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NFL took over but it's become like a social event. NBA is the not chill crowd. A lot of dedicated die hard fans of all ages and all walks of life but it's becoming a niche thing. People don't wear Laker gear in public, but yet the games are sold out. It's weird. It's the fans, and just society and general. Boxing/MMA has some similar parallels but I think maybe there is a wider gap between NFL and NBA.

 

Yeah I have been on nba message boards since the dot com era and I could tell you, fans have changed significantly. But I see a huge difference in the way people act. A lot more stans, etc. People dont have respect for eachother, stuff like that. Even the media is all corporately and kiss the star players a** and stuff like that. NBA used to be more obscure and cool. It was popular, profitable, but at the same time more low key, maybe accessable to common folks. I remember as a kid watching NBA content on Sat morning on regular TV at times. Tickets were cheaper. Just different. Hard to explain to the Kardashian fan crowd. Michael Jordan, Hakeem, David Robinson, Kareem had more of a hard worker, attitude, don't forget where they come from. They made a lot less money I think there could be something to that too. There's a lot. NBA turns a lot if people off for various reasons.

 

NBA is a star driven league: it got incredibly lucky with Magic/Bird transitioned to Jordan. NBA was in a dark place prior in the cocaine era

And the post Jordan years may have been good for Laker fans but the league had a lot of NBA is crashing stuff as guys like AI and VC were thought to turn off folks. The TWolves following the Fab 5 with long shorts were turning off Middle America was a thing even back then for those us who lived thru it. Of course things started back up again with a lot of talent around: Wade coming into his own, Lebron becoming the bad guy by heading to Miami, Boston/LAL feud rising again turned up the NBA interest and then Lebron/Curry took over.

Now what: the talent is there with guys like Jokic and Giannis as the top end but frankly Boston isn't that interesting of a team even though they are really good (KG/Pierce/Ray Allen have about 1000 time more charisma than Brown/Tatum) and Jokic is guy for basketball nerds to love and watch not casual fans. In other words: the league has nothing to replace Lebron/Curry - no MJ to take over. The big threat is all the stars aren't American and lack charisma.

 

Corporate prices yield corporate fans.
I do believe that the insane increase of threes, which make the game boring to watch, do play a factor in the waning interest.
The AAU basketball thing plays a part as well- everyone is friends with one another and no real rivalries exist anymore.
Throughout the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, it felt like guys really hated specific players and their meetings came with a sense of animosity that just doesn’t exist today. Yeah, it did get out of hand sometimes, like the “Malice in the Palace,” but I miss the days of guys like Foxy running half way around the arena to meet up with Christie to show him what’s what- in a Preseason Game!!!
Another reason is the rule change that basically stopped anyone on the perimeter from playing any form of real defense.

 

There is a lot to unpack. I'm sure NBA has elite marketing folks, etc. working on it. Every Sunday is like a holiday in many households due to NFL. But they are expanding to more day too, further threatening the NBA. Basketball is more of an art than NFL. Should be higher regarded. But people like violence, etc.

 

Yeah, borderline pro wresting, boxing, mma vibe to it. Hand checking, etc. Nothing wrong with that. Teams styles were significantly less homogeneous. You had the thug pistons and jail blazers, the fast breaking Lakers, etc.

 

It's like Disneyand now here in socal, everyday people can't even afford to go to a game. And business are shut down in low income areas and just focus on being in the rich areas. The wealth Gap is a significant culprit here too.

 

this is very important in my opinion

the league is loaded with talent at the moment, but look at all the guys at the top. jokic, giannis, luka, SGA, and wemby. all international players. that's not to say there aren't a number of elite american stars, but they all lack charisma and that "win at any cost" attitude you saw from previous generations. edwards is probably the closest we'll get to that. morant is another one who plays an entertaining style+isn't camera shy but he's always missing games with injuries or off court issues. the rest of the young established american stars like tatum, brown, haliburton, mitchell, etc are either boring to watch and/or don't provide that "it" factor. maybe flagg will finally be that american star that the new generation lacks

i think the league tried to make zion that guy when he came into the league with all that hype, but injuries killed any chance of that

 

Maybe this is where expansion could help significantly? Like 4 more teams.

 

Seattle, Vegas for sure. The other two maybe would need a lot of research. Mexico City would be a safety/travel issue. I'm sure there are some cities who's population has grown. NBA should emphasize getting the working class back in the loop though. Also maybe put teams in Austin and Religh-Durham.

 

Lol there use to be a lot more NBA "stiffs" like John Koncack running around. There isn't any room for those guys anymore, they have to maybe play overseas or gleague.

 

expansion is coming, but i don't think that's a solution to these problems. like i said, the league is loaded win talent. it's just that most of today's superstars are international and the american stars either aren't fun to watch or lack charisma/stage presence. lack of rivalries is also a problem too

 

I agree its not the solution. It wouldnt hurt though.

 

They nuked the middle class and that’s one of the reasons I recently left.

 

We have nothing to cheer for! They paid their money to watch this mediocre team be mediocre! They did their part.

 

Yeah I think the combo of no real American stars to replace lebron curry Durant and not real rivalries really sucking the drama out of the league. The talent frankly is incredible right now overall but where is the Kings Lakers of 00s, the eternal Boston/Lakers, GS/Cavs clashes. Embiid/Jokic doesn't even happen, Ja and Zion end up in two meh cities and are hurt, Luka doesn't seem to care about his body and I really have idea why Jokic vs Luka or Luka vs Gianni's never has happened. The battle of the Slavs doesn't even get mentioned. Strange

 

Latest from Stein and Fischer on Porter for LaVine

In short: Nuggets are weighing their options and if they do move Porter, they prefer 2 starter caliber players in return.