Low Ratings? It's the NBA's Fault

To listen to pundits and all the junk used to fill twenty-four hours on ESPN one would think there are two teams in the NBA. The Lakers and the Warriors. At this writing the Lakers are still in the postseason chase. The Warriors were one and done.

Steph Curry and LeBron James have had successful careers with multiple championships. They do not play for the only two teams in the league. I lost interest in the NBA when Golden State and Cleveland were in four consecutive Finals.

After Kevin Durant couldn't beat the Warriors and then joined them there was nothing joyous. Teams that are expected to win- I came back into the fold when Toronto won a Championship. It may not happen again. It happened.

Not sure when I'll be able to write "Toronto won a Championship" in hockey. I should live so long. There are many good teams in the West. Oklahoma City, Denver (the defending champions) and Minnesota had a three way battle to win their division.

People who do not take the comparison lightly have compared Anthony Edwards to Michael Jordan. How often are the Timberwolves given showcase games? ESPN acted like there were two teams in the NBA.

Alright, they were not putting Detroit, Charlotte or Washington in prime time. Minnesota and Oklahoma City look like teams of the future. Sacramento rose up last year and impressed me in the playoffs after they received minimal prime time showcases.

Putting all the eggs into the baskets of teams on the decline who could rise up one more time- Luka Doncic has made the Dallas Mavericks interesting. He seamlessly replaced Dirk Nowitzki. It's nice when players stay with the same team.

There is a lot of talent in the NBA. Assuming that a couple teams should garner all the interest- those teams were second tier at best. The Clippers had a good record. They have to prove themselves in the postseason.

Or move to Seattle. While they are moving to a state of the art arena next year- they are still The Clippers. The stink of Donald Sterling never went away. All the more reason to move them to Seattle. The Supersonics had the best nickname and David Stern hung them out to dry in 2008.

The former Supersonics are in Oklahoma City with an exciting young team. If they can stay healthy and stay together good things should happen. Certain teams like Portland and Sacramento look like they will take the next step and it never happens.

The nineties were supposed to be ruled by the Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz. Injuries and a certain player in Chicago kept that from happening. Teams don't rise up surprisingly in the NBA. That is a weakness of the league. They should look into flex scheduling like the NFL.

New England was supposed to have prime time games last year. Their team wasn't very good so more interesting teams who won their close games were given the Sunday night showcase. The NBA has always been good at marketing. At this point they need to take a page from Caitlin Clark.

Walking through Dick's Sporting Goods yesterday I was surprised to see Indiana Fever merchandise with her number. The WNBA has growth potential. The NBA needs to mix it up and showcase new and exciting teams. It only feels like Steph Curry and LeBron James will play forever. No one ever does. Maybe Jaromir Jagr although he owns the hockey team he plays for in the Czech Republic.