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6 minutes ago, dgambill said:

I know the NBA rating numbers (like most professional sports) are tanking...but seems crazy even on basketball message board no one cares enough to discuss a single thing about the first two games of the NBA finals. Wow!

I think there are several reasons why. One is the time of year. Mid-July is typically a slow month with a lot of vacations, etc., and it's a time where the NBA Finals have typically been over for 2-3 weeks. 

I also think, while these are good teams that are fairly fun to watch, there is no villain in this series. There's nobody to root against. There is no heel. 

I don't think the NBA needs NYC, LA, Boston, Philly, etc., for ratings and discourse, but it does need compelling characters to root for and against and this series does not have that. 

The only two semi-interesting aspects are will Chris Paul cement his legacy with a title or will Giannis vault himself into the LeBron, Durant, Curry, Kawhi category with a title. 

But otherwise, the series lacks interesting storylines.  

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1 hour ago, BGleas said:

I don't think the NBA needs NYC, LA, Boston, Philly, etc., for ratings and discourse,

This is the one are i might have to disagree with you on, yes the star players bring the ratings but i also think the markets do. If this was L.A vs Miami with the same players i think the ratings would be better and more people would be talking about it.

1 hour ago, BGleas said:

The only two semi-interesting aspects are will Chris Paul cement his legacy with a title or will Giannis vault himself into the LeBron, Durant, Curry, Kawhi category with a title.

Also these are two pretty big storylines IMO, CP3 and Giannis are two of the biggest stars in the league. The one glaring factor in this series is that it is in two relativaly small markets.

 

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31 minutes ago, BGleas said:

I think there are several reasons why. One is the time of year. Mid-July is typically a slow month with a lot of vacations, etc., and it's a time where the NBA Finals have typically been over for 2-3 weeks. 

I also think, while these are good teams that are fairly fun to watch, there is no villain in this series. There's nobody to root against. There is no heel. 

I don't think the NBA needs NYC, LA, Boston, Philly, etc., for ratings and discourse, but it does need compelling characters to root for and against and this series does not have that. 

The only two semi-interesting aspects are will Chris Paul cement his legacy with a title or will Giannis vault himself into the LeBron, Durant, Curry, Kawhi category with a title. 

But otherwise, the series lacks interesting storylines.  

Oh I agree to some of those....but a 35% drop compared to 2019 finals....there is more to it then just that. Remember 2019 was down because Toronto a non-american team was in it. Game 1 was 50% down from 2018....I know we've all discussed it ad nausium but let's be real...that is a very disturbing trend. No wonder the NBA is really pushing the global expanse...and cares soo much about placating the Chinese authority who allow their games to be shown and marketed in their country. Without them they would be in a lot more trouble.

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39 minutes ago, BGleas said:

I think there are several reasons why. One is the time of year. Mid-July is typically a slow month with a lot of vacations, etc., and it's a time where the NBA Finals have typically been over for 2-3 weeks. 

I also think, while these are good teams that are fairly fun to watch, there is no villain in this series. There's nobody to root against. There is no heel. 

I don't think the NBA needs NYC, LA, Boston, Philly, etc., for ratings and discourse, but it does need compelling characters to root for and against and this series does not have that. 

The only two semi-interesting aspects are will Chris Paul cement his legacy with a title or will Giannis vault himself into the LeBron, Durant, Curry, Kawhi category with a title. 

But otherwise, the series lacks interesting storylines.  

I agree on compelling characters part of it.  Perhaps a tad on the ratings part.  As far as July, that speaks for itself.  The NBA should not be playing at the baseball All-Star break.

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I didn't want my post to make it sound like sports are just doing awful period....nba/nfl etc are killing it ratings wise compared to anything else on tv....but they certainly are way down. Characters perhaps, timing maybe...so many factors.

38 minutes ago, rico said:

I agree on compelling characters part of it.  Perhaps a tad on the ratings part.  As far as July, that speaks for itself.  The NBA should not be playing at the baseball All-Star break.

Timing wise I would think that the NBA should be finishing their season in April right after March Madness and getting into the playoffs shortly after. I know that would mean starting the season earlier into the teeth of football and the NFL just kills everything...but as long as they had games early in the season on say weekdays and avoided Saturday College and Sunday pro football in the early season I don't see how it would hurt them. Especially if they could have all-star game etc around Christmas. If they had play in games starting right after March Madness.....promoting those up coming games around the final four time...I think that basketball energy would carry over and casual fans/people would transition right into NBA interest. I think basically all sports suffer during the summer months when kids/parents etc are taking vacations and doing more things outside etc. It doesn't help them imo.

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8 hours ago, dgambill said:

Oh I agree to some of those....but a 35% drop compared to 2019 finals....there is more to it then just that. Remember 2019 was down because Toronto a non-american team was in it. Game 1 was 50% down from 2018....I know we've all discussed it ad nausium but let's be real...that is a very disturbing trend. No wonder the NBA is really pushing the global expanse...and cares soo much about placating the Chinese authority who allow their games to be shown and marketed in their country. Without them they would be in a lot more trouble.

It is in the middle of July and a lot of people are on vacation.  Also to me it is no longer basketball season and should have finished up long ago.

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7 hours ago, dgambill said:

I didn't want my post to make it sound like sports are just doing awful period....nba/nfl etc are killing it ratings wise compared to anything else on tv....but they certainly are way down. Characters perhaps, timing maybe...so many factors.

