Each week during the 2024-25 NBA season, we’ll take a deep dive into some of the league’s biggest storylines in an attempt to determine if the trends are based more in fact or fiction moving forward.
Fact or Fiction: Something is seriously wrong with the NBA
I think the discussion about “what’s wrong with the NBA” is mainly through social media, where people like basketball have used the early part of this season to find answers to the decline in television ratings, but the conversation came first. this week. Commissioner Adam Silver addressed concerns in Las Vegas, where NBA Cup participants also asked about the health of the league, as “Inside the NBA” host Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal floated theories.
“It’s sad for me, because all there is now is the 3-point shooting contest and the free-throw contest, and I do not like it“Barkley, arguably the NBA’s most influential commentator, said on “The Dan Patrick Show. That’s not fun. “
“It drives me f***ing crazyO’Neal added on his own podcast.
The increase in 3-point attempts is perhaps the most popular position among armchair analysts. Teams are averaging 37.6 attempts per game – up from 35.1 last season, up from 20 in 2012-13 and up from 9.9 in 1993-94.
Even LeBron James — perhaps the only person in the game whose voice carries more weight than Barkley’s — expressed his anger at the response to the new All-Star Game format, telling reporters, “There’s a game, there’s a lot of f***ing 3s shot. So it’s a bigger conversation than just the All-Star Game. “
I can be a little bit, but I don’t understand the area. Shooting is an important part of the game, perhaps the most important, and the increased difficulty level – at a success rate that made the NBA of the 1980s and early ’90s seem unfathomable – should not explain by itself why people can change. away
Was it better when teams were shooting 40.1% on 31.3 midrange jump shots per game in 1996-97, as far as the NBA database goes? That number is down to 9.8 a game (at a slightly higher success rate). All 2-pointers made it past the arc, where players made 35.9% of them. Regarding percentages, the difference in seasons is marked by more missed field goals per game (and more points).
But that’s not even the case. The pace has increased since the height of the Michael Jordan era, when no one wondered what was wrong with the NBA. Field goal attempts are up. Field goal percentages are high. The points are up. Everything but midrange jumpers is up, including dunks. During the 20 years from the beginning of the century to the present time, scores increased by 35%according to RunRepeat.com.
As Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, whose reigning champions are attempting more 3s than any team ever, asked us this week, “Why is scoring basketball an issue, as opposed to the another sport?”
If the league’s skill level is higher than it’s ever been — and I don’t think there’s any argument about that — and the offense is at an all-time high, why aren’t we talking about what right with the NBA?
TV prices, that’s why. We discuss no other metric in regards to the popularity of a sport. And we don’t even understand that. NBA viewership has outpaced the decline in overall TV ratingsaccording to Sports Media Watch. Even if we accept that this viewing issue is not really a linear TV issue, basketball has been more than ever. No other league has a greater social media following.
“If you look at other data points, in terms of our business, for example, we’ve just come out in the last two years of the highest attendance in the history of this league,” Silver said in his prior media appearance. NBA Tuesday. Cup championship game. “We are at a point where the social media audience is the highest of any league and continues to grow exponentially, so there is no lack of interest in this game.”
Every slate of games produces countless highlights and rumors and story lines – every game we enjoy about sports – easily compiled into clips that are consumed by millions of people on social media. According to the NBA, the league has created 10 billion video views on your social channels this time, a download speed. Viewing is up 90% from five years ago. League Pass subscriptions are at record levels, up 8%.
The NBA’s cable TV ratings are down 13% across all properties, per Nielsen. But consider this: a November 29 game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Lakers drew 1.14 million viewers to ESPN, as a replay of the game on Instagram generated another 5.2 million views. NBA has 182.4 million followers across Instagram, X, TikTok and YouTube. The NFL, MLB and NHL have 153.4 million followers combined.
Don’t believe this challenges the idea that the NBA is losing its audience? Well, it convinced the league’s broadcast partners, who sought $77 billion for the rights to air games through the 2035-36 season, triple the NBA’s last media contract. Everything but the TV ratings are telling us that the league is growing.
So why are we concerned with the TV ratings when they are of little concern to the people who make decisions based on them and it will not be for another ten years, when Stephen Curry will be 48 years old?
Because we have devicewho has a reason, and who must be divided. No famous stars were born in America, and those who died were forced to come at advanced ages. Player power. Load management. Go down the list, and you will not find a real basketball problem, other than “too many 3s.”
If you want to go back to 20 years ago, when the scores were in the 70s and 80s, or 40 years ago, when the color was filled with … everyone, I will not join you. I have seen. It is good in its way. So is basketball today. It is actually better. If you don’t like the greatest skill we’ve ever seen, which has increased the game’s scope—to score—then maybe you just don’t like basketball.
And that’s good. But we who did that are tired of listening to the reasons why you didn’t do that. Negativity does nothing but feed back into the loop about what’s wrong with the NBA when the problem it faces isn’t even a problem and won’t be for another three presidential terms. What is the end? Who is trying to convince that basketball is good? And why? If anything the discussion about what is right with the NBA will attract more viewers to what is already a widespread product full of amazing stories.
As refreshing as it is for Kevin Durant to present reality vs. perspective on this topic, he also fed the negative media format, telling reporters this week, “I hate (new All-Star Game reading). Absolutely hate it.“
This is, for the most part, a separate conversation. Implementation League giant new All-Star Game format because the players wait a try in the exhibition. They are too busy to complain about it. But the end result is the same: The game’s participants are damaging the product they are selling. If we’re telling everyone that there’s something wrong with the NBA, they’re going to believe it, even if it’s not true.
The Celtics are defending champions. The Lakers are led by James, who has done things at the age of 40 that no one thought was possible. Nikola Jokić may have his best season ever. Giannis Antetokounmpo is gunning for a third MVP. The pool of candidates for the award is as deep as ever. Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a cast of young characters are trying to wrest the league’s torch from its founding stars. A 7-foot-5 unicorn was growing behind them. Cooper Flagg is coming.
There’s a lot to love about the NBA.
But you don’t hear that from most sports fans. That this discussion has reached the sensation it has — sports debate shows and headlines — in a weird way supports the idea that the NBA is as popular as ever. It’s good to think that basketball is cool and fun, and you don’t need TV sets – something with league pockets – to remind you.
Decision: Myth. There is nothing wrong with the NBA.
