It’s telling isn’t it? This year, the MLB Finals absolutely clobbered the NBA Finals in viewership.
And the answer I think is complicated.
The ugly truth of the matter is that the NBA lacks a true face right now. The MLB has a league defining superstar in Shohei Ohtani that the NBA lacks.
Bron, Curry and KD are old and are nearing the end of their careers. All the top players in the NBA are international – guys like Luka, Giannis, Jokic, SGA etc and while they are all great players and hall of famers, they lack the same dominance and don’t have the charisma or resonance with NBA viewers like a Jordan or a Magic or even Bron and Curry.
Even though the league is in a healthy state of parity in terms of competition – every champion since 2019 has been different – this ironically creates less viewership because although parity is good for competition, it also results in the lack of a truly dominant superstar or dynasty.
Magic vs Bird was a historic rivalry. Jordan was historical dominance. Kobe v Duncan, Bron vs Curry, these are rivalries people wanted to see. What we have instead in recent years are a bunch of superstars who lack long lasting dominance and charisma. Let’s take a look at the superstar champions since 2019:
2019 – Kawhi Leonard – probably the superstar thats LEAST likely to be the face of the league. A guy who only plays half his games and has the personality of a rock and rarely utters full sentences.
2020 – Lebron and AD – well Lebron has been the face of the league for a while now and is on his way to retirement. AD is not dominant enough or invested enough in being the face of the league I would say. He seems rather complacent just being hall of fame level but he doesn’t seem to have any desire to be the best at his position or anything.
2021 – Giannis – an international player who by all accounts is a nice dude, but he hasn’t won enough or went to enough Finals to truly be considered the face of the league.
2022 – Curry – well like Lebron he will be retiring soon. He’s an exciting and inspirational player to watch and he’s a proven winner but we are looking for the next face of the league
2023 – Jokic – He can’t be the face of the league because of his personality. He has the potential to be dominant in terms of his stats, but he hasn’t gone to enough Finals and basketball doesn’t even seem to be his true passion. He always seems like he’s more interested in betting in horse races. Plus being a non english speaker he’s fighting an uphill battle there too.
2024 – Tatum and Luka – Both great players – and Luka truly does have dominant stats – but again they are not dominant enough to be considered the face of the league.
2025 – SGA – Again not dominant enough, doesn’t have the charisma to be the face of the league.
So yeah we truly don’t have a singular superstar that can take over from Bron/Curry/KD right now. We don’t have anyone that has the combination of dominance and charisma – which the MLB currently has in Shohei Ohtani. The NBA desperately needs an Ohtani right now – someone who is on the way to GOAT status – but all they got is a bunch of superstars who are in the top 50, potentially top 20 all time. Wemby has the most potential but I don’t see him being the face either, he’s just too unrelatable being 7′5. Nobody relates to a unicorn like that.
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