Thunder-Pacers Finals. Worst for business?

[Dominator83]

Agreed! I said this in another thread as well.

"IDk why the NBA has issues with this. It's silly to. Me. It's all about marketing.

The NFL doesn't hv this isuee. Hell! Look at all the small markets in that league that draws well and very successful. Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, Pitt Steelers, Cincy, Bengals , New Orleans Saints, Minn Vikings, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indy Colts, Jacksonville Jags, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, etc.

The big market NY Jets have been a joke for decades and haven't been in the playoffs for a decade and a half. Last won a Super Bowl in 1969!
Same for the Chicago Bears, they stink and haven't won a SB since 1985."

Idk anything about football really. To the extent that Tom Brady is one of the few names I know

Did football fans care when Tom Brady was dominating the sport in a massive market?

That's where the difference is here. Fans of other sports do not pretend that there's any inherent value to a small market winning the way they do in the NBA.

Like any dynasty or several times winner, fans loved to hate and root against the patriots. If it was the NBA, fans would have been trading Pat mahomes to the Giants or Cowboys every year lol

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

NBA media is trash, trash and more trash.

It’s their fault that people only care about 3-4 teams and sites like ESPN that cater as well.

I remember in the early 90’s kids were repping Hornets merch because it looked cool and LJ and Zo were up and comers. Seattle was popular with Kemp and GP. Minnesota with KG and Marbury were a big deal.

And who did the Lakers have before they got Shaq?
Anthony Peeler? Eddie Jones? Sedale Threatt?

Nobody cared about the Celtics when Dino Radja was the guy there.

Point is the league was doing ok with Jordan and smaller
Franchises that had a cool factor to them.

I don’t see what's cool about the Indiana Pacers. They have a lot of unrelatable players. They aren’t really inspiring.

The Caitlin Clark & Angel Reese / Indiana Fever stuff gets forced sometimes too.. it just seems robotic.

Yea, I think I speak for all RealGM fans when I say, we all relate more to LeBron James and all the big city guys, than we do the underdog who often gets overlooked.

[Ugly0598]

NBA media is trash, trash and more trash.

It’s their fault that people only care about 3-4 teams and sites like ESPN that cater as well.

I remember in the early 90’s kids were repping Hornets merch because it looked cool and LJ and Zo were up and comers. Seattle was popular with Kemp and GP. Minnesota with KG and Marbury were a big deal.

And who did the Lakers have before they got Shaq?
Anthony Peeler? Eddie Jones? Sedale Threatt?

Nobody cared about the Celtics when Dino Radja was the guy there.

Point is the league was doing ok with Jordan and smaller
Franchises that had a cool factor to them.

I don’t see what's cool about the Indiana Pacers. They have a lot of unrelatable players. They aren’t really inspiring.

The Caitlin Clark & Angel Reese / Indiana Fever stuff gets forced sometimes too.. it just seems robotic.

Yea, I think I speak for all RealGM fans when I say, we all relate more to LeBron James and all the big city guys, than we do the underdog who often gets overlooked.

I think RealGM fans relate to both. I don’t think Indiana is an underdog.

[reddyplayerone]

Whats good for the NBA is knowing that any team has a shot to win it all

That is quite literally not even how we got here so idk why anyone thinks this and I keep asking and nobody will answer

huh

The league is a multibillion dollar global behemoth today and it definitely wasn't built on parity, because the NBA hasn't really had parity to this point.

If it did, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

[Heat3]

The NBA has the worst fans in American sports.

Y’all have been programmed to think of the Celtics or Lakers aren’t in the Finals, then it sucks.

No other league does this.

No other league is like “Welp, the Panthers and the Broncos are in the Super Bowl, imma skip this because it’s not a team from a big market.”

The NBA’s marketing has just royally screwed their business over by only putting a spotlight on the same 5 teams.

NBA culture is just so ass backwards.

Adam Silver will make the call. If it's OKC and Indy, they will still play the Finals but it will be for the Emirates NBA Cup. Series to be rescheduled to end of July sorry

In it's place we will have an "exhibition" series between the Lakers vs Celtics for the Larry O'brien trophy. It's what's best for business.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

I don’t see what's cool about the Indiana Pacers. They have a lot of unrelatable players. They aren’t really inspiring.

