Shaquille O’Neal’s analysis of the NBA’s dwindling popularity goes viral. The NBA had been on the rise for years, but something suddenly caused the numbers to decline. After a solid start to the season, viewership has drastically decreased; ESPN reports a 42% dip in their opening night audience.
In a recent interview with the ‘BIG’ podcast, retired NBA great Shaquille O’Neal shared his thoughts on the current decline in NBA viewership. Shaq claims that the updated playstyle, which mainly focuses on three-point shooting, is to blame.
Shaq said, “It’s down because we’re looking at the same thing. Everybody’s running the same plays. At the damn top of the key dribble handoff. I was talking to a coach yesterday and he said ‘They want to shoot 50 threes’. Because they were trying to contemplate if I could play in this era. They said ‘Shaq if you would just shoot 50 threes’ and I’m like ‘well how much you wanna make?’ We wanna make 10 or 15 of them.’
Shaquille O’Neal added, “I was like ‘Well that’s not gonna help you win but I think everybody’s looking at the same thing and Steph Curry and those guys messed it up. I don’t mind Golden State back in the day shooting threes but every team got a three-point shooter, so why everybody has the same strategy? I think viewership will continue to go down unless we switch things up.”
The number of three-point tries is at an all-time high and continues to rise. As of the first few weeks of this season, the league average is 106 three-pointers made on 296 attempts. More than ever, players are letting it fly from a great distance.
Why Shaquille O’Neal’s Bold Claim Might Be True?
Although the cause of the trend is unknown, Shaquille O’Neal thinks it is related to the three-point revolution. The three-ball’s increased popularity has made offensive simpler and reduced the range of playstyles in the league.
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Every general manager and coach in the NBA is relying significantly on the three-pointer because teams that can shoot from a distance, like the Celtics, Warriors, Suns, and Cavaliers, have a significant edge over the opposition.
Shaquille O’Neal undoubtedly wants to see a return to interior post-play and powerful big men, two things that have been a little missing in recent years. However, this might very well be the reason fans ain’t finidn the league entertaining anymore.
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