I can’t believe how unwatchable the NBA is right now. I know I’m not the only one in this boat, because the buzz just isn’t there anymore.
I thought that when the LeBron, Melo, and Wade generation matured, the NBA would be at an alltime high. That coupled with the new generation of stars like CP3 and Kevin Durant enterring the league, I thought David Stern would be laughing to the bank.
But I’m just not feeling it. Until the playoffs come around, I am unable to watch any matchup that doesn’t involve my home team. Given the choice between the St. Louis Rams vs. the 49ers and San Antonio Spurs vs. the Phoenix Suns, I’m probably choosing the former.
All football biases aside, this college football and NFL season has so much excitement and interesting stories, it’s easy to see why the NBA is being left in the dust. In the NFL, you have the re-emergence of Brett Favre, the greatest team of all time New England Patriots, shitty teams from last year playing well this year and vice versa, and more. In college football, the BCS picture has looked different every week.
The NBA, on the other hand, is so predictable (granted, one could make the argument that the NFL is predictable since the Patriots are cruising to the Super Bowl, but at least we’re in the process of watching history being made!). We already know 6 teams from each conference who will make the playoffs. Yeah, the Celtics are a decent story, but the novelty has worn off for me until playoff time.
Stern has had this dream for the past few years of turning the NBA into the INBA (International). Whether it’s playing games overseas or hyping up and encouraging teams to draft guys from China or Slovakia, he believes the success of the NBA lies in Europe and Asia. Sure, this will be financially lucrative to the league in the short term, but should this be the case, it’ll be the end of the NBA as we know it. Once fans can no longer pronounce the last names of half the league, interest dies (just ask the NHL).
Stern needs to stay local with his league. The talent and characters are there, but they are missing the target market.
November 29th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
That’s ridiculous. There have been some awesome games this year, and a lot of budding rivalries. Just because you suck at the football teet doesn’t mean that the NBA is unwatchable. Rams vs 49ers over Spurs vs Suns? That’s fucking retarded.
November 29th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
And there is no freaking way the NFL regular season is entertaining. The NFL regular season is awful and has NO storylines.
November 29th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
than why are more people watching it over the NBA?
November 29th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
A lot of reasons. It’s marketed better. People are stupid. There are fewer games and thus it’s a lot easier to follow every game of your favorite team. But the NFL is freakin boring until the playoffs, just like the NBA.
November 29th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Half of my post was about marketing! You can’t say the NFL is boring during the regular season. Blogs and talk shows are going crazy that tonight’s Cowboys-Packers game is on the NFL network… Do you think if the Spurs-Suns were only on NBA TV or whatever it’s called, the same buzz would be generated? HELL NO.