The Caitlin Clark & Angel Reese / Indiana Fever stuff gets forced sometimes too.. it just seems robotic.

Yea, I think I speak for all RealGM fans when I say, we all relate more to LeBron James and all the big city guys, than we do the underdog who often gets overlooked.

I think RealGM fans relate to both. I don’t think Indiana is an underdog.

Sports shows have openly admitted they haven’t watched the Pacers and we’ve had analysts not even able to pronounce players names correctly.

They were favored to lose every game vs the Cavs(even with the injuries), and pretty sure we were favored to lose vs the Bucks as well. Been the same thing with the Knicks.

If the media doesn’t watch you, analysts can’t even pronounce your players names correctly, and you’re favored to lose nearly every playoff game you’ve played, how are you not the underdog?

[reddyplayerone]

NBA media is trash, trash and more trash.

It’s their fault that people only care about 3-4 teams and sites like ESPN that cater as well.

I remember in the early 90’s kids were repping Hornets merch because it looked cool and LJ and Zo were up and comers. Seattle was popular with Kemp and GP. Minnesota with KG and Marbury were a big deal.

And who did the Lakers have before they got Shaq?
Anthony Peeler? Eddie Jones? Sedale Threatt?

Nobody cared about the Celtics when Dino Radja was the guy there.

Point is the league was doing ok with Jordan and smaller
Franchises that had a cool factor to them.

So we need ESPN to tell us the Pacers make cool hats

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

That is quite literally not even how we got here so idk why anyone thinks this and I keep asking and nobody will answer

huh

The league is a multibillion dollar global behemoth today and it definitely wasn't built on parity, because the NBA hasn't really had parity to this point.

If it did, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

That’s absurd.

Basketball was always going to get more popular.

[TravisScott55]

That is quite literally not even how we got here so idk why anyone thinks this and I keep asking and nobody will answer

huh

The league is a multibillion dollar global behemoth today and it definitely wasn't built on parity, because the NBA hasn't really had parity to this point.

If it did, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

Fandom has changed from the 70s and 80s

[reddyplayerone]

Yea, I think I speak for all RealGM fans when I say, we all relate more to LeBron James and all the big city guys, than we do the underdog who often gets overlooked.

I think RealGM fans relate to both. I don’t think Indiana is an underdog.

Sports shows have openly admitted they haven’t watched the Pacers and we’ve had analysts not even able to pronounce players names correctly.

They were favored to lose every game vs the Cavs(even with the injuries), and pretty sure we were favored to lose vs the Bucks as well. Been the same thing with the Knicks.

If the media doesn’t watch you, analysts can’t even pronounce your players names correctly, and you’re favored to lose nearly every playoff game you’ve played, how are you not the underdog?

But apparently all of that just makes the Pacers more relatable anyway so maybe ESPN is doing an amazing job actually?

[reddyplayerone]

huh

The league is a multibillion dollar global behemoth today and it definitely wasn't built on parity, because the NBA hasn't really had parity to this point.

If it did, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

Fandom has changed from the 70s and 80s

How so?

[reddyplayerone]

huh

The league is a multibillion dollar global behemoth today and it definitely wasn't built on parity, because the NBA hasn't really had parity to this point.

If it did, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

That’s absurd.

Basketball was always going to get more popular.

That's just guaranteed? Written in the stars was it?

Then why is anyone concerned about parity? It's all destiny apparently so just sit back relax and enjoy

[Black Jack]

I think that Ant is more interesting aura / controversy wise than SGA and Knicks have a huge crazy fanbase, celeb fans, and media spotlight so those two wouod have been a more media friendly matchup.

Indy and OKC aren’t as known by casuals.

It’s gonna be rough for ratings but I don’t care about ratings.

[Raps in 4]

The NBA has the worst fans in American sports.

Y’all have been programmed to think of the Celtics or Lakers aren’t in the Finals, then it sucks.

No other league does this.

No other league is like “Welp, the Panthers and the Broncos are in the Super Bowl, imma skip this because it’s not a team from a big market.”

