The NBA continued to hemorrhage fans over the weekend when their final championship series was viewed by roughly 5 million Americans each night; the lowest recorded since the association started keeping track back in 1994.
The TV ratings for game three of the NBA Finals hit another record low Sunday night. The game averaged fewer than 4.4 million viewers.
The numbers are pathetic. This is what happens when you make sports political. People quit watching.
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) October 5, 2020
Well, there’s always the Chinese market
Game 1 of NBA Finals sees lowest viewership in recorded ratings history https://t.co/HAi3wKLICf
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) October 2, 2020
Dead. Good.https://t.co/KHTLa2yjn2
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) October 2, 2020
“The number is down 45 percent from last year’s Game 1 between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, which had 13.51 million viewers. This is the fourth straight year Game 1 viewership has gone down compared to the previous season,” reports Yahoo Sports.
Read the full report here.
BIDEN BACKS NBA: Joe Supports Basketball Play-Off Delay to Promote Social Justice in America
Democratic Nominee Joe Biden publicly backed the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to postpone their play-off game this week to promote social justice in the aftermath of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“This moment demands moral leadership. And these players answered by standing up, speaking out, and using their platform for good. Now is not the time for silence,” posted Biden on social media.
This moment demands moral leadership. And these players answered by standing up, speaking out, and using their platform for good.
Now is not the time for silence. https://t.co/hF3dIb7Hde
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 27, 2020
Top Democrats and media pundits weighed-in Wednesday on the ongoing civil unrest sweeping the USA; saying riots and looting are beginning to have a negative impact on Joe Biden’s poll numbers heading into November.
“The shooting by police of Jacob Blake was egregious, and adds to a righteous sense of moral outrage about these recurrent horrors. But make no mistake, arson and rioting play right into @realDonaldTrump’s hands and the primal fear message we heard so frequently last night,” posted David Axelrod on Twitter.
The shooting by police of Jacob Blake was egregious, and adds to a righteous sense of moral outrage about these recurrent horrors.
But make no mistake, arson and rioting play right into @realDonaldTrump’s hands and the primal fear message we heard so frequently last night.— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 25, 2020
CNN host Don Lemon weighed-in Tuesday on the civil unrest sweeping American cities; saying the riots “have to stop” because it’s helping Donald Trump in the polls.
“This is a blind spot for Democrats. Democrats are ignoring this problem or are hoping it will go away. It’s not going to go away,” said Lemon. “The problem is not going to be fixed by the election. What they can do, maybe Joe Biden is afraid to do it, he’s got to address it.”
CNN’s Don Lemon says that the riots across the country have to stop because it might hurt the Democrats’ chances in November:
“It’s showing up in the polling. It’s showing up in the focus groups.”pic.twitter.com/s6lea8slwr
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 26, 2020
“He’s got to do a speech about race. He’s got to come out and tell people he’s going to deal with the issue with police reform, and what’s happening is happening on Donald Trump’s watch… The rioting has to stop. It’s showing up in the polling. It’s showing up in the focus groups.”
Watch Lemon’s comments above.
BACKLASH: USA Today Calls LeBron James’ China Defense ‘Most Disgraceful Moment of His Career’
The backlash against NBA superstar LeBron James reached a fever-pitch Tuesday afternoon, with a major American newspaper calling his pro-China comments the “most disgraceful moment of his career.”
“On behalf of the 327 million American citizens who generally believe that freedom is good and authoritarian regimes are less good, let me apologize to LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers,” writes Dan Wolken.
“It must have been a real inconvenience to take that 13-hour chartered flight to China last week and hang around a luxury hotel in Shanghai for five days while promotional appearances got canceled. Surely it was awful to be in the middle of an international firestorm where the stakes were so high: Would preseason NBA games be played or not?” adds the author.
Hong Kong protesters slam LeBron James for comments about China, free speech https://t.co/LsukqStgei pic.twitter.com/TcKkc3p2Nw
— New York Post (@nypost) October 15, 2019
LeBron James on if Daryl Morey should be reprimanded for his tweet pic.twitter.com/6hCE8vCyNn
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 15, 2019
“LeBron, we’ve come to expect more of you. You’re obviously an intelligent person, a compassionate person and a socially conscious person. At this point in your life and career, it’s part of your brand. But to present that face to an American audience while essentially admitting that all you care about when it comes to the rest of the world is cashing those big checks — well, let’s just say it doesn’t look very good on you,” writes Wolken.
My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 15, 2019
Read the full report at USA Today.
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