The Numbers Are In And This Year's NBA All Star Game Was The Least Watched Game Ever

Tim Nwachukwu. Getty Images.

Hot Seat: Adam Silver

If you'd like to read all the details, you can find them here. Basically, everything tanked outside of the Celebrity Game that barely went up. Given that this is a pretty marquee weekend for the NBA, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's not great! When you have the deepest rating decline since 2000, that's obviously a pretty big deal, but it wasn't just the game on Sunday. The events on Saturday were also the lowest ratings in the last 20 years and were nearly half of what they were last year. That seems crazy to me because Mac McClung was must watch stuff

but I imagine this is where the name recognition part played a factor. The casual NBA fan didn't have any idea who those players were, and it didn't matter if the Dunk Contest was actually watchable for the first time in years, the big names are what bring in the casual eyeballs. I suppose there could be some that see all the chaos on Twitter and then tune in, but my guess would be if you're seeing Dunk Contest tweets on your timeline you're probably already a basketball fan and had the contest on your TV anyway.

I understand why ratings are important to these leagues and whatnot, but am I weird that I really don't give a shit? I get it, I'm a basketball guy so I'm watching all this stuff regardless. I'm not who Adam Silver has to try and convince to spend my free time watching his product. I'm already addicted. But maybe, people just don't care about fake All Star Games? Whether it's the NBA or the Pro Bowl, I feel like the people have spoken. I'm not all that surprised that an All Star Game that didn't have big names like Steph, KD, and Zion playing and Giannis/LeBron leaving early would impact the viewership. I feel like anyone could have told you this was coming so is this really shocking to anyone?

Granted, they missed one hell of a historic Jayson Tatum performance

but I can also understand that there are a whole lot of NBA fans out there that don't like Tatum and the Celts so this probably wasn't even as fun for them as it was for me. That's too bad because he put on a show.

Advertisement

Now that we have the numbers, I'm sure the talk will now be

"How can the NBA save the All Star Weekend?"

and frankly, I'm not sure there is "saving" it. With how social media works nowadays, you don't need to tune into these fake games and competitions live. It's on your timeline in seconds. People say if the players took the game more seriously and it was competitive then people would watch….but are we sure? It's not like All Star Games were always 48 minutes of pure energy and effort like it was Game 7 of the NBA Finals and only recently have players stopped trying. As long as I can remember it was everyone dicking around for 3 quarters and then taking the 4th somewhat seriously. In recent years, the Elam ending has helped, although that didn't exactly happen this time around.

The issue to me is with so much importance on RINGGZZZZZ in today's basketball culture, how can I expect the guys who are #1 or #2 options for teams with title hopes to go balls to the wall in a fake game? God forbid someone gets hurt and then the conversation is 

"Why was Player X going so hard in a fake game with the playoffs about to start?"

and I can't imagine the league wants to deal with a situation where a superstar player could potentially miss playoff games. 

So maybe, there is no "fixing" All Star Weekend and everyone should just change their mindset. Appreciate it for what it is. A stress free weekend where you get to see the best players in the world do some cool shit. That's it. If you like basketball, chances are you're going to tune in. If you don't, there's nothing the league is going to be able to do to get you to watch. If big time players are healthy and participating, people will tune in. If they're hurt, they won't. Am I oversimplifying this? Probably. Is there a chance my moron brain is missing the point? I won't rule that out.

Personally, I thought the weekend was fine. Dame's 3PT Final performance had some drama, the Dunk Contest actually delivered, and the two All Stars from my favorite team looked awesome during the game on Sunday. I'm sorry so many other people didn't enjoy it or even watch it, but maybe next year!

P.S

Probably not