The NBA is currently circling the drain.
The league’s embrace of “woke” political activism has cost it dearly.
And this new report shows the NBA’s disastrous season was even worse than everyone thought.
As bad as the NBA’s season was, it was almost a league-killing calamity.
According to the Sports Business Journal, the NBA nearly lost $1.5 billion because of the coronavirus lockdown.
The league sputtered toward the finish line and completed its bubble season simply to fulfill advertising contracts and appease the Chinese television market.
The NBA was still almost on the hook for a catastrophic loss when the playoffs were on the brink of being canceled after the shooting of alleged rapist Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee Bucks made the unprecedented move of boycotting a playoff game, and the other teams participating in the playoffs followed suit.
Even teams in other sports leagues shockingly suspended activities.
Behind closed doors, LeBron James allegedly pushed to cancel the entire playoffs, which would’ve left the league in dire financial straits.
But Washington Wizards owner Michael Jordan and other cooler heads prevailed to save the league from ruination.
However, the damage to the season had already been done.
The 2020 playoffs were the lowest rated since the statistic began being regularly measured.
And the sixth and decisive game of the finals between James’ Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat saw a drop in ratings of nearly 70% compared to last year’s game six featuring the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors.
Roughly 40% of the NBA’s revenue comes from ticket sales, so the COVID-plagued conclusion to the season will cause a massive hit in league profit.
But the bigger concern is the decline in fan viewership largely due to the over-the-top political messaging.
Black Lives Matter, an openly Marxist organization, had its slogan plastered on the court, and players wore pre-approved “woke” messages on the backs of their jerseys.
That’s going to play a part in the NBA’s upcoming collective bargaining agreement.
The left-wing activism might’ve activated the players into a smaller pay scale.
LeBron James’ stewardship of the NBA has been a debacle.
The NBA Finals used to air on tape delay until Magic Johnson and Larry Bird took the league to a new level, then Michael Jordan turned the game into a global brand.
James is overseeing a potential major contraction of the league, and his dive into politics is a big reason why.
