The league has always been driven by the power teams. From time to time there is some parity but as opposed to the NFL where parity fosters interest in the league the balanced eras lead to fan apathy. Case in point the late 70s where there were lots of good teams but no great ones. The bullets,Sixers,spurs,tonics and blazers were all solid contenders year in year out but nobody caught the public eye. Contrast that with the Lakers and Celtic's of the 80s and the bulls of the 90s. Parity went down but interest overall went up because despite this being a team sport it is driven by the performance of individuals. Compelling players draw eyeballs, and players like bird,magic And MJ were compelling. Now go look at the post MJ era, lots of contenders but flagging interest. Now look at today, in Stephen and Lebron you have massive personalities and it drove more interest. The difference now is that it seems even the middling teams have players who have caught the public eye. Growing up the NBA was something you started following around the playoffs now it is year round. Part of this is because football is dying, and baseball is too slow for the modern mindset. So if anything the league is not just robust in its health but on the cusp of replacing football as the national passion.
And internationally it really is the #2 game. And it is popular for the same reason futbol is, easy to follow, cheap to replicate.
Parity is going to return to the game, the warriors can't go on forever. It feels like 8-10 teams are real close to stepping up their games. This time however I think parity will actually add to the games popularity.
Last edited by Coach Lambini at 08/23/2018 08:49:54