I don't disagree. I like the idea of eliminating the corner 3.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LeBron is back. ��<br><br> <a href="https://t.co/Ib2CE5tSfn">pic.twitter.com/Ib2CE5tSfn</a></p>&mdash; Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1868464550661755245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The GOAT is making his return.

Nobody cares.

All eyes on the NBA Cup where the best team in the league is facing Giannis Antkekuompopopopop.

Turn your attention to your fellow Canadian Shai. Enough of LeBron. Its over unless he gets traded.

SGA could be the best player on the best team in the league (and he's pretty close) and he still won't draw as many views as 40 year old LeBron does.

The 5-19 Utah Jazz? 🤣

OKC choking out in the final just like they did in the playoffs last year. A gutless franchise in the end.

Okc is a hell of a team. But man it just reminds me of those UVA teams that were just ripe for upsets. These defensive teams can be so good until they run into an offense that ends up playing out of its mind. It reminds me a bit of the twolves last year where you have two dynamic scorers surrounded by guys who can very easily shoot 10%.

Read an interesting opinion by the way about if analytics and three point shooting are ruining superstars. The 3 point chucking we already know. But it was an interesting tie in that it’s analytics that’s driving guys like Ant to become long range shot chuckers. I think SGA is so interesting because is he being forced to do some of the same despite not being a great 3 point shooter?

SGA isn't as effective when driving into two shot blockers (Giannis/Lopez) but it seems to me they just choked, same as they did in the playoffs. A lot of those threes were open shots that OKC usually makes.

Silver finally acknowledged the 3PT issue for the first time yesterday (when I gather he was questioned on how basically every game looks the same). We'll see if anything comes from it. It's gonna take years for them to make any kind of major adjustment, though, I'm sure.

Superstars will have off nights but Okc and Minnesota don’t strike me as teams that can make up for a cold night from sga or any. The offense goes as their superstar goes. At least Dallas has kyrie and in the playoffs they needed pj Washington to go unconscious.

Silver also needs to acknowledge the total horse shit of injury reports. It’s becoming a complete joke. Healthy starters playing the minimum 10 minutes to avoid fines, injuries announced minutes before tipoff. They’re not even hiding anymore that a player just doesn’t feel like playing . Injuries are up 35% from last year and a lot of these don’t even feel legitimate.

These analytics geeks are ruining the game. Horrendous for the fan experience to travel hours to see your favorite player only to find out he’s a healthy scratch.

Yeah Im an OKC fan but it is choke. Just missing shots in big games is not a good sign. So many bricks from 3.

Lol i doubt anyone watches that shit NBA is about as bad as WNBA

Pitino brought up on interesting point on Twitter. What if you bring back hand checking

Wouldn't matter much, the players are too athletic/quick and the spacing is too good.

You have to change the 3PT line or deincentivize the 3PT shot somehow.

I'm tellin ya get rid of the corner 3 point line. If you make one from the top of the key more power to you.

That would raise the difficulty significantly. Teams would no longer be able to drive and kick out to the corners that way (unless they want to shoot long 2s, which they won't). I'm sure the analytics geeks would find some other way to maximize offenses but it would be much more difficult.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LeBron James, when asked about changes to the NBA All-Star Game format, touched on more issues with the league: “Our game, there’s a lot of f—ing 3s being shot. So it’s a bigger conversation than just the All-Star Game” <a href="https://t.co/weKJVSyXfB">pic.twitter.com/weKJVSyXfB</a></p>&mdash; Dave McMenamin (@mcten) <a href="https://twitter.com/mcten/status/1869837077589962821?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Grizzlies absolutely destroying the Warriors tonight. Curry and Green combined for 2 points on an 0-11 night.

Sounds like a good game to watch

****ing obliterated them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Steve Kerr’s Warriors get their asses whipped like that.

