SACRAMENTO, Calif. — If only for a little while, first-year Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick was reliving his past life as a basketball podcaster. And the topic of this episode — recorded during his pregame media session before a game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night — was the NBA’s decline in television ratings.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to provide takes anymore,” Redick said before settling into his seat and delivering his answer that lasted nearly four minutes. “I’ll try to be brief.”
Redick, who hosted a podcast with LeBron James before taking this job last summer, cited a number of factors that he believes have played a role in the ratings, among them the shift away from conventional cable and to streaming services. But as the former NBA player and ESPN analyst sees it, it’s the negative discourse about the game among “national partners” that is largely to blame above all else.
“I don’t think we … have done a good job of storytelling, of celebrating the game,” Redick said. “If I’m a casual fan and you tell me every time I turn on the television that the product sucks, well, I’m not going to watch the product. And that’s really what has happened over the last 10 to 15 years. I don’t know why. It’s not funny to me.”
While Redick didn’t specify which voices he was referring to, the celebrated former players on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” — Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal — are often cited as the most prominent critics among the league’s partners.
Ironically, James had shared his own frustrations on this topic on Thursday morning, telling reporters that “there are a lot of f—ing 3s being shot,” when he discussed the state of the game.
“This game should be celebrated,” Redick continued. “The league is more talented and skilled than it was 18 years ago when I was drafted. That’s a fact. There are more players that are excellent. There are more teams that are excellent.
“I heard when I played for, I don’t know four or five years, ‘Well, why do we even play the regular season? We know who’s going to be in the finals.’ Well, guess what? We have parity now, and we’re not celebrating parity. We’re not celebrating the fact that the Western Conference is as loaded as it is. We’re playing a Sacramento team tonight that’s incredible, with incredible talent, and they’ve got a losing record (13-14). It’s not because they’re a bad basketball team.”
Redick, whose Lakers (14-12) entered the game against the Kings in 10th place, finished his soliloquy in emphatic fashion.
“We don’t have anybody that’s willing to step up to the fact that this is an awesome game and we should talk about it and celebrate it in a positive way,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we don’t critique it. We should critique it, but we should celebrate it. Nobody’s doing that, and the people that are have a small niche following on Twitter. And frankly, I would argue as well, that everyone in our ecosystem pays too much attention to what is said on Twitter. And part of this whole ratings discussion is because people on Twitter are talking about it.”
He grinned as he rose out of his chair.
“Sorry to be brief.”
Required reading
(Photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
