Why are you not a fan of the NBA as much as in the past?

[mjd1001]

I know this has been discussed here before, buts its been a while since I saw a recent thread so I wanted to see if there any new thoughts or ideas. Now, if you are a big fan of the NBA this doesn't apply to you, but from talk among my friends, relatives, co-workers, and even local media (talk radio, etc), it seems there are a lot of people who were much bigger fans of the NBA in the past (not only the Jordan era 90's but also the 80's and even late 70's) than there are now.

So my question is, why are you not as big of a fan of the NBA now as you were at some time in the past, and do you think that can or is happening to you with other sports?

Here are some thoughts I had myself and others I have heard:

1. No Buffalo team. When there Braves were here I was a fan, but I don't follow sports as much with no Buffalo team.

2. Not enough time in my life. With a job, kids, and other responsibilities, I only have a couple hours of free time. The NFL and NHL come before the NBA.

3. I don't like the stars today. In the NBA it is a league more about individuals than in any other major team sport, and I can't relate to any of the stars.

4. When the league became a 'hip-hop' league, and the NBA actually promoted that, they lost me.

5. I don't like the style of play, I now prefer the college game better.

6. The Media (ESPN) ruined it for me. I want to watch a game and keep updated on it, I don't want the "slams of the day" and the fist pumping celebrations shoved down my throat. We have that in all the sports, but it is the worst in the NBA.

That is what I can remember off the top of my head. Anyone agree with any of the above or have anything new to add?

[CoachC.]

I've always been a casual NBA fan. I've actually come to follow it a little MORE over the last few years than in the past. But there are a few reasons I never really got into it.

1. No Buffalo team. The Braves left before I was old enough to remember them. This is also partly why I am actually a Lakers fan. The Show Time Lakers were on TV almost every weekend on CBS and in the playoffs. I followed them, my bro followed the Celts for the same reason. I'm still a Lakers fan, but nothing like I am for the Bills, Sabes, Cuse, Yankees.

2. I'm a huge college bball fan. Going to SU, it's tough not to fall in love with it, but I really enjoy the college game and know it very well (history and current), so that probably takes away a lot of where the NBA "could" be in my heart and rooting interest.

3. Because I like the college game, I used to hate watching how the NBA was simply a "clear-out, 1-on-1" game. College is a team game. And there are some really skilled players and mostly guys who will never be pros. That makes it fun and interesting to me. The strategy, coaching, mistakes made, team ball that has to be played, etc..

I've grown to love the individual talent in the NBA. Kobe (of course, my team), LeBron, Melo, CP, etc.. I have a great appreciation now more than I used to for how great they are and fun to watch. But it's still not as much of a team game as I'd like, so when I watch now, it's to see those kinds of players do their thing.

I do follow the SU guys and any local Buffalo-grown products in the NBA. That keeps me interested on that level, as well.

[mjd1001]

After reading CoachC's post, I thought of one more reason myself for not being into the NBA as much, kinda related to reason 1 and reason 6. Local media coverage (or lack of.) I do a lot of driving so listen to a lot of sports talk during the week. When all you hear about is Bills or Sabres talk, it is easy to not follow something you don't hear about as much. I KNOW it is all about ratings, but I do wish on local talk radio, there can be a regular guest for 1 or 2 segments a week to talk about other sports. Maybe make it a Tuesday morning at 9am, or Monday afternoon at 4pm (or both) but how about a national guest to give us a 10 minute update on the NBA or MLB or Golf or whatever.

[CoachC.]

After reading CoachC's post, I thought of one more reason myself for not being into the NBA as much, kinda related to reason 1 and reason 6. Local media coverage (or lack of.) I do a lot of driving so listen to a lot of sports talk during the week. When all you hear about is Bills or Sabres talk, it is easy to not follow something you don't hear about as much. I KNOW it is all about ratings, but I do wish on local talk radio, there can be a regular guest for 1 or 2 segments a week to talk about other sports. Maybe make it a Tuesday morning at 9am, or Monday afternoon at 4pm (or both) but how about a national guest to give us a 10 minute update on the NBA or MLB or Golf or whatever.

It's tough to do in a place like Buffalo because as much as their are some NBA fans, you also risk alienating a lot of people who could care less because we have no team here. I did a Saturday show a few weeks back with the topic: "Could the NBA work in Buffalo again?.....Why didn't it the first time?" and also asked, "What are your memories of the Braves being here (good and bad)?"