He would have even been better in the 80s and 90s

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ht" dir="ltr">LMAOOO <a href="https://t.co/0tk1K2IWdO">pic.twitter.com/0tk1K2IWdO</a></p>&mdash; LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) <a href="https://twitter.com/LakeShowYo/status/1869957583454507081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LeBron becomes all-time leader in minutes played ��<br><br>NBA RECORD ‼️ <a href="https://t.co/gPQ9cEZBzT">pic.twitter.com/gPQ9cEZBzT</a></p>&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1869956745868591414?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I think eliminating the corner 3 would just make the game sloppier.

The problem is that on a Points/Possession basis, even LONG 3s (like 2 steps behind the key) have a higher point/shot return than anything mid-range.

Yes, the corner 3 is the most valuable shot in the game and by a fair bit. It would help. But you'll still have dude's chucking 3s. And you'll have defenses geared even more to the morass (because they don't have to spread into the corners anymore) and gumming the mid-range game up even more.

But as a reasonable compromise solution that would be easily effectuated and monitored for a couple seasons, yeah - that seems like a good start. I just don't think it solves the problem long-term.

I'd let to see it eliminated altogether Let the G try it out and see how it goes. Right now it's like the NFL making field goals worth 6.

It’s not a perfect solution, but they need to start experimenting in the G-League with some of these ideas instead of sitting on their hands and pretending they don’t have a problem here. It took baseball years to make some of the changes it did and they did trial runs all through the minors.

Yeah, my druthers is eliminating it.

But some of the most marketed stars in the NBA right now are sharp-shooters. They won't do that.

Guys like Ball, Edwards, Tatum, hell someone like Doncic or Wemby -- those guys are guys the league markets the hell out of and they're taking 10 three pointers/gm.

But the ratings are tanking with those guys, so you have to try something different. I think putting athleticism on display over shit I can do in my driveway or at least try to is different. I can throw in a 25-foot every now and then but I'm not flying to the hole throwing down some crazy dunk. That's why guys like Mahomes and Jordan are/were must see TV. They just do shit nobody else does.

Finally someone in the national eye says what I have been saying for years. There is alot of reasons why NBA viewership is down, as articulated by others in this thread but IMHO the biggest reason is because the regular season doesn't matter and people will find something to watch that does.

When the playoffs start I bet you see viewership increase significantly but if it doesn't then they got larger issues.

Shorten the season and start the season on Christmas. The best regular season in recent NBA history was the strike shorten season several years ago. Make the regular season great again!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;I think we need to seriously consider starting on Christmas because listen you&#39;re wasting your time going up against the NFL and College Football, they own the weekends now... We&#39;d have the entire calendar to ourself.&quot;<br><br>-Charles Barkley on changing the start to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBA</a> season <a href="https://t.co/uJasfWlO3D">pic.twitter.com/uJasfWlO3D</a></p>&mdash; Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) <a href="https://twitter.com/dpshow/status/1869463124841042052?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 18, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Did anyone watch the NBA cup nonsense?? ��

Absolutely. Great thing NBA has done for regular season monotony.

Need to be careful how it’s done but it’s doing more harm than good. But Ant is a perfect example of that. The dude is a dynamic going to the basket and because of analytics he’s chucking up 10+ threes a game. Boston games are completely unwatchable because they shoot so many 3s that they’re either blowing out or getting blown out, and nothing in between.

All of those guys above have diverse enough games that they can find lots of other exciting ways to score.

Other than sports talk radio, never heard anyone talk
About it. None of my sports crazed friends did. I didn’t
Feel like to grabbed the public consciousness at all.

I think regular season matters plenty. There are factors outside of this that make reg season games meaningless.

First silver has gotta figure this injury report shit out. Even the best teams are tanking games left and right because they’re aggressively managing minutes for their stars. Of course a fan is going to think a regular season game is bs when they travel hours to see a game only for their favorite player to benched for a hangnail a few minutes before tip. That goes as well for nba coaches who throw in the towel with a full quarter to go.

Coaches giving up games like this is also way more likely to happen because of shot chucking. Teams either blow out or get blown out early depending on if they’re hot or cold with their shot chucking. Also because the nba gets greedy with scheduling and constantly sign up back to back to back travel days. So most teams nowadays pick 1 of those days to “tank” to save up for games that matter.

