The NBA Continuing To Block Local Fans From Being Able To Watch Their Team In The Playoffs Is About As Dumb As It Gets

David Dow. Getty Images.

During the NBA's regular season, you couldn't go a day without hearing someone cry about how all the 3pt shooting has ruined the game and is why people don't watch and the TV ratings dropped. To anyone who spent 5 seconds actually watching the NBA's product, you knew how full of shit this take was. But that's what happens with narratives. People hear it on TV from the talking heads and then immediately turn into sheep, parroting something that actually completely misses the entire point/problem.

How do we know this? Well, teams are shooting the exact same volume of 3s for the most part in the playoffs as the regular season, and the ratings have been great!

But how could this be?!?!?! Don't these people know about how 3PT shooting is boring and is ruining the sport? I mean, imagine thinking this isn't boring????

Now, I'm not here to continue to lead this crusade that the NBA's product is #actuallygood. Those who are stuck in their ways will never accept reality. That's fine.

Instead, I'd like to focus on some of the real problems with the NBA's product. We already know about the NBA's officiating problem, it's a disaster, and in my opinion, it is their biggest issue. Adam Silver simply refuses to address it, even when we're seeing their incompetence legitimately impact playoff games.

Aside from that, if you want to talk about ratings and the fan experience and growing your game, then we should talk about something that outside of the refs is something that I find beyond infuriating. 

Local blackouts.

You would think that once the playoffs roll around, it should be possible for everyone to ya know….watch the games. Seems like something you would want as the League Office, but what do I know? So what's the issue? Local markets cannot even watch their own team

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I get it, there's TV rights and money and all this bullshit that goes into something like this. I also do not give a shit. 

Someone is going to have to explain this to me like I'm 5 years old. If you are someone who pays for League Pass, and also has NBATV, how is it possible that you're not allowed to watch these games? Who on earth thinks this is a good idea? Putting playoff games on NBATV which is blocked out in a local market, thus screwing fans even if they have League Pass/NBATV as part of their TV subscription breaks my brain, so please, if you are smart, explain to me how this makes sense. I get the media rights and blah blah blah, I'm just talking about an overall idea. You want to do shit like this for the regular season? I still think that's dumb as hell, but whatever.

But the playoffs? The games that actually matter??? Adam Silver, please wake the hell up. 

The Cavs are the #1 seed and a title contender! The Clippers/Nuggets are arguably playing the best series of the entire playoffs, and local fans either can't watch it or have to stream it illegally? Does that not sound insane to anyone else?

So when we talk about TV ratings and the NBA, here's your problem. Sorry, it's not the 3pt shooting. I know that might upset some people, but it's the truth. Shit like this is only going to push fans to use illegal streams, and maybe the league office doesn't give a shit because they were able to lock in a $76B TV deal anyway, but as a fan I'm certainly not seeing any of that money. What I care about is being able to watch my favorite team play in the playoffs without having to pirate it. 

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While I'm on the topic, I'd also like to take this one step further. When a game is on ESPN/TNT as well as the local broadcast at the same time, out of market League Pass subscribers should be allowed to choose between which feed they watch. When you're a local market fan, you can choose. But out of market can't. Why? The feed clearly exists, you're paying for League Pass so you can watch the local broadcasts, but when games are national, then the local feeds are blocked and you're forced to listen to the national feed. I find that to also be extremely annoying, especially when local feeds only cover the first round of the playoffs (for now, before those go away with the new TV deal).

OK, that's it. Thank you for coming to my TED talk and allowing me to get that off my chest. For any Nuggets fans getting boned tonight, that sucks. All I can say is Google is your friend. I'd look into all the streams that exist in the East if you catch my drift. Best of luck!