Colin Cowherd likens NBA ratings drop to Democrats election loss

[1987_Lakers]

"Go ask the Democrats. Once you detach from regular people in America, you will pay a price."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVX5KLe-nc0

[warriorfan]

I’ve always thought Pop’s behavior was disgusting. He comes off as a sociopath who has no respect for anyone. He shares a lot of the traits that he is always disparaging Trump about. Pop has a huge ego and he obviously has some sort of resentment and jealousy towards Trump.


He’s a weird dude.

[RRR3]

I’ve always thought Pop’s behavior was disgusting. He comes off as a sociopath who has no respect for anyone. He shares a lot of the traits that he is always disparaging Trump about. Pop has a huge ego and he obviously has some sort of resentment and jealousy towards Trump.


He’s a weird dude.
Jesus you are so sensitive about Trump :roll:

[Neal Romer]

I think Cowherd is probably on the mark.

I think the NBA maybe underestimated how many of the fans who represent the financial backbone of the league would resent being lectured by a bunch of faux-woke hypocrite phonies.

I know my willingness to support the league dropped pretty good after their "shame our white customers" campaign, and has not recovered. And Im sure Im not alone.

[warriorfan]

Jesus you are so sensitive about Trump :roll:

You’re a weird guy.

[1987_Lakers]

I’ve always thought Pop’s behavior was disgusting. He comes off as a sociopath who has no respect for anyone. He shares a lot of the traits that he is always disparaging Trump about. Pop has a huge ego and he obviously has some sort of resentment and jealousy towards Trump.


He’s a weird dude.

This is actually pretty damn accurate. Pop was known for being a dick to reporters for years and he always got a pass for it.

[bullettooth]

There's no excitement from the NBA anymore, that's really what it comes down to.

1. There are no team rivalries; no Lakers vs Celtics or Bulls vs Knicks, etc.
2. There are no player rivalries either. Closest we got was Lebron vs Steph or Lebron vs KD. Neither really mattered much.
3. There are no personalities; you don't have a variety of eccentric characters beyond the court. Barkley's "I'm not a role model", LJ Grandmama, Dennis Rodman (nuff said), Kobe's flash, Shaq's movies, music and his comedic self with reporters, Dwight's "Superman" persona, etc.
4. The flopping. This is essentially cheating, no less infuriating than the diving in soccer. For some reason, the league and the refs not only allow it, but reward it with calls that stand and benefit the flopper. Worse yet, when the face of the league is basically the poster boy of it... wtf.
5. Rules aren't enforced. The refereeing is a joke, and it's clear they're told to keep this up, there's no way a legit ref would allow this kind of shit so the league is in on it.... so basically, the game's rigged. How is that fun?
6. Three point chucking. This game has gotten BORING. All you're going to be seeing is either a three pointer or dunk/layup. We watch the game for entertainment. This isn't entertaining.
7. Lebron himself.... it's beyond exhausting to constantly see him get forced into conversations, forced into making the finals, forced into being in the spotlight, forced into being considered the best, or his ****ing inept kid being drafted.... this guy just keeps forcing himself upon everyone and nobody wants to see him anymore. It's over.. it's been over for a while.
8. Pussification of players and lack of taunting. You can't flex, taunt, bark, stare down, finger wag, etc. at an opponent. You'll never see personalities go at it. all you're going to get is a bland, boring display of a tickling competition. How the **** did it come to the point that you can't even have players jaw at eachother anymore? There's ZERO display of any emotion.
9. NBA League Pass is a joke; you get less value by paying for a legal subscription to watch games than if you were to just find illegal livestreams. I think a lot of us would gladly pay the price of the subscription if you could watch ALL games. Imagine paying $100 for the year, living in Toronto and not being able to watch the All-Star game that's being played IN TORONTO? Yeah, that happened. Total bullshit.