Schedule games more logically and with player rest and safety in mind. Do something, anything, to curb blowouts. Force teams to cut this shit out with shady injury report practices. Maybe even consider less playoff teams to add more skin to the game.

Analytics nerds took control of basically every NBA organization in the quest for efficiency. Same thing happened in baseball over the course of several decades after Moneyball and it ruined the viewing experience (too many strikeouts/over shifting/massive reliever usage/far longer games, etc.).

MLB has begun the process of taking it back from them and the NBA now needs to do the same.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if they got rid of the 3 point line.

I do think it's funny that the 'analytics nerds' finally figured out what we knew 25 years ago playing video games.

I coulda told you after a season on NBA Live for my Super Nintendo that firing 3 pointers was the way to put up 130+ points. It's simple math.

The only thing that surprises me is that it took this long for the NBA decisionmakers to figure it out. Maybe it was just a shortage of shooters? And now, a generation later, all of us kids that learned to bomb away have kids we taught to shoot?

NBA Jam was literally all dunks and threes. Midway knew what it was all about.

I think it took a while for front offices to take full control of the in-game strategies and processes just like baseball but now they have (many NBA head coaches today are now little more than conduits for the GMs). Also, the Steph/Klay Warriors of a decade ago no doubt had an influence on what we're seeing today too. If you can't shoot 3s now (regardless of your size), you almost can't hold a spot in the NBA.

Not disagreeing with your individual points but all those collectively is why the regular season doesn't matter. They don't load manage in the playoffs and you don't see NFL teams load manage players either. Shit Pat has a high ankle sprain and is once again going to play.

In the end there is just to many games so people don't give a shit to watch meaningless basketball Oct-Dec and probably through April. You have to make these regular season games mean something.

NBA is unwatchable.

Yay, early 90's Knicks. Everyone would LOVE that! Ewing, Smith, Oakley, and Mason! SO MUCH FUN!!11

Yeah, Riley's Knicks/Heat teams were just brutal to watch as well. I'd prefer a happy medium. Jordan's Bulls and Shaq's Lakers were must see TV so something similar to that.

I just think a lot of this is avoidable if silver actually did something. The injury designation stuff is an embarrassment right now. And the nba plays a huge part of that by bizarre scheduling that’s horrible on players bodies. It doesn’t entirely solve the problem but those would go a long way toward making games watchable.

Id also add… change the playoffs. Stop giving participation trophies to bubble teams. Last years playoff was like a gladiator arena where the winner was the one who could survive the least injured. Only to watch Boston win because they played all hurt teams and then went into the finals fresh against a hurt and exhausted Mavs squad.

Make teams compete for less spots and put more at stake for the regular season. And let’s focus on fewer but better playoffs games

I have said for years they need to reduce the number of games. Play same conference teams 3 times, 42 games. Play out of conference teams twice, 30 games. For a total of 72 games. Schedule games Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday or Sunday. Three games a week. I figured before if you started the games the same time, it would end the same time as an 82 game schedule. Eliminate back to backs, and four games in five nights. A max three game week allows for rest and practice time.

Owners and the players association would never do this because of lost revenue and media contracts. But I think it would improve the league. I guess you could alternate games Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or Saturday to keep media rights happy.

Bill Self still doesn't believe in any of this shit.

It took them 50 years in the NFL to go for it on 4th and 2 from the 40.

Which NBA Live? Yes it matters!

And I'll also throw in that while the style of the game is just horrendous the NBA just either doesn't do a good job or marketing or doesn't have marketable stars. Guys just lack charisma anymore. Even taking MJ out of the equation, Barkley, Magic, Shaq, Kobe were all very marketable and unique personalities. They even made pretty boring guys like David Robinson and Olajawon seem cool to kids. Stern was very Vince McMahon like in that he was able to find things about guys and make that their gimmick so to speak. It created drama and build up for games. The team hopping shit doesn't help much either when it comes to rivalries.

