NBA viewership down

[Marvin Martian]

Wemby took 16 triples today.

That game is 100x more exciting than the Chiefs-Steelers game

[DavidSterned]

I don't buy that Ant or Wemby would become bigger stars and increase ratings of their games by shooting more elbow jumpers than 3s and having 5 dunks in a game than 5 3-pointers.

Over half of Wemby's shot attempts are 3s. It's pretty sad for a guy who is 7'3 and seems like he could have great shooting touch around the basket. I definitely think having some variance in playing styles among the stars would be a net benefit at the very least.

[Marvin Martian]

I don't buy that Ant or Wemby would become bigger stars and increase ratings of their games by shooting more elbow jumpers than 3s and having 5 dunks in a game than 5 3-pointers.

Over half of Wemby's shot attempts are 3s. It's pretty sad for a guy who is 7'3 and seems like he could have great shooting touch around the basket. I definitely think having some variance in playing styles among the stars would be a net benefit at the very least.

There is not a single player in NBA history that plays like Wemby

[MindState]

Every team is the same. NBA needs to become an international sport, like Soccer. Instead of an in-season tournement it should be a mini-olympics. Turn it into an "International Cup" in the model of March Madness. A team from every country competes. It would make the reward more valuable, and also make players play better during the season. Make requirements for players to be selected to the team or something.

As far as Wemby goes. To me, he is a circus freak. I want to see someone like him do circus like acts. Dunk on 5 people at once, dunk from the free throw or 3 point line. Do something thats not human.

Being 10 feet tall and shooting 3s and doing stuff anyone else can do except "just by a 10 foot tall person instead" doesent excite me. Hes a freak. He needs to be doing outlandish freaky things.

[DavidSterned]

I don't buy that Ant or Wemby would become bigger stars and increase ratings of their games by shooting more elbow jumpers than 3s and having 5 dunks in a game than 5 3-pointers.

Over half of Wemby's shot attempts are 3s. It's pretty sad for a guy who is 7'3 and seems like he could have great shooting touch around the basket. I definitely think having some variance in playing styles among the stars would be a net benefit at the very least.

There is not a single player in NBA history that plays like Wemby

There's a good reason why 7'3 guys in NBA history aren't taking 9 threes a night. That's because it's lame.

[Wallace_Wallace]

There was a time I was as much a basketball junkie as a football junkie. For me things started over two decades ago when the all star game became such a joke. Can't even remember the last time I even watch the all star game to be honest. Then a guy named Lebron James came into the league and the landscape of the NBA changed forever IMHO. Once Lebron left Cleveland and went to Miami to a stacked team so he could be in the finals every year was a bad look for me. I won't even get into all the other moves he's made since then because I'm sure most of you in here know anyway. Once Lebron became bigger than the NBA shield I became sick to my stomach and I became totally disgusted with the NBA as many other players became less loyal to the teams that drafted them. The a kid named Kevin Durant came along a few years later and left a very good Thunder team to go join the Warriors who already was a championship team that had won 73 games the previous team. Even though I was glad they prevented Lebron from winning the Championship the next two years, it was a terrible look for me. Since then I only watch the Celtics games and who they happen to be playing on those nights. The NBA became way too much of a players league, and once again, seemed bigger than the shield to me.
Then there are the officials. As someone who officiated basketball for 18 years myself, I understand where most are coming from here. I can't deny it. I see 4-5 bad calls almost every night I do watch games. And the last thing that is totally disgusting to me with the current NBA is the constant bitching after every whistle by the players and coaches. Lack of sportsmanship in the NBA for the most part has got thrown out the window. So for the past couple decades, once football season is over, I dive into college basketball outside of all my Celtic games and attend as many high school games in my area. I still love basketball, just not the NBA. Hopefully I did not offend anyone from being honest with my feelings here. I could add more, but I got out all the main reasons why I don't enjoy the NBA as much as I used to many years ago.

Well said. And as far as the all star game, i cant remember when or why that became such a joke. I remember watching it when the players actually gave effort and competed. They played defense, ran offensive plays, and got back in transition D. Now its just a dunk contest and chucking 3s. Its been at least 10 years since i watched it. They should in all honesty just scrap it and the dunk contest. Have the 3 point contest and maybe a one on one or two on two contest.

Imagine in the NFL, every team’s offense is “4 verticals” all game (essentially every receiver go long), because analytics say that 10% chance of a long catch happening is better than 60% chance of a short/intermediate catch, and running the ball essentially is meaningless because of the injury risks for minimal gain.

Then every NFL offense:
4 speedy receivers
5 offensive linemen with 1 huge blocking TE
1 quarterback with a big arm, no need for accuracy
Watching teams throw Hail Marys all game would make me turn off the TV……that’s what happening with the NBA right now

[Marvin Martian]

Over half of Wemby's shot attempts are 3s. It's pretty sad for a guy who is 7'3 and seems like he could have great shooting touch around the basket. I definitely think having some variance in playing styles among the stars would be a net benefit at the very least.

There is not a single player in NBA history that plays like Wemby

There's a good reason why 7'3 guys in NBA history aren't taking 9 threes a night. That's because it's lame.

No it's because they can't do it. Wemby is an alien and he can do things that people believed was impossible at his height.

[wco81]

I don't buy that Ant or Wemby would become bigger stars and increase ratings of their games by shooting more elbow jumpers than 3s and having 5 dunks in a game than 5 3-pointers.

Over half of Wemby's shot attempts are 3s. It's pretty sad for a guy who is 7'3 and seems like he could have great shooting touch around the basket. I definitely think having some variance in playing styles among the stars would be a net benefit at the very least.