All this crap about politics, trump, woke culture, etc. has nothing to do with the game and you can easily tune out of it anyway, that's NOT what you're seeing on the court.

The league's a joke. They have a laundry list of things they could easily fix but for some ****ed up reason the league isn't doing shit about it.

[SouBeachTalents]

7. Lebron himself.... it's beyond exhausting to constantly see him get forced into conversations, forced into making the finals, forced into being in the spotlight, forced into being considered the best, or his ****ing inept kid being drafted.... this guy just keeps forcing himself upon everyone and nobody wants to see him anymore. It's over.. it's been over for a while.
A guy who devoted his entire account to solely talking about LeBron and even has him as his avy posts this without the slightest bit of irony. :lol

[RRR3]

A guy who devoted his entire account to solely talking about LeBron and even has him as his avy posts this without the slightest bit of irony. :lol
LeBron did 9/11

[bullettooth]

A guy who devoted his entire account to solely talking about LeBron and even has him as his avy posts this without the slightest bit of irony. :lol

Yeah, I've been tired of seeing his mug for a LONG time. Shocking, eh?

[RRR3]

Yeah, I've been tired of seeing his mug for a LONG time. Shocking, eh?
You’re a Bulls fan, more like you were tired of him abusing the **** out of your team in the playoffs :lol

[BarberSchool]

I think Cowherd is probably on the mark.

I think the NBA maybe underestimated how many of the fans who represent the financial backbone of the league would resent being lectured by a bunch of faux-woke hypocrite phonies.

I know my willingness to support the league dropped pretty good after their "shame our white customers" campaign, and has not recovered. And Im sure Im not alone.
Is there a very distinct and pronounced rural and suburban viewership infotanle anywhere, showing the exact numbers or nah ? Seems very believable that such could be the case, and it ain’t never coming back. Just like many other things on TV.

[Lebron23]

Jesus you are so sensitive about Trump :roll:

Hopefully Donald Trump give that bum a job.

[90sgoat]

Most fans generally do not care that much about shoes, jewelry, gossip. They watch sports to see hard work, toughness, cooperation and winning.

The league is just about showing off on social media now.

[Patrick Chewing]

Popovich is such a loser. **** that guy.

[Lakers Legend#32]

Coward is from Eastern Washington State.

Of course he's an inbred, hillbilly, red neck, MAGA.

[Xiao Yao You]

I’ve always thought Pop’s behavior was disgusting. He comes off as a sociopath who has no respect for anyone. He shares a lot of the traits that he is always disparaging Trump about. Pop has a huge ego and he obviously has some sort of resentment and jealousy towards Trump.


He’s a weird dude.

Weird dude like a convicted felon :facepalm

[Soundwave]

The election was more about people being upset about the cost of living which increased for basically every country in the world after COVID due to the fact that money had to be printed to pay for millions of people sitting at home.

Inflation in other words, Trump lost in 2020 too because people at the time just wanted to go back to a "normal" politician.

In 4 years if shit is still expensive, and it probably will be, the Republicans will be the ones routed out. The only way to bring down prices is to have a huge recession, which no one wants to say, but you do that and also you are cooked as a party. So it's a lose-lose.

That aside, lol, sure the NBA is in trouble but it's for different reasons. They're likely going to have to ban at the very least the corner 3 (so it's just a full arc) and/or set a limit to how many 3s you can make per game and after that you only get 2 points for any shot.

[Phoenix]

As a non-American, I don't know why the fukk ya'll keep voting in out of touch boomers. What the fukk do one foot in the grave types like Biden and Trump have in common with the demographic majority of Gen Z/Millennials/ Gen Z??

[ArbitraryWater]

Thats dumb though.

Nfl did the same bullshit.

NBA is losing followers cause the game has drastically changed.


People dont give up on their getaway passion, their lifelong sport cause a court had "Blm" written on it and the back of the jersey said "Vote", as dumb as that is.

