This weekend was a great reminder to anyone that works in sports media. Details matter. No matter how small you may think something is when presenting your product, someone will find something to call you out on if you fail to deliver what is expected. The NBA found this out after a massive wave of outcry over on-court signage that, in years past, marked the NBA Finals as the signature event of the NBA calendar.
Could you imagine MLB opening day without any bunting surrounding the home stadiums? Is it possible to envision a Kentucky Derby without the traditional garland of roses for the winning horse? Would an Indianapolis 500 winner ever be caught chugging a sponsored energy drink instead of a chilled bottle of the finest milk from the American Dairy Association of America?
Of course not, and the NBA got caught for not understanding details, even the smallest, matter. However, the outcry itself shows an even deeper issue with the NBA which it may never arise from unless addressed immediately.
Can we all just admit first and foremost that social media is filled with toxicity?
For all the good that social media does to connect people from around the world, not everyone is there for rainbows and lollipops. For professional sports organizations, it’s a marketing tool that brings fans closer to the team, players, and games. It’s also a haven for amplifying and facilitating negative commentary with no filter.
The Needless Outcry Over NBA Finals Logos
When the NBA decided to remove the NBA Finals logos from the courts following the 2014 NBA Finals, was there social media outcry, dissent, or disgust with the league over such a bold move?
There wasn’t, and there hasn’t been until this past weekend. Why? The biggest stars of NBA media have created a culture where it’s better to chastise than congratulate. Where it’s more welcoming to blast anyone or anything instead of lifting the game up and promoting the stars within it.
NBA fans follow the narrative that sports media creates for them. I wrote about this last week.
The narrative leading up to the tip of the NBA Finals was small market teams won’t draw viewership. Instead of focusing on storylines, they focused on viewership figures. Instead of focusing on matchups, they’re focused on market size.
Then when the NBA Finals get underway, NBA media isn’t focused on the play by play. They’re focused on the logos that aren’t present on the floor, when they haven’t been in over a decade!
The NBA media leads the narrative for the league; Adam Silver even admits it.
He called the culture of the NBA a “media driven culture,” and he’s one hundred percent correct. If NBA media decries something is not good enough, it’s not good enough. If NBA media believes that a certain player isn’t worth his salary, he’s not worth his salary. Think I’m wrong?
The Adversary From Within Lives On
Draymond Green is a current player in the league, one of the better defenders of a generation. He’s won NBA championships and has built a media empire while still playing in the league.
When TNT Sports brought Draymond Green to be a contributor to their coverage of NBA All-Star weekend, they knew they were getting one of the leading voices of that “media driven culture” that Adam Silver proclaims.
What did Green do? He put the weekend on blast calling the NBA All-Star format a “zero” and that “it sucks.” He said that the “rising stars” who played in the annual event “shouldn’t have been out there.” This is a signature event for the NBA, only for one of the biggest stars in NBA media to be trashing it on the actual broadcast of the event.
Charles Barkley has forever been a dissenting voice of the current state of the NBA. Just google “Charles Barkley blasts” and you’ll be filled with pages of criticism from the leading analyst on the league’s signature pregame and postgame show. Load management, game time decisions, all while questioning his own network for giving up the rights to broadcast NBA games on TNT Sports.
For over 20 years Barkley has not elevated the game from his analyst chair nor its current slate of budding superstars over what the game was of the past. He’s stuck in a state of nostalgia which does nothing more than feed the narrative in a “media driven culture” for fans to do the same.
Shaquille O’Neal is just the latest example of feeing into the “media driven culture” of the NBA fan. Following game two of the NBA Finals, O’Neal proclaimed on NBA TV (The NBA’s owned and operated network) that he’s done watching the NBA Finals, because he’s going to the Bahamas. Why would one of the greatest players of a generation be telling the viewing audience that even he’s done watching the NBA Finals? Some things are better left unsaid.
Do we even need to get into how Stephen A. Smith and First Take basically covered the NBA by micro-analyzing everything about the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks? Maybe instead of bashing LeBron James or showing your fanboy colors for the New York Knicks, you should be concentrating more on storylines, players and teams that play for championships and build up the rest of the NBA.
The Time Is Now For Adam Silver
If Adam Silver wants to keep the “media driven culture” for his league, the time is no better than now to talk things through with your league’s media. Remind them that you can balance honesty with analysis. You can adjust offset criticism with insights. With new 11-year media deals beginning next year with Amazon, Disney and NBC, what better time to have sit downs and not control but converse about how the league needs to be showcased.
The NBA should listen to its consumer. It should be a part of the day-to-day for any business.
The deeper issue that needs work is how the league is framed by the media that cover it with the league’s largest audiences. Would it be out of the question that because of how the league was framed, the NBA choose to go to Amazon and NBC instead of TNT Sports? Could the years of bashing the league by Shaq and Charles led to the NBA finding another bride? Sure, money talks but how much criticism can you take from one of your biggest partners?
The NBA found out this week that details matter when presenting your NBA Finals. NBA media must also be better for the league it covers, because their words matter and make more impact when you choose your spots instead of burning the house down from within.
Details, no matter how small, matter.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
