What the hell happened to the NBA?

[ieffinhatecardio]

Up here in MA. and New England for that matter the Celtics are barely on the radar. They used to be as popular as the Red Sox and they were much more popular than the Patriots. Now hardly anyone cares. It's seems to be the same with much of the NBA with the exception of certain teams.

The Celts and Lakers, two former GIANTS in the NBA have been relegated to laughing stock status as have the Knicks and 76'ers and a host of other formerly great teams.

For anyone that remembers the Bird, Magic, Jordan and Hakeem era this is somewhat sad. There was a time when the NBA was a must see with great games and rivalries and great personalities. Those days seem long gone.

[CalvinH]

In Ny everybody hates the owner and manager of the Knicks,it makes it tough to root for them.

[JOHN MATRIX]

so when the Lakers, Celtics and Knicks suck then the whole NBA automatically sucks?

i guess no one caught golden state's upset of dallas one of the greatest series ever played, or LeBron's legendary game 5 against detroit, or the spurs establishing themselves as the team of the decade, no, the big new england teams suck so everything must suck.
well it certainly must suck for you guys in the northeast or in LA but in other parts of the country things are as good as ever. just cause your team isnt doing well right now doesnt mean you cant appreciate and enjoy the other good aspects of the game

[ieffinhatecardio]

so when the Lakers, Celtics and Knicks suck then the whole NBA automatically sucks?

i guess no one caught golden state's upset of dallas one of the greatest series ever played, or LeBron's legendary game 5 against detroit, or the spurs establishing themselves as the team of the decade, no, the big new england teams suck so everything must suck.
well it certainly must suck for you guys in the northeast or in LA but in other parts of the country things are as good as ever. just cause your team isnt doing well right now doesnt mean you cant appreciate and enjoy the other good aspects of the game

I'm curious, did the fact that the ratings for nearly all things NBA have fallen recently factor into your post at all or did you deliberately choose to focus solely on teams in the Northeast and L.A.?

[MB_722]

they were just talkng about this on the BS report on espn interviewing ric bucher.

If it wasn't for the lxury tax, teams could get the players they want. winning a championship is just a bonus.

[thisiskeith12]

I remember seeing during halftime of one of the Pistons Cavs game that it was one of the most watched series in a long time.

[ieffinhatecardio]

The Finals were a huge ratings failure despite the fact that LeBron (arguably the NBA's biggest star) was in his first Championship Series, and check out the ratings for the All-Star games from the last decade or so, a steady decline.

2007 NBA Finals

While the 2007 NBA finals featured LeBron James making his first appearence, according to ESPN, the 2007 NBA Finals series was a television bust in the United States. [9] San Antonio's four-game sweep of Cleveland finished with a record-low 6.2 television rating and 11 share on ABC, Nielsen Media Research said on June 15, 2007.

That was down 27 percent from the 8.5/15 for Miami's six-game victory over Dallas from the previous year and 5 percent under the previous low, a 6.5/12 for San Antonio's six-game win over New Jersey in 2003. The NBA Finals averaged 9.3 million viewers this year.

San Antonio's series-winning 83-82 victory on Thursday night got a 6.5/12, down 17 percent from the 7.8/14 for Game 4 in 2006.

All-Star Game ratings since 1991 Net.    Year    Result    Rating
NBC    1991    East 116, West 114    7.8/21
NBC    1992    West 153, East 113    12.8/26
NBC    1993    West 135, East 132    14.3/22
NBC    1994    East 127, West 118    9.1/14
NBC    1995    West 139, East 112    10.7/17
NBC    1996    East 129, West 118    11.7/20
NBC    1997    East 132, West 120    11.2/19
NBC    1998    East 135, West 114    10.6/17
NBC    1999    Lockout - game canceled    None
NBC    2000    East 137, West 126    6.9/12
NBC    2001    East 111, West 110    5.1/8
NBC    2002    West 135, East 120    8.2/15
TNT    2003    West 155, East 145 (2OT)    6.6/12
TNT    2004    West 136, East 132    5.1/10
TNT    2005    East 125, West 115    4.9/8
TNT    2006    East 122, West 120    4.3/8
TNT    2007    West 153, East 132    4.2/--

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association_Nielsen_ratings

[JOHN MATRIX]

thats because everyone already knew it was going to be a sweep! so only fans
1. from those cities
and
2. real fans who appreciate good basketball
watched the series probably, all the other riff-raff didnt watch cause none of the spurs have nike commercials.

[pumpster]

The NBA has for decades been stale. It takes a couple of great players and/or great teams and rivalries developed over years to elevate it temporarily out of the doldrums. Otherwise it reverts back to abysmal in between the Magics, Birds and Jordans. The league was pretty much as mediocre in the 70s before Bird & Johnson. The dilution today's even worse.

[CARTEL]

thats because everyone already knew it was going to be a sweep! so only fans
1. from those cities
and
2. real fans who appreciate good basketball
watched the series probably, all the other riff-raff didnt watch cause none of the spurs have nike commercials.