[JohnnySic]

The NBA has a problem. With LeBron, Curry, and Durant approaching the end of their spans, the NBA has no "face" of the league for moving forward. Its a problem they haven't had since the 70's. First it was Bird and Magic. Then Jordan. Then Shaq. Then Kobe, Then LeBron. Then Curry.

Who's the next guy up? There really isn't one.

International players like Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, and Wemby just aren't marketable enough.

Tatum and SGA dont have the personality for it, and their games aren't casual-fan friendly (ESPN highlights and such).

That's why the league is pushing Anthony Edwards. He at least has some personality, and the kind of game that the casuals enjoy. The problem here is that Edwards isn't really a superstar, so it feels kind of forced.

For a star-driven league, its quite a problem.

[RRR3]

As a non-American, I don't know why the fukk ya'll keep voting in out of touch boomers. What the fukk do one foot in the grave types like Biden and Trump have in common with the demographic majority of Gen Z/Millennials/ Gen Z??
Well there are only two viable options party wise so a lot of people just pick the one they feel is less bad. The establishment will never let a candidate sympathetic to the working class through a primary. Plenty of people like me don’t vote for either party but unless you can get everyone to do that one of the corporate parties is gonna win.

[Phoenix]

Well there are only two viable options party wise so a lot of people just pick the one they feel is less bad. The establishment will never let a candidate sympathetic to the working class through a primary. Plenty of people like me don’t vote for either party but unless you can get everyone to do that one of the corporate parties is gonna win.

Yes, I get that there are only two options but my confusion is more about the choice of candidates ( I specified boomers earlier). Like...are these outdated 70-80 year olds really the best you can come up with?!

[RRR3]

Yes, I get that there are only two options but my confusion is more about the choice of candidates ( I specified boomers earlier). Like...are these outdated 70-80 year olds really the best you can come up with?!
That's who the parties want to run.

[Phoenix]

That's who the parties want to run.

Yes I know that, my question remains as to why the parties continually turn out these dinosaurs.

[Neal Romer]

The NBA has a problem. With LeBron, Curry, and Durant approaching the end of their spans, the NBA has no "face" of the league for moving forward. Its a problem they haven't had since the 70's. First it was Bird and Magic. Then Jordan. Then Shaq. Then Kobe, Then LeBron. Then Curry.

Who's the next guy up? There really isn't one.

International players like Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, and Wemby just aren't marketable enough.

Tatum and SGA dont have the personality for it, and their games aren't casual-fan friendly (ESPN highlights and such).

That's why the league is pushing Anthony Edwards. He at least has some personality, and the kind of game that the casuals enjoy. The problem here is that Edwards isn't really a superstar, so it feels kind of forced.

For a star-driven league, its quite a problem.

It's got nothing to do with domestic or international, big personality or small personality (IMO.)

It's about icons being produced by consistent appearances on the big stage, and parity is ending all that.

Look at all the casual convo, everyone thinks guys win because theyre superstars. It's the other way around. Superstars are anointed when a team wins. People want an individual to fawn over, but at the same time everyone is scared to call someone great if they havent won. Most all-time greats existed in eras where good teams were easy to keep together. And that created so many or the game's great icons.

It's not going to be the same anymore. The league - understandably - wanted parity, but this looks to be an unintended consequence. Fewer players are going to make enough big stage finals runs to become mainstream famous.

[ArbitraryWater]

The NBA has a problem. With LeBron, Curry, and Durant approaching the end of their spans, the NBA has no "face" of the league for moving forward. Its a problem they haven't had since the 70's. First it was Bird and Magic. Then Jordan. Then Shaq. Then Kobe, Then LeBron. Then Curry.

Who's the next guy up? There really isn't one.

International players like Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, and Wemby just aren't marketable enough.

Tatum and SGA dont have the personality for it, and their games aren't casual-fan friendly (ESPN highlights and such).