But other than a show here or there or a few minutes here or there, it's not a topic we get a lot of response to.

On the same note, Jerry Sullivan is a huge NBA fan. Probably his most loved sport. But that being said, he very rarely writes about it or talks about it on the radio for the exact same reasons, even though I know he would love to both.

[Mouldsie]

Coach, what you said is exactly what I was thinking about the NBA. Casual fan, started liking it more lately and love following some of the stars (MJ is still my favorite athlete of all time)

P.S. Let's get some Bandits talk going

[Famous Amos]

I don't like the current players. I was a rabid NBA fan in the mid nineties to the early 2000s. Then guys like Iverson, Marbury, and Jason Williams (the guy with crazy ball handing skills) came into the league and the culture of the game changed. Ill also admit that I didn't like the hip hop influence. At the time, I was into alternative rock so the NBA didn't appeal to me. Basketball wasn't exciting to me anymore because I wasn't personally invested on it.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[Merk]

Obviously Im a big NBA fan and I can see why a lot of people were turned off by the game from the post Jordan era til about 3 or 4 years ago. The league has done a good job of getting rid of or wrangling in most of the knuckleheads and if you haven't watched it in awhile id say give it a second chance because the players and the play are the best its been since Jordan and the collection of players left. There are very good to great games on every night

[Billsfan2020]

I think the predictability of the post season, last season being the exception, is a big downer. Teams that sneak into the post season get blown away well before the finals. Last year the Packers and this year the Giants made the Super Bowl. We already know there are only four or five teams that will make the NBA finals. Guaranteed max contracts can cripple an NBA franchise for years. That gives little hope for the casual fan on middle of the toad teams. And guaranteed contracts in general bring down the competitive spirit during the regular season.

[Block "O"]

I don't like very many of the players, I can't tell if I'm watching the NBA or MSNBC's lock up with all the tattoos. I used to be able to just turn on any game and get into it Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan, Bird, Magic, Isaiah, Barkley, David Robinson, etc...today's NBA bores me to tears. I watch about 5 games all year including playoffs. It used to be my favorite professional sport, now its far from it.

[jdaltroy5]

There's just not enough equality.

No matter what happens, I know the Raptors aren't going to make the playoffs unless they get a bonafide superstar.

Plus there about 3 or 4 good great teams in each conference and the rest are average or really bad.

It's the same reason that I don't watch regular season baseball. You know who's going to make the playoffs before the season even starts and they rarely stray from that. I do like the baseball playoffs because there are a lot of upsets in a short series.

[JEvans14]

There's just not enough equality.

No matter what happens, I know the Raptors aren't going to make the playoffs unless they get a bonafide superstar.

Plus there about 3 or 4 good great teams in each conference and the rest are average or really bad.

It's the same reason that I don't watch regular season baseball. You know who's going to make the playoffs before the season even starts and they rarely stray from that. I do like the baseball playoffs because there are a lot of upsets in a short series.

The Bucks have beat the Heat twice this season (I think three in a row now going back to last season).

[BuddyHasNoPlan]

I love College BB and only watch a couple NBA teams. I love the college game where real basketball skill is involved. I hate the NBA because of the stupid stereotypes, that may sound racist but its just reality. For example, that Griffin dunk the other night. The way all twitter was blowing up, the way his teammates reacted after the dunk, the announcers, the constant showing of it and overall it is something that happens 10 times a game. I liked Durant's recall of what happened, it was a lay up with an foul. These dudes can jump out of the gym, we all know that. Throwing the ball it at the top of your jump isn't special to me when it happens so much. They act like a dunk is the next coming when things happen in other sports that are a hundred times more impressive but they will never touch the attention that dunk got. It is tough to explain but I feel like it was made such a big deal because of the race. Everything their race does is so over the top. This probably sounds really racist but this is why I can't stand the NBA majority of the time. However, I love watching Kobe who is just ridiculously skilled and love watching the Magic play. I feel like they both play like old time basketball. Can't stand watching a game with LeBron in it and they will constantly make such a big deal how he can take three dribbles, then three steps to get down the court to dunk the ball on a rim where he can almost touch not even jumping.