Are the NBA finals boring?

Are the NBA finals boring?

[Music] welcome back to the show today we’re talking about what makes a good NBA Finals whether or not this NBA Finals is a good one and more broadly what makes the NBA Finals interesting what makes basketball interesting in general what causes people to gain or lose interest in the league what’s fueling the industry of professional sports of course we all love watching our favorite athletes play their games but personally I think people get just as much enjoyment from watching the game as they do hearing the commentary about the game that night or the next morning think about how much time you spend listening to NBA podcast and watching NBA YouTube videos versus how much time you spend watching the game of basketball itself for me even during the regular season where there’s usually a game every night I still end up listening to more basketball podcasts and watching YouTube videos than I do watching the game I believe the reason is we’re all human and we like stories and the media helps provide context to these stories that play out on the court even though sometimes the context can feel more like fanfiction we like to be able to connect to other human beings emotionally sure you’ve never been eliminated from the playoffs in a historic upset but I’m sure you felt defeated before I’m sure you’ve been confronted with the hard reality that you’ve been out work by someone you thought was inferior to you this is how we connect to certain players and why we have certain aversions to other players so a good finals is a finals featuring players that people are most connected to it could be a deep connection as an example think about marel F he’s a number one draft pick that inexplicably lost his shot in the middle of his rookie year and he spent the last 5 years in Orlando trying to cement his place as a starter a lot of people aren’t concerned about marquel’s career but the people that are concerned are deeply concerned that’s an example of a deep attachment to a player or you have broad connections which would be a a player like LeBron James everyone knows his story everyone knows his name it’s very easy to follow but no one’s deeply concerned about what’s going on with LeBron and his career LeBron’s going to be fine but broadly enjoyed players are going to bring more attention to the playoffs and they’re going to drive more numbers and if we look at finals ratings over the last 20 years and I know TV ratings don’t give us exactly an accurate idea of how many people watch the game it at least gives us a baseline of how many people are watching the game year to year guess which Finals over the last 20 years had the most viewership it was the Golden State Cleveland years with LeBron and Steph by a lot too the 2015 finals had double the viewership of any of the Finals over the Last 5 Years game seven of the 2016 finals had the most viewers of any game since the 1998 finals with Michael Jordan and the Utah Jazz the Last Dance here so what made those LeBron step finals so special well golden state was at the beginning of acquiring all those bandwagon fans and granted Cleveland had the biggest star in the NBA but that wouldn’t explain why Lebron in the Heat finals wouldn’t Garner as much attention so what’s up why did all the casuals show up for these finals in particular there are actually a few different reasons the first reason Steph Curry Curry was coming off his first MVP season in 2015 and for whatever reason sports fans fell in love with the guy maybe it was because he was a family man maybe it was because he was a man of God maybe it was his boyish appearance maybe it was because he changed the game with his efficient and high volume three-point shooting those are my ideas what are yours I assume it was a combination of all of them Steph was everywhere he became more well-liked than Kevin Durant probably the second biggest star in the league the warriors were also a young team which made them really exciting and they felt like Scrappy underd on the other hand you had LeBron James who became a polarizing player after he left Cleveland the first time so you had a really incredible David and Goliath story a team that hadn’t been good in decades became an all-time great team and the stars that were their star players had been Golden State Warriors for their entire career versus LeBron who’ gained a reputation of being kind of a ring Chaser this was the current face of the league being challenged by the new face of the league and that’s why I thought these series were so interesting and why I think they had the highest rating it was because the two players that casual fans knew were playing each other it was the one guy versus the other guy it was also that way for four straight years so it was easy to retain interest there weren’t any new characters to learn about the American public could just jump back in in the finals and watch LeBron versus step again they didn’t have to watch a single regular season game to know what’s going on and one thing I find very interesting is people will always say they don’t like Dynasty they say they don’t want the same team winning year after year they want someone new to win it’s getting boring watching the same team win every year do you hear this from your casual fan friend the funny thing is they may want a new team to win but that doesn’t mean that it would make the game more interesting for them every year that Michael Jordan was in the finals people watched a little bit more the 1998 finals was the most watched finals of all time and viewership went down during the 1994 and 1995 finals where Michael Jordan wasn’t there it’s the same thing with the Super Bowl every