That's why the league is pushing Anthony Edwards. He at least has some personality, and the kind of game that the casuals enjoy. The problem here is that Edwards isn't really a superstar, so it feels kind of forced.

For a star-driven league, its quite a problem.


Doncic is supposed to be less marketable than Shaq or Curry? Rubbish

[Hey Yo]

Weird dude like a convicted felon :facepalm

He's not a convicted felon.

[Hey Yo]

Doncic is supposed to be less marketable than Shaq or Curry? Rubbish

I think Doncic could be the face due to people love to watch him play and root him on.... them you have the other half who love to watch hoping to see him fail, same as LeBron

He's the only current young player I can think of that draws both sides of the fence.

[Axe]

Doncic is supposed to be less marketable than Shaq or Curry? Rubbish
He doesn't know what he's talking about mao.

[Xiao Yao You]

He's not a convicted felon.

Hes not?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/11/05/politics/can-trump-vote-2024-election

[SouBeachTalents]

Hes not?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/11/05/politics/can-trump-vote-2024-election
Fake news.

[Hey Yo]

Hes not?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/11/05/politics/can-trump-vote-2024-election

You have to be sentenced to get that label

[Norcaliblunt]

I’ve always thought Pop’s behavior was disgusting. He comes off as a sociopath who has no respect for anyone. He shares a lot of the traits that he is always disparaging Trump about. Pop has a huge ego and he obviously has some sort of resentment and jealousy towards Trump.


He’s a weird dude.

Trump and Pop are literally the same personality. Lmao.

This is how politics completely dilutes fools. You think Trump and Pop are different? Lmao.

Both are egoistical self absorbed assholes who try to belittle every person interviewing them.

They’re sarcastic twats that rely on simpleton soldiers who buy in to their bullshit to succeed.

Pop and Trump hate each other because they the same person.

[tpols]

Weird dude like a convicted felon :facepalm

This isn't China.

In America, land of the free and home of the brave, we don't believe in our government as much as yall do.

Fake news.

[talkingconch]

the league has gotten way too soft and now its showing

there's no grit that was there in 2000's and earlier. You fart on a ref and its a technical nowadays

You also need to take politics out of the NBA. Separate yourself from it if its possible. And fix the all star game. Perhaps shorten the season even.

[ZenMaster]

League is in a doom spiral, one thing that would help the viewed product would be changing the score system to 3 and 4 points, but the NBA can't do that as it would be such an in your face display of how the NBA is a charicature of basketall and how much the game has changed.

Glad I got to see some of the Bulls run and all of the Lakers 3peat as it happened, I don't think there'll ever be more enjoyable basketball to watch than the triangle offense with high level players.

[Phoenix]

I think Doncic could be the face due to people love to watch him play and root him on.... them you have the other half who love to watch hoping to see him fail, same as LeBron

He's the only current young player I can think of that draws both sides of the fence.

I don't think he's going to draw as much ire as Lebron though, because so much of that came from him being compared to Jordan and Kobe, two players with massive fanbases. Plus Lebron has said and done things off-court, whether you agree with it or otherwise, that are contentious; Doncic comparatively has some annoying on-court traits and a reputation for being whiny, but is pretty low-key otherwise. Ultimately Kobe and Lebron were the last two players to garner these kinds of opposing fanbases. None of the younger stars have made themselves so wildly popular or hated that people tune in to watch.

Funny enough the most famous/infamous player right now( at least on the American side) outside of Lebron/Steph/KD is probably Caitlin Clark, with Angel Reese as her foil. The NBA needs something like that to help draw people back, but that has to be in tandem with other things like reigning in the 3pointer, load management etc etc.

[Lakers Legend#32]

Colin will paraphrase any time he rips the Dems by saying, "And I voted for Obama."

Suuuuure. He's from Eastern Washington state which is MAGA country.

