The NBA Is Unwatchable Garbage: Here's The Evidence

With TV ratings down BIG on ESPN just months after the NBA signed a $76 BILLION deal with networks that will begin in 2025, the questions are starting pop up: What's wrong with the NBA?

Simple: It's a garbage product. 

NBA players could come out and announce a new White Lives Matter campaign and it would not mask the fact that the product on the court is simply unwatchable garbage that even some of the hardest of hardened NBA fans are starting to say is garbage.

Ratings are down 28% on ESPN. TNT was down until a Celtics-Cavs game saved the day and brought the network back to a year-over-year break-even point. 

On a November 7 podcast, Shaq said guys chucking up three-point shots like maniacs is a huge issue. NBA commish Adam Silver fired back on Nov. 15. "I don’t think it has anything to do with the three-point shot," Silver countered. He blamed a competitive TV environment for the NBA's struggles. 

LOL. 

Then, on Nov. 26, the Lakers played the Suns and turned in this two-minute sequence that has now gone viral and has NBA fans shaking their heads and finally admitting this league has a huge problem. 

Starting with the 2025-26 season, the NBA's garbage product falls on ESPN, Amazon and NBC. Amazon will pay $1.8 billion PER YEAR to broadcast games. 

But…but…but…this is just a two-minute video. The league is fine. 

Oh, really?

Don't take my word that things are bad. The Wrap reported Monday that the latest TV data doesn't look good for the future of the league. 

"While it’s only been a month, the rating dip may well not be a blip. The NBA’s ratings have been heading in the wrong direction for several years now. ESPN’s first-month ratings are down 7% compared to the 1.9 million viewers the network averaged during the 2016-17 season. 

"And the drop-off is even more severe than that, considering Nielsen started including out-of-home viewership from places like sports bars in its ratings in 2020. In other words, the ratings are beefed up compared to a decade ago — and the NBA still can’t match its past performance." 

Shaq thinks the NBA's love affair with the three-point shot has made the league boring and he's right

"I have a theory that it's down because we're looking at the same thing," Shaq told fans in early November. "Everybody's running the same plays with the damn top-of-the-key dribble handoff. I think everybody's looking at the same thing, and Steph Curry and those guys messed it up.

"Like, I don't mind Golden State back in the day shooting threes, but every team's not a three-point shooter," Shaq Diesel added. "So why everybody has the same strategy? I think it makes the game boring."

The NBA is attempting an absurd number of threes per game

If you like guys chucking up bricks and running up and down the court like they're at a YMCA, the current NBA is for you. The league is attempting an absurd 37.5 threes per game. If that number holds, it will set an all-time high, besting the 35.2 3PA record from the 2021-22 season. 

For comparison, the NBA was attempting 22.4 threes per game a decade ago. 

The current league 3-point shooting percentage sits at .359%. 

Analytics nerds probably love this. 

Meanwhile, the TV viewer, who pays the bills and ensures that Lonzo Ball makes $21.4 million this season after missing two years to injuries, is stuck watching the garbage.