Ever since I was in high school, the NBA has been my favorite sports organization. I never grew up watching sports as a kid. My family never encouraged frenzy around sports fandom and the little that I did watch was primarily centered around the MLB (especially in the Phillies 2008 championship run.) However, once I got to high school and surrounded myself with a group of guys who were involved in multiple sports, especially basketball, I started gaining an interest.
My first year truly following the sport at a professional level was the 2016 NBA season. For anyone familiar with NBA history, this was quite a historic year for basketball. Amidst an NBA that had been dominated by LeBron James for most of the 2010s, were two rising teams in the Western Conference with plenty of young talent. These teams were the Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC) and the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors, in particular, led by the three-point shooting phenom Stephen Curry were a sight to behold. On any given night when watching the Warriors, you were bound for a three-point shooting spectacle the likes of which the NBA had never seen. That tagline “on any given night” is a sentiment that one used to feel when turning on an NBA game; now, it’s a distant memory of an NBA that is sorely missed.
This isn’t just a matter of personal opinion however, the ratings for the league paint a similar picture. According to a Yahoo sports article in 2024, the NBA’s ratings have dropped 7% since the 2016-2017 season. While this number in a vacuum isn’t a huge drop, the general trend skews downward. Many of these problems can be attributed to the persistence and overuse of the three-point shot. What made the 2016 Warriors so spectacular was the greatness and novelty that could be attributed to their playstyle. Due to its dominant scoring and reduced risk when compared to highly athletic plays, the three-point shot became the new gold standard for strategy in the NBA.
A strategy that was once novel and was used sparingly in a strategic fashion was now being learned by every up-and-coming player no matter the position. Gone were the days of Centers who were supposed to stay in the paint and primarily play defense and get rebounds. Every new NBA big man was expected to be able to create offense as well as shoot. While this has helped teams on an individual scoring basis, it has come at a significant loss to diversity in playstyle.
Now “on any given night” you can expect every team in the league to run pay after play where on fastbreaks and standing offense, players will simply run to the three-point line and launch an attempt regardless of the strategic validity involved. Gone are the days of physicality in the paint. Why would an athletic guard perform a risky and high-flying athletic dunk when they could simply just take a risk-averse attempt from the three-point line for more reward? The league has become an entertainment product with no variation or drama during the regular season; most exhibitions simply devolve into a glorified three-point shooting contest.
The diversity in teams’ offenses and overall lack of physicality within the game have ultimately made the NBA devoid of any excitement before the post-season. Sure, it’s not necessary to create an environment that creates a situation like the infamous “Malice at the Palace” incident, however, there’s no question that a more physical game and diverse offensive look on the court will lead to more exciting basketball.
With a regular season as long as the NBA’s, there needs to be pockets of competition and rivalries throughout each conference. Games that fans can look forward to and know there will be some animosity and competitive fervor amongst players, at least enough to generate exciting TV. Although the league has brought many changes in the past few years, it’ll take some fundamental changes to the game to avoid a slump in the popularity of the NBA.