[tomtucker]

I’ve always thought Pop’s behavior was disgusting. He comes off as a sociopath who has no respect for anyone. He shares a lot of the traits that he is always disparaging Trump about. Pop has a huge ego and he obviously has some sort of resentment and jealousy towards Trump.


He’s a weird dude.

He hates Donald Trump because he see his own reflection in him.

Only difference is that Donald Trump likes black people.

[tomtucker]

League is in a doom spiral, one thing that would help the viewed product would be changing the score system to 3 and 4 points, but the NBA can't do that as it would be such an in your face display of how the NBA is a charicature of basketall and how much the game has changed.

Glad I got to see some of the Bulls run and all of the Lakers 3peat as it happened, I don't think there'll ever be more enjoyable basketball to watch than the triangle offense with high level players.

The Heat with Lebron, Wade and Bosh were very entertaining as well....... it was not like there wasn't competition and hard fought games.

And they went 2 and 2 in the finals

[Indian guy]

MAGA snowflakes can't handle certain NBAers' views on the orange clown and that's why ratings are down? Give me a break :facepalm

Ratings are mainly down because the average viewer simply doesn't give a F about the league's foreign elite - Jokic, Giannis, Luka, Embiid, SGA.

The NBA is only as strong as the popularity of its 2-3 best players at the top. Those are the guys that get the casual fan to care and there's a trickle down effect from that to the rest of the league. Great as Jokic/Giannis/Luka/Embiid/SGA are, how many casual NBA fans make it a point to tune into their games like they used with Magic/Bird/MJ/Kobe/LeBron/Curry? Exactly, very few.

Now, could the league have done a better job marketing Jokic/Giannis/Luka? Absolutely, but I still don't think that would've made a big dent in ratings. America simply doesn't resonate with foreign stars like that.

My motto is, control what you can control. Aside from praying the league gets some American superstars, the NBA needs to focus on what fans' primary grievances are - which are load mgmt, lack of physicality and excessive 3's. They've already passed some semblance of rules to curtail load mgmt and lack of physicality. Well, do more. Get even more extreme on stars sitting out and make the game even more physical. That leaves 3pters. To me, the only way to fix that is capping 3's.

Doing all 3 of those things will lead to a better on-court product and a better product leads to better word-of-mouth. That's what will get people tuning in again.

[Phoenix]

MAGA snowflakes can't handle certain NBAers' views on the orange clown and that's why ratings are down? Give me a break :facepalm

Ratings are mainly down because the average viewer simply doesn't give a F about the league's foreign elite - Jokic, Giannis, Luka, Embiid, SGA.

The NBA is only as strong as the popularity of its 2-3 best players at the top. Those are the guys that get the casual fan to care and there's a trickle down effect from that to the rest of the league. Great as Jokic/Giannis/Luka/Embiid/SGA are, how many casual NBA fans make it a point to tune into their games like they used with Magic/Bird/MJ/Kobe/LeBron/Curry? Exactly, very few.

Now, could the league have done a better job marketing Jokic/Giannis/Luka? Absolutely, but I still don't think that would've made a big dent in ratings. America simply doesn't resonate with foreign stars like that.

My motto is, control what you can control. Aside from praying the league gets some American superstars, the NBA needs to focus on what fans' primary grievances are - which are load mgmt, lack of physicality and excessive 3's. They've already passed some semblance of rules to curtail load mgmt and lack of physicality. Well, do more. Get even more extreme on stars sitting out and make the game even more physical. That leaves 3pters. To me, the only way to fix that is capping 3's.

Doing all 3 of those things will lead to a better on-court product and a better product leads to better word-of-mouth. That's what will get people tuning in again.

I think even if the league marketed the foreign guys better, none of them have really shown interest in carrying the torch which is half the battle. Jokic gives off the vibe of preferring to be with his horses back in Serbia than being in the NBA.

