The Lakers are the 2020 NBA Champions. But Who Cares?
On Sunday October 11 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat in six games to clinch their 17th championship in league history. This championship means a lot of things to a lot of people. For starters, the Lakers are now tied with their historic and infamous rival Boston Celtics for the most championships in the history of the NBA and Lebron James won his fourth title and became the first NBA player to win finals MVP on three different teams. To top it all off, this is the Lakers' first ever championship in 10 years and it seems like the ultimate tribute to LA legend Kobe Bryant who tragically died alongside his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash earlier this year. On paper, it feels like this championship should be the perfect ending to the emotional rollercoaster that was the 2019-20 NBA season and the legacy of Lebron James, the greatest athlete in the world.
Yet for some reason it feels like no one cares.
Now don't get me wrong. I watched the game with my friends on Sunday night, but the feeling of anticipation and excitement from seeing the Larry O'Brien trophy being raised in the air just didn't feel the same like it did in previous years. And apparently the rest of America felt the same way too. According to Nielsen, this year's game 6 only average about 8.3 million views and a rating of 3.2, which doesn't even come close to Sunday night's football game which drew in 15.1 million viewers and rating of 4.2. On top of this, game 6 of the 2019 NBA finals averaged more than twice the amount of viewers. To any normal viewer, this would seem rather unusual given the fact that this is an elimination game of one of the most highly anticipated NBA seasons in recent memory featuring the greatest athlete of our generation on top of the league aiming to achieve its goal of becoming the most popular league in the world. But it seems like given the circumstances of the state of our world, this is not always the case.
So why is it that so little people seemed to be invested in the NBA this year compared to regular years?
(source: USA Today)
Ever since the world was essentially put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems like our lives have all been stuck in this vicious cycle of uncertainty and fear. And the NBA is just another one of the millions of victims who succumbed to the economic effects of the coronavirus. Back in early March, the NBA decided to suspend the season indefinitely after it was discovered that one of their players tested positive after a game. Personally, this was the ultimate trigger that made me realize coronavirus was no joke. Because when a multibillion dollar business decides to suspend operations over the safety of its workers, you know shit is serious.
However, not all hope was lost as the league proposed a solution to finishing out the season in the form of a bubble which consisted of all the teams eligible for the playoffs. And to their credit, the bubble was an absolute success. Even though the playoffs wasn't the same like it was in previous years, the league achieved their number one priority, which was finishing the season while keeping all the players and staff members safe from the deadly virus. But it also had some side effects too in terms of viewership. Because of the suspension, the league had no choice but to air the finals during the same time as the NFL season. And this clearly had an effect on viewership, as more people were tuned into a regular season football game, probably because sports fans like myself are more used to dedicating our Sunday nights in October to strictly watching football.
Another reason for the low viewership could possibly be due to numerous political events happening around us in this country, specifically the #blacklivesmatter movement. After the shocking events of police brutality taking place in our society today with the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Jonathan Price as well as the shooting of Jacob Blake, it feels like the time to speak up about injustice and inequality is more pivotal than ever. And that's exactly what the NBA did, from the custom messages that players displayed on their jerseys to the "Black Lives Matter" slogan written across the courts of every single game. No matter where you stand on the issue, the social justice messages are plastered everywhere, and for some it can be too much to handle. Now I don't blame the league for going down this path, because these are legitimate issues that deserve attention and it is time for us as a nation to be having these uncomfortable conversations. However, by taking this political stance many viewers are starting to get frustrated as most people view sports as an outlet from the real world.
These are just my thoughts on this year's NBA season. Ratings aside, I have to give mad respect to the commissioner Adam Silver for the way he handled the execution of the bubble. Zero positive cases since the season started, and on top of that the league employees were rewarded with a $1,000 raise and additional vacation days. Politics aside, this league truly is ahead of its time and I sincerely hope that other businesses use them as an example.
Can't wait to see what the 2020-21 season has in store for us!!!