year the Pats were in the Super Bowl the viewership would go up and it’s kind of becoming that way with the Chiefs now cuz there’s more people invested in the Patrick Mahomes Travis Kelce Andy Reed story think about the sports that you don’t watch if the only two teams that you actually knew players from were playing in the World Series would you watch it probably not you probably still wouldn’t watch but you’d be more inclin than if it was the Diamondbacks and the Rangers that was the World Series last year you probably don’t know that because most people didn’t watch if you’re watching a TV show or a movie you want to know what’s going on you want to be invested in the characters you want to know who the good guy is and you want to know who the bad guy is if you come home and your roommate is watching the series finale of some show you’ve never seen an episode of you might sit down you might watch it but you’re not going to be invested in it you’re not going to care cuz you don’t know what’s going on that’s the way I think it is when there’s an NBA Finals where there’s no household name so I believe this year with the finals it’s kind of a building year viewership is even down a little bit from last year and granted the Celtics are one of the most supported franchises in the league and Dallas is one of the largest markets in the league but only real NBA fans are investing in these finals I think it takes winning of finals for NBA players to kind of transcend into pop culture I think if joic and the Nuggets were playing right now in the finals for a back-to-back Championship more people would be watching and of course if LeBron Curry or Durant were in the finals it would draw a lot of those fair weather NBA fans out but ultimately I believe this year will grow the league it’ll raise the profile of a guy like Luca Brown Tatum who are younger players and they’re going to be in the league for the next 10 years so that’s good but everyone who watches this show understands all the different subplots going on so let’s talk about a few of the narratives that I find particularly interesting so obviously Tatum and brown have had a lot of success they made the ECF five times and now they’ve made the finals twice they’ve gotten really close but they never seal a deal that’s boring everyone knows this same thing with Luka he’s gotten close but he’s never made the finals there are more interesting narratives to me like Kyrie playing against his old team who he had a pretty bitter breakup with Drew holiday possibly winning a championship after he got traded away from the Bucks in an alleged upgrade I’m a Drew St and my favorite who’s going to win Finals MVP is it going to be Tatum or brown or maybe Drew holiday that’s going to change the dynamic of this team Tatum is 1 a while Brown is 1 B it’s usually Tatum’s night but sometimes Brown will go off for 30 or 40 but if Brown wins the finals MVP this year are we going to hear TNT promotions next year saying Brown and the Celtics vers the whatever and whoever I don’t know and most people don’t care about this but people like us are pretty excited about this story and maybe you’re watching this video after the finals ended I don’t know so you already know how the story ends I do want to address the Counterpoint to my argue about people loving Dynasty the three years that Kevin Durant was in Golden State viewership of the finals went down every year which is contrary to what I said about the public loving Dynasty you’d expect the finals viewership to go up every year with Kevin Durant’s success not shrink I have a theory on this by the way these are all opinions so if I get something wrong please let me know I’m here to learn but my thoughts on the decreasing interest of the Golden State Warriors Dynasty are that the team’s identity changed once Durant join the team no I think people liked that team originally cuz they didn’t feel like the favorite even though they became the best team in the NBA but when KD signed there they felt like the dark side they felt like the Sith they were the obvious Front Runners and the more that they won the more it felt like a forgone conclusion that they were going to win more it’s fun to watch Dynasty teams cuz you’re hoping they’ll win and continue their Dynasty and maybe you’ll get to see something historic or you’re hoping they’ll lose and you’ll get to watch this incredible run fail and see some real Agony of defeat so the Golden State Warriors were too good to the point where people couldn’t even imagine them not winning that’s my theory at least for me I think the best finals are when there are players that are at the end of their career because you know this is more than likely their last opportunity to contribute to the game of basketball not necessarily that they win a championship if they’ve never won one but the intens of them knowing that their career is about to end it feels like they cherish it more because they know they might not ever experience it again which we have this year a little bit without Horford Al Horford is going to be a Hall of Famer he’s a two-time NCAA Champion he’s been an All-Star he’s been all NBA and he might of now I don’t know when you’re watching this video but he might have won a championship Horford is 38 this might be his last opportunity and when I’m watching him out there you can really tell he’s relishing this experience and it’s really cool so that is my favorite plot line in this year’s finals all right thank you for being here if you like the video like if you dislike the video dislike the video give me a recommendation give me suggestions I’ll happily take them and maybe make a video from them be good to your mothers eat a corn dog [Music]

