The NBA is grappling with low attendance as well as viewership ratings across all networks in this 2024-25 season. Some players and analysts have pointed out the probable causes for this downfall, but the league has yet to acknowledge there is a problem.
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal mentioned that the over reliance on three-point shooting has made the game boring. He also felt that the lack of physical big man play has added to those woes and makes the NBA feel not as exciting as it used to be.
The debate has continued to heat up as NBA Cup finals ticket prices dropped to less than half of what they were in the inaugural season. But according to FS1 analyst Jason McIntyre, Charles Barkley and the Inside the NBA crew are equally culpable for this mess.
Inside the NBA, they just hammer the players. Charles Barkley’s on TV, the Rockets are in the Final Four for the NBA Cup, ‘oh the Rockets don’t know how to play basketball, they stink, they don’t know what they’re doing.’ What are you doing? You’re damaging your product on a nightly basis, hammering it.
Jason McIntyre on The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre feels that the constant hammering of current players from the old guard Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith make up is not helping the league. He also claimed that in other sports, the broadcast crews uplift players and positively talk about the game.
“I would argue that ‘Inside the NBA,’ the show that everybody loves, has done more damage to the NBA the last decade than anything.”
(h/t @awfulannouncing )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 17, 2024
But here, the Inside the NBA crew are constantly comparing today’s generation players to themselves. That goes on to undermine the current generation as they have not accomplished what these greats have done.
With declining viewership a serious issue, Adam Silver says NBA is looking into stagnant play
But the reason Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and other former greats have slammed current generation basketball is primarily due to the stagnant play. It is not just the three-point shooting, but there is an overall lack of creativity and players are resorting to easy ways to score. Commissioner Adam Silver was asked about this prior to the NBA Cup Finals which ESPN’s Tim Bontemps recorded as saying.
The answer is yes, [we are having] many discussions about the style of basketball [being played]. I would not reduce it to a so-called 3-point shooting issue. I think we look more holistically at the skill level on the floor, the diversity of offense, the fan reception to the game, all of the above.
Tim Bontemps quoting Adam Silver
This acceptance is itself a start as all this while, Adam Silver was defiant when asked about the boring game the NBA has become. He had earlier blamed the US Presidential elections and the MLB World Series for the drop in ratings.
But his defiance did not matter to analysts who continued to debate about the downfall. Statistics proved that the NBA was losing viewers as well as in ticket sales. Now his acceptance could be a start of a revival for the league.
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