Shaquille O'Neal Reveals Specific Reason Why NBA Ratings Have Been Lower This Year

Ricardo Klein | Nov 11, 2024

May 26, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Shaquille O'Neal before the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves in game three of the western conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The NBA is one of the biggest leagues in the world, with the biggest stars in the world. 

Many people know the player's face, and the NBA stars are just as significant as many other celebrities worldwide. The NBA platform is like no other, and no one knows that better than NBA legend and Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal. 

O'Neal was the biggest (literally and figuratively) when he was playing, and that remains the case as the top NBA analyst on TNT. 

Although the NBA has a ton of stars, its ratings don't reflect its star power. The start of the NBA season has languished with viewers since opening night. This is due to many reasons, but O'Neal believes he has identified the biggest reason. 

On his “Big Podcast” on the DraftKings network, Shaq thinks the most significant reason is that the games feature too many 3-point attempts and not enough of everything else.

“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 game has already been perfect ever since Naismith created it,” he claimed. “This new era of humans f–ked it up… Golden State came in and changed it and you made a great point, it’s a copycat league. Everybody wants to be Steph Curry, but everybody’s not Steph Curry and that’s why viewership is down. But these dudes, they need to wake up because if viewership is down, the money is gonna come down.”

Although that is his opinion, the problem runs deeper than just the style of play. There are numerous reasons for the decline in viewership, including fewer subscribers to the cable and satellite bundle.

The regular season games feel like they have no stakes in an 82-game season where 10 teams from each conference make it into the postseason, and a lot of the games frankly don’t feel like meaningful athletic competitions where all the players are giving their best effort to win.

O'Neal is more old-school regarding the style of play, so his reasoning for the decline in viewership is valid. 

The NBA is doing its best to get the ratings back up, which is why the NBA Cup is now a thing. It worked last season; we'll see how it does this season. 

More Ball Around: Kendrick Perkins Blasts Eastern Conference Star For Poor Start to Season