As the NBA faces a dip in television ratings as well as criticism from fans on the sport's three-point boom and higher-scoring games, one prominent player took the side of the critics.
Golden State Warriors star forward Draymond Green on Saturday ripped the current state of the NBA, calling the games "boring" while speaking to reporters during the NBA's All-Star Weekend.
"Every possession is some type of chess move," Green told The Associated Press. "You don’t get that today in the NBA, often. ... You don’t just get that on a regular basis. It’s just who can run faster, who can hit more 3s, it’s no substance. I think it’s very boring."
Per Basketball Reference, the league-wide scoring average of 113.4 points per game is the third-highest in the league since the adoption of the three-point line during the 1979-80 season—only the 2023-24 and 2022-23 seasons were higher. And that's not all. The league, on average, is knocking down 13.4 three-point attempts on an average of 37.5 attempts per game, both of which are the highest marks in league history.
And Green, citing an interview he saw with the late Kobe Bryant, who said basketball had become all "penetrate and pitch", couldn't agree more with the Los Angeles Lakers legend's assessment.
"He couldn’t have been more right," Green said.
Add in the opinion held by fans and former players that this era of basketball simply isn't as physical as the sport was in the past, and it's not hard to see why some are turned off by the NBA at the moment.
According to the Sports Business Journal, national NBA viewership is down five percent compared to this past season, though the numbers seemed to be trending upward, perhaps due in part to a wild NBA trade deadline that generated a ton of superstar player movement.
And while the league's $76 billion broadcast and media rights deal would suggest that the sport is in a good place in the eyes of the public, the NBA may have work to do still, even with some of its own, such as Green.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Draymond Green Rips NBA's 'Boring' On-Court Product During All-Star Weekend .