Agreed. Imagine if it was SA vs Phoenix or Phoenix vs Dallas or SA vs Dallas.

It would have been one of the best finals ever. Maybe the NBA should just change the seeding format.

[Al-Gebra]

Up here in MA. and New England for that matter the Celtics are barely on the radar. They used to be as popular as the Red Sox and they were much more popular than the Patriots. Now hardly anyone cares. It's seems to be the same with much of the NBA with the exception of certain teams.

The Celts and Lakers, two former GIANTS in the NBA have been relegated to laughing stock status as have the Knicks and 76'ers and a host of other formerly great teams.

For anyone that remembers the Bird, Magic, Jordan and Hakeem era this is somewhat sad. There was a time when the NBA was a must see with great games and rivalries and great personalities. Those days seem long gone.

Motherfucking Stern happened to the NBA.

Hmmm . . . what's the best way to get the Nancies past the Suns? . . . yeah, how about we call some bs on Stoudemire and Diaw and suspend them?  hahaha, but the viewers cooked stern's goose for him.

[JOHN MATRIX]

Motherfucking Stern happened to the NBA.

Hmmm . . . what's the best way to get the Nancies past the Suns? . . . yeah, how about we call some bs on Stoudemire and Diaw and suspend them?  hahaha, but the viewers cooked stern's goose for him.

your smarter than this...dont be a dumbass

[Parker]

Because the qaulity of play has gone down. Since Jordan and company (Hakeem, Barkley, Ewing,etc) retired b-ball has been stale, it features overpaid athletes (Lebron included) that don't have the skills to match the 90's. Hell, The US dream lost, and some of the hottest b-ball is in Europe not the US.

If you ever have watch any AND1 videos, it shows that most players now focus more on dunks, have no love for the game the fundementals on winning, just spectacular dunks and shots, showmanship.

[Camel Jockey]

Big market teams need to be winning. It's that simple.

John Matrix, no one gives a flying fuck about the Spurs.. If the Suns were in the finals, then the ratings would be atleast 2-3 million higher.

If teams like the Knicks, Lakers, Celtics are in the finals, coupled with some great story, then the finals could draw a 10 per night easy..

[JOHN MATRIX]

Big market teams need to be winning. It's that simple.

no, the best, most deserving teams teams need to be winning. if the big market teams cant get their shit together, thats their own damn fault.
 

[Earl1972]

you know the sport sucks if the only way to get people to watch is to have large market teams in the finals

E

[Al-Gebra]

you know the sport sucks if the only way to get people to watch is to have large market teams in the finals

E

E = dumbass to the power of 2


HTH.

[Earl1972]

E = dumbass to the power of 2


HTH.

ok the sport is great if they need to have the large market teams in the finals to have great ratings

the pittsburgh/seattle super bowl was the second or third highest rated super bowl of all time

oh and quit following me around you aren't the least bit entertaining, just a useless troll

E

[Al-Gebra]

since you're a little slow/square, I'll be kind and explain things to you slowly just this once.

i don't follow you around b/c I want to entertain you, I follow you around b/c your slowness/squareness is entertaining to me.

so just keep on doing the things you do

[JOHN MATRIX]

FUCK the phoenix suns, they are a bunch of whiney pussies, FUCK the dallas mavericks, we all know what happened to them, if you douches cant appreciate the Spurs and their Dominance then you dont know Shit about Basketball, they are the best,most entertaining team in the league if you know anything about bball, if not then Shut the Fuck up and watch a dunk contest or a Nike commercial you dumb shits, and stop your fucking whining. BITCHES!!!

[Earl1972]

since you're a little slow/square, I'll be kind and explain things to you slowly just this once.

i don't follow you around b/c I want to entertain you, I follow you around b/c your slowness/squareness is entertaining to me.

so just keep on doing the things you do

translation: you have a crush on me

you're a worthless, boring, stupid troll that never has anything interesting, funny, or insightful to say and you were stalking me on a saturday night and i'm the "slow square" one hahahahhaa

and the fact that you think the nba doesn't have any problems if they only get high ratings while having a large market team play shows your intellignece

keep thinking that i'm the slow square one though, it will help you sleep better at night

E

[Al-Gebra]

translation: you have a crush on me

you're a worthless, boring, stupid troll that never has anything interesting, funny, or insightful to say and you were stalking me on a saturday night and i'm the "slow square" one hahahahhaa

and the fact that you think the nba doesn't have any problems if they only get high ratings while having a large market team play shows your intellignece

keep thinking that i'm the slow square one though, it will help you sleep better at night

E

earl, nobody does it quite like you do. 

[pumpster]

Gebra & Earl are strangely entertaining together. 

[Earl1972]

Gebra & Earl are strangely entertaining together. 

I would be embarrassed to be seen with him

E

[jerseyhurricane]

I think the problem is players coming out too early for the draft. College basketball is watered down because of it and they're not ready for the NBA. Plus guaranteed  money is hurting way too many teams. It seems the NFL is the only league that gets it right.