Why Does NBA's Popularity Suffer When Bigs are the Best Players?

[jokeboy86]

We've had some elite bigs in the league's history but it seems like every time the best players in the league are either wings or guards it seems significantly more popular. I don't think this "no face of the league stuff" is just about the top players being foreign but also the fact that they're bigs too(Jokic/Giannis). You can trace this back to Magic/Bird coming in the 80s along with Isaiah and obviously Jordan. It makes you wonder if not for Jordan in the 90s would the league's popularity have suffered because after him the league's best players were exclusively bigs. It can't just be the way bigs play because we have had many different ones with different skillsets(ex Hakeem, Ewing, Shaq, Robinson, Dirk, KG, Jokic, Giannis, Embiid).

One reason that the WNBA may actually be on the verge of a breakthrough popularity wise is there may be a point in the future where the league's top players are not exclusively bigs which it has been other than a few exceptions like Moore, Taurasi, and Cooper and Swoopes.

Is their anything that can be done to highlight bigs and sell them to the public better or is this how it will always be?

[Ruma85]

We've had some elite bigs in the league's history but it seems like every time the best players in the league are either wings or guards it seems significantly more popular. I don't think this "no face of the league stuff" is just about the top players being foreign but also the fact that they're bigs too(Jokic/Giannis). You can trace this back to Magic/Bird coming in the 80s along with Isaiah and obviously Jordan. It makes you wonder if not for Jordan in the 90s would the league's popularity have suffered because after him the league's best players were exclusively bigs. It can't just be the way bigs play because we have had many different ones with different skillsets(ex Hakeem, Ewing, Shaq, Robinson, Dirk, KG, Jokic, Giannis, Embiid).

One reason that the WNBA may actually be on the verge of a breakthrough popularity wise is there may be a point in the future where the league's top players are not exclusively bigs which it has been other than a few exceptions like Moore, Taurasi, and Cooper and Swoopes.

Is their anything that can be done to highlight bigs and sell them to the public better or is this how it will always be?

I'm not sure I understand, is this a US issue?

[Bucks4005]

Maybe it’s easier to relate to a guard, as “this could be me,” vs a big, like, I can’t delude myself into being 7 feet tall type deal.

[threethehardway]

Big men aren't entertaining players for a general audience.

It's not different than dominant elite strikers being better for the UFC than dominant wrestlers.

Give me a dominant passing and ball handling 6'8 guard or a high flying 6'6 guard over a dominant post big any day.

[Uncle Mxy]

Nobody roots for Goliath.

[bkkrh]

We've had some elite bigs in the league's history but it seems like every time the best players in the league are either wings or guards it seems significantly more popular. I don't think this "no face of the league stuff" is just about the top players being foreign but also the fact that they're bigs too(Jokic/Giannis). You can trace this back to Magic/Bird coming in the 80s along with Isaiah and obviously Jordan. It makes you wonder if not for Jordan in the 90s would the league's popularity have suffered because after him the league's best players were exclusively bigs. It can't just be the way bigs play because we have had many different ones with different skillsets(ex Hakeem, Ewing, Shaq, Robinson, Dirk, KG, Jokic, Giannis, Embiid).

One reason that the WNBA may actually be on the verge of a breakthrough popularity wise is there may be a point in the future where the league's top players are not exclusively bigs which it has been other than a few exceptions like Moore, Taurasi, and Cooper and Swoopes.

Is their anything that can be done to highlight bigs and sell them to the public better or is this how it will always be?

The flaw in your theory is that Magic and Bird are both bigs. Bird played PF early in his career and switched to SF when McHale became a starter. Magic is 6-9, Lebron is 6-9. The first really generally known Basketball players were Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Wilt and Kareem were also the first Basketball players that got prominent roles in Hollywood movies.

You already point out that this kinda changed with Dr. J and Jordan, but I see it more related to trying to find the next Jordan becoming a thing in the early 90s. Don´t think it would have impacted his rise if he would have been a 7 footer. Also, the next guy that was build up as a superstar in the early 90s was Shaq, including his rap career and movie roles.

So in that sense I´d say there were until now 3 ways to become a popular superstar. Either being a larger than life big man like Wilt or Shaq, being the next Jordan like Kobe (and a lot of failed up attempts), or being a generally very unique player like Magic, Bird, or Lebron.