He's tall but he doesn't have the body to take constant contact.

On defense, teams are going to try to target his body like Embid the other day try to go right through his midsection, making him keel over. That's the play that Embid got called for offensive foul and then the double technical when he screamed about the call.

[D.Brasco]

Every team is the same. NBA needs to become an international sport, like Soccer. Instead of an in-season tournement it should be a mini-olympics. Turn it into an "International Cup" in the model of March Madness. A team from every country competes. It would make the reward more valuable, and also make players play better during the season. Make requirements for players to be selected to the team or something.

As far as Wemby goes. To me, he is a circus freak. I want to see someone like him do circus like acts. Dunk on 5 people at once, dunk from the free throw or 3 point line. Do something thats not human.

Being 10 feet tall and shooting 3s and doing stuff anyone else can do except "just by a 10 foot tall person instead" doesent excite me. Hes a freak. He needs to be doing outlandish freaky things.

Yes, nothing will bring up American TV ratings like making the sport more like soccer.

[SOUL]

It's not news to this thread, but the NFL is set to crush the NBA today.

Merry Christmas all!

Lots of viewers for some garbage games!

[GeorgeSears]

Imagine being the person boasting "I'm watching the NFL today to stick it to the NBA on Christmas!" only to be treated to the two worst games you'll ever see.

There's a lot of talk about the NBA's diminishing product. I think it's mostly overblown and certainly the excessive three point shooting hurts, but I'd rather watch teams hoist up 3s then watching two teams punt the ball 10 times.

[wco81]

LBJ: I love the NFL but Christmas is our day.

[CallMeKahn]

Imagine being the person boasting "I'm watching the NFL today to stick it to the NBA on Christmas!" only to be treated to the two worst games you'll ever see.

There's a lot of talk about the NBA's diminishing product. I think it's mostly overblown and certainly the excessive three point shooting hurts, but I'd rather watch teams hoist up 3s then watching two teams punt the ball 10 times.

Worst games for who, exactly? Those games mattered a tuckfon more than whatever the NBA was doing yesterday. The fact that Pittsburgh and Houston collectively chocolated the bed mattered more than the teams throwing over a combined 300 3 pt attempts yesterday. I'd rather watch teams with divergent play styles than that.

[TinmanZBoy]

Guys in this forum are diehard BB NBA fans… we probably never feel the decline of NBA… NBA might lose a lot casual fans…

[DOT]

This is objectively a great time to be an NBA fan. We got unprecedented levels of parity, multiple guys doing stuff we've never seen before, and yet some people are just absolutely miserable about it

I almost feel bad for them because they're too busy romanticizing a past that objectively speaking did not exist rather than appreciating the present

The problem isn't players taking too many 3s, the problem is you got older and don't have the simplistic worldview of a child.

[Braggins]

This is objectively a great time to be an NBA fan. We got unprecedented levels of parity, multiple guys doing stuff we've never seen before, and yet some people are just absolutely miserable about it

I almost feel bad for them because they're too busy romanticizing a past that objectively speaking did not exist rather than appreciating the present

The problem isn't players taking too many 3s, the problem is you got older and don't have the simplistic worldview of a child.

This entire conversation drives me insane and I'm going to lose my mind if the league tries to implement rule changes to appease a small minority that somehow thinks the game was more entertaining when 80% of the league couldn't hit a shot outside of 15 feet.

[KyRo23]

Maybe the whiney fans have something to do with the decline. I’ve never seen another sport where the fans constantly hate on the product. This board is a perfect example. Sure there are some things that all fans want fixed, but good lord, we have people complaining about everything.

The top prospect in 2 decades is playing Christmas Day and we have people bitching about it. LeBron and Steph playing, two all times GOATs playing and you have people whining about it. Both of those games turned out to be amazing. No one is going to respect the sport if even their biggest fans don’t respect it.

[DOT]

This entire conversation drives me insane and I'm going to lose my mind if the league tries to implement rule changes to appease a small minority that somehow thinks the game was more entertaining when 80% of the league couldn't hit a shot outside of 15 feet.

It's like with a lot of stuff where people romanticize a fictional past, even if we made the rules the exact same as they were back then, things won't go back due to external factors. Players today are just too good at shooting 3s to not shoot them, what these guys are asking for is for teams to purposefully play worse

And like, plenty of guys still do work in the mid range, the best scorers do it on all 3 levels, it's just guys don't take long 2s anymore because it's really easy to just take a step back and have it be a 3 pointer which counts for more while being a similar percentage. Watch a game where guys are spotting up from the corner with their heels on the line, it's genuinely insane

What it is is, they also weren't watching full games of teams outside their market back then, they just watched Sportscenter highlights and nationally televised games. So they think every game was as good as the best games they watched compared to now where they're watching the average. Go watch like, the 2000 Cavs led by Shawn Kemp vs the Celtics led by Antoine Walker, two mid teams going at it and tell me that was a better product than now.

[gavran]

I enjoy when the team I'm rooting for wins the game against their opponent, and I'm sad when they don't. Are other people watching the game for a different reason, and I'm doing it wrong?

[CBS7]

Over half of Wemby's shot attempts are 3s. It's pretty sad for a guy who is 7'3 and seems like he could have great shooting touch around the basket. I definitely think having some variance in playing styles among the stars would be a net benefit at the very least.

There is not a single player in NBA history that plays like Wemby

There's a good reason why 7'3 guys in NBA history aren't taking 9 threes a night. That's because it's lame.

I'm pretty certain coaches around him are encouraging him to play away from the basket because it'll likely result in better health and more longevity in the long run. He'll go inside more when the games matter more.