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Adam Silver seems to be burying his head in the sand when it comes to the NBA’s declining ratings. In a recent interview, the NBA commissioner pinned the low ratings the league has seen to start the 2024/25 season on the Presidential Election and the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.
Despite the fact that the 2024 World Series concluded before Halloween, Adam Silver still partially blamed the NBA’s poor ratings to start the season on the Fall Classic.
Silver also pointed to the recent Presidential election between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee, and President-elect, Donald Trump, which was held on Tuesday, November 5.
“I think we’re just looking at a couple weeks of ratings, there’s always some unique things, this year we were up against a World Series. You had a presidential election that was commanding an enormous amount of attention. So I don’t think it has anything whatsoever to do with the style of play on the floor,” Silver said in an interview with Cheddar.
Silver’s analysis ignores some painfully obvious realities about the NBA, the foremost being that the product simply isn’t that good right now. In the Eastern Conference, just four teams are above .500 (the Western Conference, by comparison currently has 11 teams with more wins than losses).
There’s also the obvious load management issue, epitomized by Philadelphia Sixers star Joel Embiid, who has only played in a handful of games this season. Most fans likely haven’t been enjoying the Bronny James circus, either.
According to Shaq, he believes part of the NBA’s current problem is the amount of 3-point shots being taken, arguing that so many teams having the same strategy makes the game boring.
“We’re looking at the same thing,” O’Neal said on his podcast. “Everybody is running the same plays. And [the Warriors] messed it up. I don’t mind Golden State back in the day shooting threes, but every team isn’t a three-point shooter. So why [does] everybody have the same strategy? I think it makes the game boring.”
The NBA’s season is also simply too long, which is an aspect of the sport that’s been discussed for years now. Given that the playoffs don’t begin until April, it can be difficult for the casual fan to get invested prior to the All-Star break, let alone prior to New Year’s Day.