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Declining interest in Basketball

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I'm not quite as passionate, but I was also insanely passionate as a kid. I personally still really love the NBA though because I have always been a fan of it as a whole. The league is more interesting than ever to me as far as the off-season's, the drama, and what social media brings to the game. It's interesting to see how the game evolves.

That being said, I don't know when the next generational talent will come. Even with how good all of these players are like KD, Harden, Giannis, etc., there still hasn't been that Kobe or LeBron type player to me. There is more talent in the league than ever and the game always evolves and goes through cycles. I still love the game just for the game. But I don't see a new face for the league yet. I'm sure the NBA hopes one will emerge before LeBron retires.

I think the NBA and all the media outlets are praying very hard that it's Zion.
 
This is a predictable and understandable feeling following the glory years of 03-10 and especially 14-18. We watched a top-5 all time player from our area lead our team to heights it never had previously reached. We got to see our city's first championship in 50+ years.

Knowing that there is little to no chance of a deep playoff run in the next few years, its totally understandable to not be as invested or feel the same joy while watching. Its like driving a Porsche for 5 years, then being given a late model Civic and expecting to feel the same. We reached the pinnacle. We experienced a championship that meant more to us than pretty much any other fan-base in sports. Totally understandable to have a "fandom hangover" at this point.
Couldn't word it better myself. Bravo!
 
The Browns are my sports passion now and have been since they drafted Mingo (don't remember when that was).

It's because I'm young and haven't noticed this feeling with other interests before. That and Cavs section of the site has seemed really quiet over the last year.

I think it seems quiet because many posters post on Studio 34 exclusively. Come to think of it I practically never post on the main forum anymore.
 
The way the refs are told to officiate the games now has ruined a lot for me. It’s so easy to play the refs and get the calls you want. The little skinny guys can flop. Crafty big men get away with holding. The gym rats who are twice as strong as their opponents don’t get rewarded for it as often as they should because of the rules of the NBA. Even Popovich said “there’s no basketball anymore” in regards to how in love everyone is with the 3pt shot. I don’t think the 3pt shot itself is the problem, but the way the games are officiated. 10 years ago I don’t remember seeing many fouls on an outside jumper and now guys can just lean or swipe through and go to the FT line every time they take a contested jumper. Pretty boring.

I could go on about other reasons why I’m less interested in the NBA as well, but...I just don’t care enough to keep typing, haha. Case and point.
 
I have loved the NBA since I used to watch NBA Inside Stuff as a kid in the 90s. Always has been my favorite sport to both watch and play. The Warriors killed last year for me. I am excited to watch the NBA again this year, but it does suck that the league is wide open and we have no shot.
 
Basketball had a bubble in the late 20th century. It was a bubble and now it is over. Football is having the same issues.
 
you know the late 20th century was 20 years ago now, right?

Late 20th century -- period between when Jordan retired from the Bulls and when the great Kobe/Shaq Lakers emerged -- was actually one of the worst times for the NBA
 
Basketball had a bubble in the late 20th century. It was a bubble and now it is over. Football is having the same issues.

While I don't agree with your timeline, I do think the NBA, NFL, and MLB have had their bubbles. 2019 might have been the start of the decline of the NBA. The NFL actually has seen an increase in viewers this year.

The NFL is built for the widest audience by how their tv deals are set up. They make sure the local audience gets every game on broadcast tv. Everyone gets 4 to 6 games on broadcast tv a week. They have even put deals together to get people free or cheap access to games and redzone on mobile devices. If your cable TV provider gets into a dispute with your local TV network that has the NFL, you can download an app or get an antenna to watch the game.

The NBA and MLB model just doesn't have the lean way that the NFL does to make sure their viewers get to see games. Regional sports networks and being so much on cable puts MLB and NBA viewers at the mercy of their provider and negotiating deals with channels.

An example of the MLB reach is the ALDS is on FS1 that is in about 83 million households. Neilson estimates there are about 120 million tv households in the US. So the MLB playoffs is only available to less than 70% of tv households. That 30% tv households that they cant reach is only going to get bigger each year.

The dispute that Sling/dish and the fox sport regional networks currently have, basically has gotten rid of the MLB and NBA's cheapest way to access to regional sports networks and their product.
 
The NBAs response to Moreys Hong Kong tweet killed it for me. They can all get totally fucked for being such hypocritical cowards. Silvers a punk.
 
Yeah I’ve hated the NBA for a while, and this just pushed it over the edge. I’m done with them.
 
Theyre handling this so poorly. This is only gonna cause more people to bring signs.

Yeah, there seems to be this large group that thinks this is going to just go away once the season starts. I only see it getting worse to be honest. There will be hit pieces about the economic impact, decline in apparel sales, reporters questioning players, coaches, etc, fans bringing signs and other stuff to games and so on. I wouldn't be surprised to see protests outside of arenas. Unless the HK situation magically gets resolved, I don't see how this doesn't persist. It likely gets amplified in the playoffs when a global audience generally spreads and increases viewership as well.
 
It’ll go away. Everything goes away with sports.

Remember how mad everyone was at Colin Kaepernick and his big bad Nike commercial this time last year?

What about all the times everyone was done with sports because of the greedy owners/athletes after strikes?

Nobody will remember this in a year.
 

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