Is it just me or is the NBA not as fun to watch this season

[Spurs m8]

Stars dont play enough.

Rules are too soft.

There are also just too many games, at a time when there are more entertainment options than ever. 1 game out of 82 means basically nothing is on the line.

They also need to flex schedule national TV games more. The Suns are in a national broadcast every other night and theyre below .500 missing their stars for like two months now. Same with the Warriors when Curry was injured. And I dont really wanna see the same teams play anyway, Id rather see a variety.

And no Im not buying league pass cuz I dont need access to EVERY Magic, Hornets and Pistons game, I just want a little more variety in the national games.

Good post

[1987_Lakers]

Although the superstars are there. There are not alot of elite teams in this league, that for sure takes out some of the fun for me. Warriors are past their prime, Suns are done. And this league is better when LeBron is playing for a contender.

[ArbitraryWater]

I find it quite entertaining tbh.

The title race is wide open.

[SouBeachTalents]

Stars dont play enough.

Rules are too soft.

There are also just too many games, at a time when there are more entertainment options than ever. 1 game out of 82 means basically nothing is on the line.

They also need to flex schedule national TV games more. The Suns are in a national broadcast every other night and theyre below .500 missing their stars for like two months now. Same with the Warriors when Curry was injured. And I dont really wanna see the same teams play anyway, Id rather see a variety.

And no Im not buying league pass cuz I dont need access to EVERY Magic, Hornets and Pistons game, I just want a little more variety in the national games.

This is a great post. If a superstar is sitting out the game, I honestly lose all incentive to watch it. And the rules have obviously been WAY too offensively friendly for like 5-6 years now.

The biggest issue though, besides the rules favoring the offense too heavily, is one that will unfortunately never be fixed. 82 games is simply too many and it dilutes the product. As you said, one game out of 82 has virtually nothing at stake. What would've always been the best solution is making the season 58 games. You play every team twice, and each regular season game holds more importance.

And while it might be tricky due to how many nights they play, the league would absolutely benefit from flex scheduling like the NFL does. Too many times a star player gets injured and the team is a shell of itself, yet they occupy a dozen slots in primetime, making those games unwatchable.

One other issue you didn't mention is one that's frankly always been an issue with the sport. The last 2 minutes of an NBA game take an obscenely long time. I remember the end of a Suns/Clippers playoff game two years ago literally took 30-40 minutes. No other sport has such a drastic change of pace at the end of a game, and it's honestly brutal to sit through.

[Full Court]

I'm not a big fan of the lack of defense and the three-point spamfest, but I'm still enjoying watching bball this season. The sport is bigger than those things.

[imdaman99]

The only team I really watch and pay attention to are the Knicks. They are having a solid bounceback year but I know they are frauds I guess it'll be building blocks once they get knocked out in the 1st round because at least Brunson has fight in him... I don't see it with Randle and RJ. These guys are not hungry enough, time and time again I see them beat out for rebounds when they absolutely need stops and a rebound.

Anyways, no one cares about the Knicks so I'll stop bitching about them. I have no fun watching westbrook play nowadays, he's been neutered... prob for the best

I'll tell you I watched that Luka 60-20-10 game... I'm sorry he is not fun at all to watch. Extremely skilled but when he doesn't have the ball he just hangs out 40 feet away from the basket.

[Phoenix]

Even something like the shotclock resetting to 14 instead of 24 after an off. rebound gives the teams/players more chances to put up numbers. Just as people say the league is more skilled overall now, I would also argue the skill ceiling increased 20 years ago from like the 80s/90s but that didn't show in the early 2000's numbers, because the rules kept things in check. What's happening now are the 2005 perimeter rule changes on steroids, AAU culture, the onslaught of the 3>2 league-wide adoption, and other little tucks and nips like the shotclock thing I mentioned above. Being a 20ppg scorer doesn't mean shit anymore, there's over 40 of them this year. That's like 10% of the league. Scoring 30 is a breeze. 40 is a single drop of sweat. 50? Maybe two drops.

And Fultz covered alot of the other issues. Too many stars out, lack of variety in national broadcasts, and too many games. Does anyone really give a **** about any of last night's games? In the middle of January when there's like....4 months left in the season?! Speaking of stars, who's the next Lebron/Kobe that will garner crazed fanbases? Zion is fun to watch, but I don't think he's carrying the league down the line, same for Ja. When I say carry, I mean keep the spotlight/popularity at a certain baseline. I'm not seeing anyone 'currently' in that light.

[Manny98]

Nah I'm having fun but I do wish the season was shortened by at least 10 games

[bison]

I’ve been enjoying this season. The parity in the league makes for an intriguing year and as always I like the different narratives each team brings to the table.

The thing about soft defenses and high scoring is this: I don’t even notice it to be honest. Personally I prefer 90s style basketball but I’ve been watching the NBA continuously for almost 30 years now that the changes that have occurred in the game over that course of time happen so gradually that I’ve been acclimatized to it every season. It’s not like I stopped watching basketball in 1998, fell into a 25 year coma and then woke up to a drastically different sport. So it’s fine, I’m used to this style of play and am able to enjoy it for what it is.

Also I don’t get calling yourself a basketball fan and wanting LESS games played. These injuries aren’t due to conditioning. These guys have world class training staffs so it’s not the length of the season that should be re-examined but maybe the style of play or the possibility that resting players actually contributes to their fragility rather than playing every night to keep their bodies continually in that adrenaline mode. I like the 82 game season because it means every single night there’s a wide selection of games and matchups I can check out. The off-season is painfully boring and I don’t need it to be longer. I don’t watch any other sports. It’s even gone to the point where I’ve begun watching WNBA games for a few seasons now as it fills the summer gap when there’s no NBA