? Perhaps it is resting and saving star players for the playoffs through the practice of load-management? Maybe it’s the dominance of the three- point shot and less reliance on fundamentals, such as defense. Heck , even the refs are making less traveling calls.
These are certainly impactful factors, but one can easily make the case wokeness is causing NBA’s freefall. Embracing social justice is a turnoff, man.
From players replacing the names on their jerseys with “Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe” to coaches like Steve Kerr criticizing the Second Amendment, fans are out. No one wants a lecture by entitled, out-of-touch and overpaid athletes.
LeBron James being the face of the NBA certainly doesn’t help the league’s image. Can you think of a star player more divisive than James? Obviously, James never absorbed the wisdom of Michael Jordan staying out of politics because “Republicans buy sneakers, too.”
As a certain president once famously said, “Everything woke turns to s**t.”
With NBA ratings in the tank , the decline of Hollywood, and the legacy media’s loss of credibility, I’d say Trump was right on the mark.
2 replies on “NBA ratings in the tank”
As a previous multi-year holder of season tickets for the Lakers,, I’m no longer interested in what the NBA has to offer. Honestly, I have not watched a game in probably 10 years. A buddy of mine asked me the other day if I had watched a certain game. I commented, ” are they still playing professional basketball? No longer willing to support someone lecturing me who’s receiving millions of dollars from our enemies just to sell some shoes. I looked up woke in the dictionary the other day in the NBA label came up.
Dex,
I agree with Larry Gates above and your article on the ratings of the NBA. I haven’t watched in years, not just because it’s not my game…… vertical challenges and all, but because of several other reasons besides the wokeness. Grown men, 7 feet tall running down the court thumping their chests celebrating the fact they put a small ball in a round hoop without even having to jump, and the fact they didn’t get in a fist fight afterwards is not my cup of tea. The league of felons is who regularly “travel across 3 counties” and NEVER seem to get called on it. The days of Muggsy Bogues and Spud Webb (my old school heroes) are long gone, never to return. Being lectured on what to think and how to vote by people who have more money than brains and can’t tell anyone how many children they have and who look like a clown fashion show when they get off the team bus is just old and boring in my opinion.
Perhaps the NBA, NFL (similar story plus ridiculous endzone dance) and MLB (similar story plus stupid bat flip and bench clearing brawl) will see the light and start playing their respective professions with honor and dignity?
Until then, I’m out and so is most of America!