The next time I get asked why I don't watch the NBA anymore I'll link them to this post
I’ll add that apparently nets just traded a first for Royce Oniel? Like literally hours before the trade request
I'm all for "player empowerment" and I don't think this sort of player movement hurts the casual fan's perception of the NBA...but too many fan bases of at least half of the league's franchises are burned by these sorts of moves a lot more than they benefit from them. The NBA is supposed to have parity through the cap and its rules - so that it's not like MLB let alone Euro soccer where a few teams can outspend everyone else. But if the players increasingly do things like demand trades with more than a year left on their deal or refuse to play in certain cities - it will make a lot of fans feel like a few players and franchises control everything. In fact, I have a lot less hope for building a contender in Cleveland now than I did in the late 90s.
Exactly this, the nba is just too big compared to other American sports such as baseball or football, even soccer doesn’t really have this problem. Most money comes from casual fans and foreign markets, casual and foreign fans love the drama and the constant player movement. But hardcore fans of a certain team or fans from a teams city suffer immensely
