AROUND the NBA:

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

That’s totally fine and I appreciate your perspective regarding the politics viewpoint. I don’t think it’s the main reason why viewership is down, but I think it should be mentioned in terms of gaffs. 
 
I think the national anthem isn’t political, as it’s a foundational thing that all Americans, regardless of party, are represented in and are apart of. Whether other Americans believe that or not is an entirely separate issue and a different conversation. I don’t care to debate politics at all. My main issue bringing it up was that as commissioner, Silver potentially polarized his viewership and ostracized close to half the country. 

Soccer has ads on jerseys because there are zero ad breaks for 45 mins at a time. Just a 15 min halftime break where it’s usually commentary about the 1st half. So in lieu of commercial breaks, there are ads on jerseys. That I understand. But the NBA is the furthest thing from that. We have a 3-5 minute ad break every 4-5 mins of game time. On top of in game ads, on top on ads on jerseys, on top of ads on courts. It’s ridiculous. 

In regards to gambling, I don’t care if people do it. I’m fine if Vegas allows people to bet on the league. What I don’t like is representatives and stewards of the league actively promoting gambling. I don’t need the Mavs saying they are partnering up with Fanduel for free bets. I don’t like Barkley giving me his parlay bets. It’s annoying. Leave that out of it.


And I suppose I should frame it as, Adam silver is a horrible commissioner for me, the consumer. He’s made it hard for me to watch the game. He’s diluted the product. He’s polarized the product. But at the same time, he’s made his bosses a boatload of money. But at what cost? Well we see it in the viewership numbers.

Politics... the anthem is shoved down our throats, again with heinous pro-slavery verses.  That's what the BLM movement is...  rethink what we have blindly accepted.  If you truly want to de-politicize the NBA, drop the anthem.  70% of NBA players are black.  You don't think the league should take that into consideration?  

Silver...  the boatload of money you refer to comes fans.  It's capitalism.  Boatloads of money = boatloads of fans giving their money.  It's the definition of success.

The league doesn't worry about the likes of you and me.  We're not going away.  It's about expanding the fanbase more than catering to we actual fanatics.  For me, the game has become more and more enjoyable.