[MGB8]

SHAQ

False premise.
NBA was very popular with Shaq as the biggest star. And Hakeem, Duncan and Admiral, Dirk. Malone of the Stockton and Malone duo, Amare when it was Nash and Amare… plenty popular.

[Daddy 801]

Because high flying dunks and acrobatic moves look cooler than a Tim Duncan off the elbow back board bank shot.

[76ciology]

I think part of the original allure was seeing these really tall humans move with the grace and skill of world class athletes. That rare combination of size, mobility, and finesse used to feel extraordinary.. like superheroes from comic books. But over time, as more big men developed guard like skills, that novelty started to wear off. What once felt special became normalized, and with that, the magic faded.

Now, when people talk about how big guys like Jokic and Embiid are, it barely impresses anyone. No one’s amazed anymore. They’re seen more as oversized and slow wings than true bigs doing impressive guard or wing-like things. The framing has shifted.

What still draws real attention is novelty, that sense of something we haven’t seen before. That’s what made young Giannis so captivating.. a seven foot player who plays like Mr. fantastic, who could cover the entire court in two dribbles. That’s why Wembanyama feels otherworldly where his highlights looks like something out of science fiction. And maybe that’s where someone like Hansen Yang could make waves too, a talented passing center from China, which may not be a star at the end of the road but could be someone who can draw lots of attention because of it’s novelty.

If you think about it, the more you look like a superhero, the more popular you can become. It’s almost like sports is just grown men’s version of Marvel

[GoldenAntlers]

Probably has to do more with the way the game is called than anything.

[NO-KG-AI]

It looks like small guys are defying the odds when they are dominant. Big guys look like they are just bullying weaker people.

[MrBigShot]

Great perimeter players are simply more dynamic and more entertaining.

Take a guy like Ant. When he's at his best he's knocking down contested threes, pulling up in the midrange off the dribble, slicing through the defense making acrobatic layups, dunking on people, throwing alley oops to himself. Hard for a big to match that style of play.

[tsherkin]

Great perimeter players are simply more dynamic and more entertaining.

Take a guy like Ant. When he's at his best he's knocking down contested threes, pulling up in the midrange off the dribble, slicing through the defense making acrobatic layups, dunking on people, throwing alley oops to himself. Hard for a big to match that style of play.

Less so this year, however, when he was mostly bombing threes.

[JN61]

It doesn't
We had some of all time low finals numbers when curry was there last time

[Yank3525]

Traditional big men games are not usually fun to watch for casual viewers or relatable.

[UglyBugBall]

Because bigs are kind of boring to watch. What’s more exciting, a cheetah hunting or a brown bear lumbering around? I’d rather watch a guard or wing break down a defense from the perimeter, cross someone up, slice through traffic, and finish creatively at the rim or kick it with a bullet pass. Watching a guy catch it on the block, back down slowly, then hook or float it in just doesn’t hit the same.

[lambchop]

SHAQ

False premise.
NBA was very popular with Shaq as the biggest star. And Hakeem, Duncan and Admiral, Dirk. Malone of the Stockton and Malone duo, Amare when it was Nash and Amare… plenty popular.

There was no period where Malone was popular without Jordan being in the league.

Yes, Shaq was the biggest star, but Kobe, Vince Carter, Tmac etc. were in the league with him and probably still more popular.

Amare can into the league a year before LBJ and coincided with prime Kobe and athletic prime D-Wade when he played with Nash. Of course, the league was popular then, but Amare had very little to do with it.

[Jailblazers7]

Guards and wings are way more marketable because of playstyle and skillset. In the history of signature shoes, how many bigs have had a successful signature shoe line? I think Shaq is the only one.

Purely from a basketball standpoint look at the evolution of the league. Bigs in the modern NBA have done everything they can to play like guards because it’s more fun & cool.

[Chokic]

Maybe it’s easier to relate to a guard, as “this could be me,” vs a big, like, I can’t delude myself into being 7 feet tall type deal.

Then thinking they could be a +6'8 athletic freak like lebron isnt delusional?

[NO-KG-AI]

Maybe it’s easier to relate to a guard, as “this could be me,” vs a big, like, I can’t delude myself into being 7 feet tall type deal.

Then thinking they could be a +6'8 athletic freak like lebron isnt delusional?

LeBron is kind of caught in between in terms of size and playstyle. He’s also been extremely polarizing as the face.