Posted on 06/24/2021 12:00:21 AM PDT by knighthawk
Bob Costas once said that the NBA’s social justice messaging was alienating its fans, and Bob Costas is a very smart man.
Ratings numbers for the NBA’s Western Conference Finals are coming in and though they’re way up from last year’s pandemic-plagued season, they are way down from 2019.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Can’t even imagine anyone still cares about the NBA.
You can go back five years minimum...to say the downward trend for the NBA has been going on. I haven’t felt any real excitement for the game since mid-1990s.
I miss the Jordan years.
Get Woke! Go Broke!
I miss the Jordan years.
You're forgetting about the 13% that idolize those idiots.
The big money is in China. The NBA no longer cares about American ratings.
sports/entertainment is downstream from survival. r.i.p. Andrew.
Related piece:
Oct 2020: Bob Costas: NBA Social Justice Messaging Alienated Fans
https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2020/10/14/bob-costas-nba-social-justice-messaging-alienated-fans/
“It doesn’t matter where you fall on the political spectrum,” Costas told OutKick, “it’s just a fact that there is alienation over having this (social justice messaging) thrust in everyone’s face every time you just want to watch a game. I’m not saying that to take a stand; that’s just the reality. This is also a business.”
Costas also pointed out that the league has not only been uneven in its sudden indulgence of the players’ feelings, but it has actually been discriminatory.
The NBC legend noted that athletes had used their high-profile platforms to push for social issues for decades. But this season the NBA unfairly squashed some messages while allowing others.
Costas wondered why the NBA allowed all the tributes to Black Lives Matter but squashed messages such as “Free Hong Kong.” Costas also asked what would happen if a player wanted to sport a pro-Trump slogan. And he also wondered aloud why that wouldn’t be OK.
Ultimately, Costas advised the NBA to put its focus back on sports. He used the mess over money that drove so many fans to distraction against Major League Baseball in the 1990s. After the arguing subsided, though, baseball fans got revved up about the game all over again when Cal Ripkin began approaching Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played. And then there was the home run contest between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa that earned fan enthusiasm. MLB came roaring back when the game once again became the league’s focus, and that is what Costas said the NBA needs to do.
These comments from Costas hold weight chiefly because he was one of the original, woke sportscasters. Costas has never been shy about inserting his liberal politics into his broadcasts over the years. Yet, even he thinks the NBA went too far with its focus on social justice.
NBA still exist?
I won’t watch till some transgender women to join to make it fair.
I miss the Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal days.
Ironically, those buffoons are not the least bit woke when addressing the Chinese. The Chinese could probably be as racist as they want to be to their faces and they wouldn’t say a word.
Bob Costas is one of the worst SJWs out there.
Not squashed, quashed.
Yup. James makes news sometimes outside of basketball; as such. his name is known. But I would be hard-pressed to name another player. I followed the sport in the 1970s even prior to the height of popularity that followed in subsequent decades.
No sale.
Golfing.
Never hear of it ever again.
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