The NBA Finals matchup between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder marks the first time in league history that both teams arrived under the luxury tax. As the Association has demonstrated parity and a new generation of young superstars revolutionizing the sport, ratings for the series thus far are at a historic low. In fact, this is just the second time since 1988 in which neither of the first two games in the NBA Finals averaged at least 9 million viewers. Co-hosting the Mind the Game podcast alongside Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, Steve Nash commented on the state of media and alterations towards how the league is covered.
Nash harkened back to the days when Bob Costas would take part in the NBA on NBC and produce a story bringing fans into the series. Yet at the current juncture, he feels that networks have “talking head shows” featuring debate, presuming that it could be less expensive. The lack of vignettes and storytelling akin to assimilating the audience into the presentation of the Olympic Games is something towards which Nash has taken notice. On top of that, he posed to James that the talking and arguing is usually surrounding the big names and asked if he feels there is some truth to pushing big brands.
“Yeah, absolutely, and we all have a story, and there’s a lot of stories that can be told that’s on the OKC roster and on the Pacers roster, and it’s like, ‘Do the guys that preach our game – do they want to do the homework and take the time out to actually tell these stories?,’ and it doesn’t seem that way,” James explained. “It’s just, ‘What can I say without truth or without knowledge?,’ or just, ‘This is what I want to say,’ and there’s no accountability behind it, and I think that now goes to our fans.”
James talked about the need to protect the game product while also disseminating awareness, and he conveyed that the game is about storytelling. When he was younger, he remembers watching the NBA Finals and watching several stories about the athletes participating in the contests. Amid the current environment, he articulated, there are conversations surrounding hypotheticals and conversations surrounding whether or not a player is considered to be a superstar.
“We need to teach the game, we need to talk about the game, but also just have a better understanding of storytelling,” James said. “I think that just helps our product, and it helps our fans to relate to the players that they may not, outside the market of OKC or outside the market of Indiana, maybe don’t know a lot of these guys.”
James also mentioned how the advent of social media and interminable coverage of the league has allowed players to flourish and be seen despite starring on teams in smaller marketplaces. Nash concurred with this and the previous point, expounding on such by averring the impact of social media, considering that it may have rendered some people lazy due to accessibility on profile pages. Furthermore, there is misinformation and disinformation circulating on these platforms in addition to clickbait, phenomena that risk blurring the lines between perception and reality.
“It’s definitely brought us a lot,” James said of social media, “but it’s desensitized us quite a bit, quite a bit, and I just hope that people don’t take for granted having the opportunity to see two great teams play the game the right way. I understand, like you say, you have your favorites — you have your favorite players, you have your favorite colors, you have your favorite franchises — but when things are earned and not given, then we all have to sit back and appreciate and tell that story.”
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