#nba #nbafinals

Welcome back to the show today. We’re talking about what makes a good NBA Finals and whether or not this particular Finals is a good one. This discussion delves into what makes the NBA interesting, what causes people to lose or gain interest in the league, and what fuels the industry of professional sports. We all love watching our favorite athletes and their games, but there’s an argument to be made that most people get just as much enjoyment from the game as they do from hearing commentary later that night or the next morning on shows like First Take.

Think about how much time you spend listening to NBA podcasts or watching NBA YouTube videos versus how much time you spend watching basketball itself. Even during the season, when there are games every night, many of us still end up listening to more podcasts than we do watching games. Why? Because as human beings, we crave stories, and the media helps provide context to these stories that unfold on the court. Even though this context can sometimes feel more like fan fiction, it connects us emotionally with other human beings.

Sure, you’ve never been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in a historic upset, but you’ve likely felt defeated before. You’ve likely confronted the hard reality of being outworked by someone you thought was inferior. This is how we connect to certain players and why we have aversions to others. The best Finals feature players who fans are most connected to, whether deeply connected like many are with Markelle Fultz—a former number one draft pick who inexplicably lost his shot in his rookie year and has spent the last five years trying to find his place in the Orlando Magic’s starting lineup—or broadly connected like LeBron James, whose story is well-known even if not everyone is deeply concerned with his life and career.

If we look at the last 20 years of NBA Finals TV ratings, we see that the highest viewership occurred during the Golden State-Cleveland years, featuring LeBron versus Steph Curry. The 2015 Finals had nearly double the viewership of the Finals in the last five years, and Game 7 in 2016 had more viewers than any Finals game since the 1998 Finals between the Jazz and the Bulls—the “Last Dance” year. So, what made those LeBron-Steph years so special?

Firstly, Golden State was just beginning to acquire bandwagon fans, and Cleveland had the biggest star in the NBA. However, this alone doesn’t explain why these series received more attention than any of LeBron’s Finals in Miami. A key reason was Steph Curry. Coming off his first MVP season in 2015, sports fans fell in love with Steph. Whether it was his family-man image, his faith, his boyish appearance, or his revolutionary three-point shooting, Steph became highly marketable. He was everywhere, becoming more well-liked than even Kevin Durant, the next biggest name in the NBA after LeBron.

This year’s Finals is a building year for the league. Viewership is slightly down from last year, despite the Celtics being one of the most supported franchises and Dallas being one of the five largest markets. Only real NBA fans are invested in these Finals. It takes winning a Finals for a player to transcend basketball. If Jokic were playing for a back-to-back championship, it would garner more attention. Likewise, having LeBron, Curry, or Durant in the Finals would draw fair-weather fans. However, this year will raise the profile of Luka Doncic and players like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who will be in the league for the next decade.

Let’s talk about some of the narratives in this Finals. Tatum and Brown have been to the Eastern Conference Finals five times and the Finals twice but have never sealed the deal. This is similar to Luka, who has been close but never this close. More interesting narratives include Kyrie Irving against his old team, Jrue Holiday possibly winning a championship after being traded from the Bucks, and the potential dynamic shift if Brown wins Finals MVP over Tatum. This could change the team’s dynamic, where Tatum is usually the 1a and Brown the 1b.

For me, the best Finals feature at least one star player nearing the end of his career, playing with intensity and cherishing the experience, knowing it might be their last chance. This year, Al Horford, a future Hall of Famer, embodies this as he relishes his possible last Finals appearance. This adds a compelling plotline to this year’s Finals, showcasing the diverse narratives that make the NBA Finals captivating.