MJ wanted it from Magic and Bird. Kobe wanted it from MJ. Lebron wanted it from Kobe and ultimately to surpass MJ. The American star who seems like they 'want it' most with a game that would appeal to casuals is Antman but he's more like a top 10ish guy. Really it should be Tatum but the masses aren't gonna tune in for him anymore than the foreign star, and he's kind of like the small forward version of Tim Duncan in terms of his game and personality.

[RRR3]

Wemby wants the torch.

[1987_Lakers]

Wemby wants the torch.

Unfortunately, big men aren't marketable like perimeter players.

[Phoenix]

Unfortunately, big men aren't marketable like perimeter players.

Yep. Look at Shaq for example, his guard running mates starting with Penny were the ones the casual fan gravitated towards. And Shaq actually had way more charisma than most great bigmen.

[Indian guy]

The American star who seems like they 'want it' most with a game that would appeal to casuala is Antman but he's more like a top 10ish guy.

I think we all expected Ant to take the next step towards superstardom this season and he has regressed if anything. Calling him Top 10 is mighty generous when he's 53rd in PER, 41st in BPM, 32nd in VORP and 57th in WS. He's just not that good. You need to be at least a Top 5 player + extremely popular to be in the running for face of the league. Tatum's much better than Ant, but he's definitely not Top 5. The top 5 guys are all foreigners and they clearly don't resonate with the audience like an American superstar does.

[Phoenix]

I think we all expected Ant to take the next step towards superstardom this season and he has regressed if anything. Calling him Top 10 is mighty generous when he's 53rd in PER, 41st in BPM, 32nd in VORP and 57th in WS. He's just not that good. You need to be at least a Top 5 player + extremely popular in order be the face of the league. Tatum's much better than Ant, but he's definitely not Top 5. The top 5 guys are all foreigners and they clearly don't resonate with the audience like an American superstar does.

Ants gotten off to a slow start but I'll wait to see how he finishes the year. Calling him top 10 may be generous now but we'll see. It's kind of like people saying Wemby had regressed or at least not improved from last year but he's really picked it up the last month. But yes, to be the league face you gotta 1) have the appealing game and personality 2) in the conversation for best player, so at worst top 3 and 3) appeal to the wide North American audience. This is the first time since I've watched basketball that no-one currently checks all the boxes.

[Indian guy]

Ants gotten off to a slow start but I'll wait to see how he finishes the year. Calling him top 10 may be generous now but we'll see.

I called him the 2nd most athletic SG ever during the playoffs last season. Clearly jumped the gun because watching more of him since, he doesn't really have the footspeed for that title. He's more VC than MJ/Wade/Kobe, thus relegated to a more jump shot-heavy game and I don't know if that's his ticket to become a Top 5 player in the league. We'll see though.


It's kind of like people saying Wemby had regressed or at least not improved from last year but he's really picked it up the last month.

Wemby's only in his 2nd season though. He's allowed a slow start. Ant's in his 5th season and should be on a sure fire trajectory towards superstardom.

[TheMan]

The NBA game is just boring af, an endless stream of 3pt chucking, no defense, dunks and layups with little defensive resistance. Only reason today's players seem more talented than 20 years ago is because the refs let today's goofs to travel, carry and get away with a ton of shit that should be called, and the defense can't even breathe on a guy without it being called a foul, absolutely no physical defense anymore. Today's player are as soft as marshmallows, who the hell wants to see that? I've been saying this for a while now, today's era is probably the worst era ever since the dark 70s.

[RRR3]

The NBA game is just boring af, an endless stream of 3pt chucking, no defense, dunks and layups with little defensive resistance. Only reason today's players seem more talented than 20 years ago is because the refs let today's goofs to travel, carry and get away with a ton of shit that should be called, and the defense can't even breathe on a guy without it being called a foul, absolutely no physical defense anymore. Today's player are as soft as marshmallows, who the hell wants to see that? I've been saying this for a while now, today's era is probably the worst era ever since the dark 70s.
Senile meltdown.