Timing wise I would think that the NBA should be finishing their season in April right after March Madness and getting into the playoffs shortly after. I know that would mean starting the season earlier into the teeth of football and the NFL just kills everything...but as long as they had games early in the season on say weekdays and avoided Saturday College and Sunday pro football in the early season I don't see how it would hurt them. Especially if they could have all-star game etc around Christmas. If they had play in games starting right after March Madness.....promoting those up coming games around the final four time...I think that basketball energy would carry over and casual fans/people would transition right into NBA interest. I think basically all sports suffer during the summer months when kids/parents etc are taking vacations and doing more things outside etc. It doesn't help them imo.

They usually do finish the regular season in April and the finals are over in mid June

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Let's be blunt here...pro sports also shot themselves in the foot by diving so heavily into politics.  It doesn't matter whether you think they were justified or not. The simple fact is, anytime you make a public political stand where there is a significant division of opinion, you run the risk of alienating a large percentage of the public.  Whether it's 20%, 30%, 40% or more, it's going to overlap a significant portion of the potential viewing audience and cause viewership loss.  I'm not saying it's the only cause, but I'd be willing to bet it's a significant one.  I know a lot of people who have either significantly or completely curtailed their support of a particular professional sport or multiple professional sports over public political stands.  Eventually,  this reduced support will likely have significant financial consequences and only then will we really know how genuine these political positions are.

I know some here won't believe that's possible or will even argue that such stands have gained support and you're welcome to that opinion, but I think in time, the trends and numbers will bear this out.  If people in sports insist on continuing to mix a heavy dose of politics in when the average fan just wants to watch the game, the game will continue to suffer the consequences. 

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I just know for myself I just don't enjoy the NBA game like once did.  Also I don't think it is any longer basketball season which is why I have little interest in the playoffs.  I also lost interest when the players started running the league and trying to form their dream teams.

I remember when I was in high school I was a Lakers fan and my best friend was a Celtics fan. We use to go back and forth since those teams played in the finals all the time.  What I remember was we were still in school during the finals which was in May.

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34 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

I just know for myself I just don't enjoy the NBA game like once did.  Also I don't think it is any longer basketball season which is why I have little interest in the playoffs.  I also lost interest when the players started running the league and trying to form their dream teams.

I remember when I was in high school I was a Lakers fan and my best friend was a Celtics fan. We use to go back and forth since those teams played in the finals all the time.  What I remember was we were still in school during the finals which was in May.

So to be clear, you grew up a Lakers fan in the 80s but also stopped caring as much when the players started forcing their will?

Am I the only one who finds that hilarious? How do you think they got Kareem?

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8 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

So to be clear, you grew up a Lakers fan in the 80s but also stopped caring as much when the players started forcing their will?

Am I the only one who finds that hilarious? How do you think they got Kareem?

By a trade.  Also I don't find anything wrong when a team signs a free agent but don't like seeing players forming a team.

Magic was drafted.

Worthy was drafted.

Kareem trade.

Scott a trade

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1 hour ago, IU Scott said:

I also lost interest when the players started running the league and trying to form their dream teams.

 

56 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

So to be clear, you grew up a Lakers fan in the 80s but also stopped caring as much when the players started forcing their will?

Am I the only one who finds that hilarious? How do you think they got Kareem?

 

46 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

By a trade.  Also I don't find anything wrong when a team signs a free agent but don't like seeing players forming a team.

Magic was drafted.

Worthy was drafted.

Kareem trade.

Scott a trade

And to be clear, Kareem didn't force a trade to be on a team with other superstars...that first Laker team he was on had HoFer Gail Goodrich, an over the hill Cazzie Russell, and not much else...

I think at UCLA he got used to the LA lifestyle and wanted to go back...

Either that or he thought Sam Gilbert was still around... ;) 

 

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6 hours ago, IU Scott said:

By a trade.  Also I don't find anything wrong when a team signs a free agent but don't like seeing players forming a team.

Magic was drafted.

Worthy was drafted.

Kareem trade.

Scott a trade

Kareem forced his way out of Milwaukee with a trade because he wanted to be in a big market, like LA. 

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1 hour ago, IU Scott said:

But he didn't bring two.or three guys with him

Because free agency wasn’t what it is today. You really think guys wouldn’t have tried to put themselves in the best possible situation for them in the 70s and 80s if that had been an option? 

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1 hour ago, KoB2011 said:

Because free agency wasn’t what it is today. You really think guys wouldn’t have tried to put themselves in the best possible situation for them in the 70s and 80s if that had been an option? 

Nope they were way more competitive than that.  They would rather beat you than join you.

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On 6/16/2021 at 3:57 PM, ATX_sig said:

No doubt.  I am now watching Copa Americas and Euro soccer over the NBA playoffs.  That has never happened. 

What a weekend of Soccer! First Argentina beating Brazil to get Messi his first intl trophy for country then Italy in penalties…finished off with US over Haiti. Great quality….I mean the Gold Cup was clearly not on the same level as the other two but it still nice to see the US basically play in full control of the match even with a lot of younger guys tonight.

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2 minutes ago, dgambill said:

What a weekend of Soccer! First Argentina beating Brazil to get Messi his first intl trophy for country then Italy in penalties…finished off with US over Haiti. Great quality….I mean the Gold Cup was clearly not on the same level as the other two but it still nice to see the US basically play in full control of the match even with a lot of younger guys tonight.

It certainly is a good starting off point for the next year, which I think is a pivotal one for USA soccer. 

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28 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

Giannis is having a historically good Finals so far. I would not be surprised to see Milwaukee come back and win this. I think you can make a case they’ve actually been the better team thus far, especially the past two games. 

Me either….seems in every series they finally make an adjustment and turn the momentum back to their side. If they can get Ayton out of the game by Giannis attacking and getting him in foul trouble they can dominate the boards after and really take it at the Suns inside.

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