Adam Silver Slams Shaquille O'Neal Over NBA Ratings Criticism

Matt Levine | Nov 17, 2024

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The NBA remains one of the more popular sporting leagues around the world due to the pure star power and entertainment that comes from basketball. However, the league has seen a drop in ratings in recent years.

This is in part due to teams devaluing the regular season and having players load-manage throughout the year. Former star NBA center Shaquille O'Neal weighed in on why he believes the league is suffering, blaming the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry.

“It’s down because we’re looking at the same thing,” O’Neal said. “Everybody is running the same plays…Steph Curry and those guys messed it up. I don’t mind Golden State back in the day shooting threes, but every team isn’t a 3-point shooter. So why everybody has the same strategy? I think it makes the game boring.”

The evolution of the 3-point shot started with the Warriors and O'Neal velieves that it has ruined the game. But NBA commissioner Adam Silver doesn't agree and went back at O'Neal over this opinion.

"I respect his opinion," Silver said. "I think that we pay a lot of attention to what we see in our game. Sometimes, there's more appreciation for a 12-foot jump shot than a 30-foot jump shot. When Shaq played, it was the exact opposite, with critics complaining, 'There's not enough variation in your game – it's all about dunking.'"

The game of basketball used to be played from the inside out. But now with the 3-point shot being the priority, it's been completely reversed.

Silver also added that the game has never been more popular. due to the change.

"Today, people say it's all about these highly skilled shooters. We've moved the 3-point line before back a little to make 3-point shooting more difficult. We could do that again. I'm not saying that's on the table. This is a good opportunity this season, as we're about to enter into three 11-year television deals, to step back and study the game a bit. Our game has never been more popular," he added. 

Both O'Neal and Silver just want what is best for the game but they clearly have different ideas about this matter. The emergence of the 3-point shot isn't going away anytime soon as fans love to see their favorite players pull up from around half-court each time out.

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