The NBA’s marketing has just royally screwed their business over by only putting a spotlight on the same 5 teams.

NBA culture is just so ass backwards.

Agreed! I said this in another thread as well.

"IDk why the NBA has issues with this. It's silly to. Me. It's all about marketing.

The NFL doesn't hv this isuee. Hell! Look at all the small markets in that league that draws well and very successful. Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, Pitt Steelers, Cincy, Bengals , New Orleans Saints, Minn Vikings, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indy Colts, Jacksonville Jags, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, etc.

The big market NY Jets have been a joke for decades and haven't been in the playoffs for a decade and a half. Last won a Super Bowl in 1969!
Same for the Chicago Bears, they stink and haven't won a SB since 1985."

LA didn't even have an NFL team from 1995 to 2016. Can you imagine the NBA surviving without an LA team for 20 years? It's so dumb how the NBA has tied its entire identity and brand to the Lakers. If the Lakers aren't winning, people don't watch the NBA. The NBA has no one but themselves to blame for that.

[sashaturiaf]

I along with many other fans am dreading the OKC vs Indy matchup.

SGA vs Halliburton as star player matchup? Urgh

[PrivateZer0]

I actually think it's great. You're gonna get a lot of people in the younger generations in smaller markets see their team on the biggest stage in the game and hopefully becoming lifelong fans.

As a Pistons fan, I remember seeing the Pistons beat the Lakers in 04 when I was a kid and have been invested in basketball ever since. It was enough for me to make me a committed fan and support my home team through the good and the bad. And there was a lot of bad for the last decade or so. So in the long run, I think having this parity will continue to help create more lifelong fans in new markets. Maybe there is some bias in the fact that that Piston's team didn't have an outright 2 way superstar, so I always enjoy watching teams that play great team basketball where the whole is greater than all the parts as individuals. You never know who's gonna bring it every night.

It's also not like these teams didn't have great teams in the past with commercial success. The Pacer's PG era and Reggie Miller/Jermaine O'Neal/Ron Artest etc. were also great teams and people still watched. The Durant/Westbrook teams also had lot of supporters and were must-watch TV. Hell, I loved watching that Thunder team play and Westbrook is one of my fav non-Pistons players of all times because I loved the passion he brought to every game.

Who cares if these are smaller market teams. Just give me some exciting basketball and I'll be glued. Even as a division rival with some history with the Pacers, I'd be lying if I was saying that this Pacer's team isn't one of the most exciting crunch time teams I've ever seen in playoffs history.

[Infinite Llamas]

NBA media is trash, trash and more trash.

It’s their fault that people only care about 3-4 teams and sites like ESPN that cater as well.

I remember in the early 90’s kids were repping Hornets merch because it looked cool and LJ and Zo were up and comers. Seattle was popular with Kemp and GP. Minnesota with KG and Marbury were a big deal.

And who did the Lakers have before they got Shaq?
Anthony Peeler? Eddie Jones? Sedale Threatt?

Nobody cared about the Celtics when Dino Radja was the guy there.

Point is the league was doing ok with Jordan and smaller
Franchises that had a cool factor to them.

So we need ESPN to tell us the Pacers make cool hats

We don’t need espn for ****.

I don’t quite know what you are even arguing? That espn has been a good thing for the game? Even though it was thriving perfectly well in the NBC/TNT days?

To me, espns contribution to the NBA is an overwhelming number of fans who adore Lebron and hate Lebron. That’s pretty much all we can “thank” espn for.

[California Gold]

People are so enamored with ratings here.

Two great teams would play in a finals if it is indeed Indiana and OKC. No complaints here.

[K N U C K L E S]

It baffles me why anyone cares about market size. Good basketball is good basketball.

And can we stop calling Miami a small town? Apparently it technically is, but it obviously isn't.

[Infinite Llamas]

I along with many other fans am dreading the OKC vs Indy matchup.

SGA vs Halliburton as star player matchup? Urgh

I care more about good teams than good stars.

The league can survive a series without Brunson or Edwards chucking up 20-25 shots to get their 30 points.