Why are NBA ratings continuing to drop dramatically?

The last three years has been a total 40% drop between the important 19 to 48 demographic.  This year 28%. I thought they would be up with Lakers and Celtics back at the top and last year's champion Raptors and the new look Clippers.  I  know for some reason Lebron has a high unfavorable rating not sure why maybe he has been around too long but Boston Celtics are always a big draw.  Was really surprised when the ratings came out. Maybe too many games in a short time. But head to head NBA lost out to golf, Nascar and tennis of course in the US was below the NBA but worldwide it is estimated tennis viewing was triple the NBA. I thought with no fans ratings would be up from last year's declining numbers. Did Golden State and Lebron's teams make basketball uninteresting to the non betting public? I don't watch the games and I bet these games. Wonder if there is some type of psychological disconnection with TV viewers when there are no humans watching the event. The Booing of the Chiefs and Texans last night was surprising to me. Is there BLM fatigue. With all the jerseys and signs everywhere? Celtics  s Raptors is must see not so the rest of the matchups until Lebron/Lakers and Clippers/ Kawhi but I really don't care who wins. Heat and Buckets vs Raps or Celtics I will try to watch all the second halves. 

IMO, all these guys want to be each other’s best friend.  Where is the competitiveness?  Win or lose, everyone is making millions so how much do they care?  In addition, free agency has killed loyalty in the sport.  NBA was the top sport but they’ve slowly conceded that honor back to NFL.  

This right here for me too. Lost interest in games I don't bet on because they are all friends now and just collecting paychecks. Although these playoffs the games I've watched have been more intense and entertaining than I thought. Still, the NBA is losing it's competitiveness with all this "we're more than basketball player" crap.

Becuz the sport is boring and more people are waking up to it being scripted.. Even tho most people on here disagree and think these games are real... Also there is no point in watching a full game... All that matters is the 4th quarter so most people prolly dont tune in until the 4th... I said the WS will draw better ratings than the NBA Finals will this year and i still stand by that... The best Finals match-up remaining is LAL vs Boston followed by Lakers vs Heat... Baseball will prolly have LA vs NY which will kill the NBA in ratings

Free agency and lack of team loyalty is just exhausting and can turn lots of people off. My biggest thing is that I watch sports for an escape from the real world.  if i wanted to hear about politics and social views, i would turn on the news.  Everyone has different opinions in life, and we can all use social media or other means to express them if we choose too. However, none of of can use our workplace/employer to express these views, or we can be terminated. Yet, these athletes choose to force their opinions and views onto us, when I just want to tune in to watch a damn game and not hear about anything other than sports and the game.

Oh and I forgot to mention all the damn flopping and lack of defense being played, or allowed to be played.  The game is geared towards the offense and its hard to be a good defender without fouling out.  An offensive player can force their way to the basket and usually gets some type of call. Watching players like Harden and Chris Paul are exhausting, so much flopping and trying to be crafty instead of just playing the game. 

A defender has to:

Be outside of the painted circle.

Jump straight up and down.

Remain straight up and down even if the offensive player runs full speed and collides into the defenders midsection.

There are no personalities in the game. Everyone is pretty vanilla. Everyone talks about how great Jordan, Bird, and Magic were, but they also had charisma. The warriors as a team were very charismatic (except for KD). There is no joy or a real sense competition or rivalry in how these guys play today (with exceptions of course), it’s just a job to them, win or lose. Having said that, Lakers v Clippers will be must see tv.

Are you serious dude? People are having a difficult time right now due to the pandemic. Who cares about these games. People are worry not to have enough money to put food on the table right now. Do you really think that they have time to watch the game? People are calling internet company or cable company to cancel the service to save some money to pay things that are much more important to them. All sports are dropped with the rating due to the pandemic. Can't believe that you are wondering with this stupid stuff. 

ScriptedTheater throw yourself in the trash already you useless excuse of a human being.

The reason is plain and simple – just five years ago, 120-150 points per game you could only see in those shitty all star games, and now you can see that no-effort-crap every fuckin night. :facepalm:

Who gives a shit about running down a court and shooting bunch of threes after five or six seconds dribbling the ball? League has become complete and utter joke. And the most absurd and moronic part is that there are still awards for those top defensive teams, when defense does not exist at all. At least not in those games for which the prize is paradoxically intended in the first place. :double facepalm:

IMO, the ratings suffer because the product is bad. Mainly, this a result of not enforcing the basic rules of basketball. Guys take 4 steps or slide their pivot foot 12 inches and the refs don't blow the whistle. They allow ball handlers to constantly palm the ball but never call double dribble. The flops rival that of soccer. Moving picks are rarely called. Some star players consistently enjoy preferential treatment from the refs. And the 3 ball is used way too often, especially on fast breaks. These are but a few examples. The college game is much more popular, and there, they actually play structured, team basketball, compared to playground trash ball. But ultimately, the NBA doesn't care about USA ratings, as long as a sizable number of the 1 billion people that live in China are tuning in.

NCAAB is far far worse than the NBA... these D1 kids can go an entire half without scoring which makes me question how some of them made it to D1 in the first place...

There is no drama & they are all friends. no more good rivalries just a cardio 3 point shooting LEAUGE 

"NCAAB is far far worse than the NBA... these D1 kids can go an entire half without scoring which makes me question how some of them made it to D1 in the first place..."

Yeah, because they play defense.