This is a near perfect rant and I don’t even like hockey that much. I just know that the NBA does in fact have a major culture problem in the form of competition. Nobody cares about anything other than themselves in the NBA and it’s exhausting. If they don’t care, why should I care?
There needs to be an important distinction about why people watch sports. The entertainment value is not in 130 point games or the inevitable undefended 2nd quarter alley-oop run. And it’s certainly not in the pregame fashion or the social media glazing from all angles. The reality is sports fans want to watch good competition, plain and simple.
The connection to good competition is often rooted in how much you know about the sport. That way you can identify good competition, which is why most are drawn to the sports they know best. And another good example of why I don’t even like hockey that much. I can’t even skate.
Baseball on the other hand? I know so much that it creeps me out. You’d think the broadcast is on a delay so they can hear what I have to say about the most recent pitch. And I’m unfortunately not joking. It’s a burden and a blessing at the same time.
Soccer is another good example. I don’t know shit but find it peaceful and beautiful and easy to watch. And there’s usually late, great drama and theater. So the enjoyment for me personally is just in good clean sport, and those guys always deliver. Really, the English Premier League on a Saturday morning is a bonafide tier-1 delicacy in my life.
Golf is right there too. I know how good those guys are and can relate through how much I suck. A good Sunday leaderboard is a guarantee that I will watch regardless if it’s the 3M Open or the US Open. It’s all deadly provided the competition down the stretch is there. And even if it’s not, you get 1st time winners or longshots and crazy stories. There’s always something juicy to play for in golf.
Basketball is where this all falls apart. College kids try hard but they suck fundamentally. So many missed shots and turnovers and stupid fouls and atrocious play. I enjoy March Madness but you’ve got rocks in your head if you think I’m going a full 40-minutes for UConn/Villanova on a Tuesday night. My opinion: you gotta have a boulder for a brain to casually enjoy that.
The NBA is even worse because they’re the best athletes on the planet competing in pro sports’ most exclusive club, and they just don’t care about the results. Getting there is the most important thing. Staying there comes next. And what happens in-between is simply a means to a paycheck, and that’s fine by all accounts. Just don’t expect the casual sports fan to care about the product, no matter how much genius innovation Adam Silver has in store for us.
Ultimately it comes down to connection and there is quite literally nothing relatable about the NBA. There’s no fat guys or short guys. There’s only a few career grinders and even less traditional underdogs. It’s too big and too fast and too unrecognizable from every other level of the game. So even if you did play seriously in high school or college, there’s so little about the modern NBA that appeals to your own personal experience.
I think the NBA really stands alone on that and it’s nobody’s fault. The athletes are just too good and the day-to-day stakes are so low. It’s one big exhibition with limited incentives and even less repercussions. So probably not getting fixed any time soon but worth recognizing right now before it gets worse.
Do you disagree?
You’re probably wrong.
PS – PK Subban highlights anyone?