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Shaquille O'Neal Gives Reasoning For Lower NBA Ratings

Shandel Richardson

Jun 6, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Shaquille O'Neal looks on before the game between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks in game one of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Jun 6, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Shaquille O'Neal looks on before the game between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks in game one of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Various media outlets have reported the low ratings for the start of the NBA season.

ESPN and TNT have both saw decline during the first three weeks. Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal recently gave his theory as to why it's happening. He spoke about it on his "The Big podcast. He basically blames it on the game becoming so perimeter-oriented.

"I have a theory. It’s (ratings) down because we’re looking at the same thing; everybody is running the same plays," O'Neal said. "At the damn top of the key, dribble hand-off. I was talking to a coach… He said they want to shoot 50 threes… We want to make about 10 or 15 of them."

O'Neal played during an era when centers dominated the game. They were considered cornerstones of the teams with the likes of O'Neal, David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing. It was a time also when the superstars, Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler and Isiah Thomas, could score in the paint while also having perimeter games.

O'Neal just may have a point. Today's league success is determined by 3-point shooting. The game is owned by the likes of Steph Curry, Luka Doncic and Jaylen Brown. Even the big men like Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Kevin Durant rely heavily on the 3.

While shooting is fun to watch, some fans miss the inside game.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com