Great. Put money on Tatum and jimmy butler today and they get sick within minutes of the tipoff. Right… they just figured this out after the game started

Class action the living shit out of this league. This injury report nonsense has gotta stop. Disgusting slap in the face to fans. They deserve these tanking ratings.

Quite frankly there's so much wrong right now with multiple aspects of the sport it just may not be fixable.

Agreed. The injury reports, blowouts, three point chucking, minutes restrictions, pulling starters in the 4th quarter in comebackable games, college players coming from the g league instead of building their brand and game in college. So bad right now

Accessibility is really bad too. Needs a complete overhaul. I just don't think the owners or the players either one will be willing to make the necessary sacrifices to get this under control and not be relegated to a complete niche sport.

The problem is most of their stars are polarizing. Either due to politics or personality or both.

Mahomes is likable, apolitical and has an endearing personality. Thats all you have to do.

I kinda think the style is exciting. I think less threes would be good but its fun watching the ball go in and the rapid ball movement. The ball doesn't stick as much as most years due to the spacing now.

The brutal ball of the 90s and 00s was tough to watch really. Shooting that little threes as well is not exciting. There needs to be a happy medium. The amount of dunks have also increased. Dont we want dunks? There are still mid range kings like Shai, too.

https://runrepeat.com/82-stats-on-dunks-in-the-nba

That's subjective. What isn't is this load management fiasco they've created. It needs to be addressed.

Completely agree. You make 50 million to run chase after a ball. If you get hurt you get hurt.

Butler has been “sick” for literally 3 games now, have him in fantasy. The guy regularly doesn’t play the games at this point (I expect he’s angling for a trade).

NBA is just a bunch of lazy black players. Kind of baffling bow many of you waste your time on it

Almost as baffling as this post.

Well you're a Canadian bundle of sticks so it would make sense why you like it. LeBron James just up and leaves for a few weeks and Joel Embreed just sits out 20 games NBD.

I’d only spring for Mavs vs Nuggets tix

We’re not having the college football guy whine now about players sitting out games now, right?

At least NBA players save their sit outs for regular season games instead of bowls.

Those damn blacks. Ruining sports. Are you a Winter Olympic fan? Alot of great riveting sport where you don't have to be athletic.

He should watch curling. Sport is 100% white as far as I can tell.

Bowl games are meaningless and players sit out for the draft. Big difference compared to professionals who literally forfeited a game because some rapist was shot by the cops

They wanted to cancel the season over it. lol

What makes them more meaningless than the games where Nebraska loses by 50 to Indiana?

College football is definitely the only sport where the best players literally abandon their teammates in the final game of their season, that’s for sure.

Again bowl games don't matter and yet CFB ratings increase while NBA's are going down. Continue to allow that culture to fester and let that know how it works out for ya. We're already seeing the results

Geez what in the actual ****

Tell that to the KU team that won the Orange Bowl in 2008.

NBA ratings will increase again when the best players in the world aren’t a Serbian and a Slovenian. Jokic and Doncic clearly don’t drive ratings like LeBron and Curry did in their primes.

Coach was fired 2 years later and they became the worst program in CFB. Amazing spring board for that program

That coach was fired 2 years later because he was an asshole who made powerful enemies in Lawrence, not because of the program itself.

You're not allowed to discipline the players anymore because of him which is why they now run the Asylum.

Exactamundo

Lost has last 7 games don't think he even had 1 top 35 recruiting class after that Orange Bowl. Program was heading in the toilet with or without him

Not a chance, he had 4 winning seasons in a row prior to the 5-7 season. They were a decent enough program by that point.

And you’re talking recruiting classes? Thats a product of booster money going to basketball over football at KU.

Going to be hard to do when your league has fully guaranteed contracts. They tried to somewhat limit this by saying you had to play 65 games to be eligible for post season awards. Don't think that has made any difference.

This is why the NFL doesn't want fully guaranteed contracts.