While I’m more casual on the NFL, I find myself surprisingly watching fewer NBA games these days. And the funny thing is, I’m not alone. It’s true, the National Basketball Association has seen declining ratings for years. Whether or not you believe the competition isn’t as physical as it once was, the current stars not being as marketable/likeable as the stars of yesteryear, or this general shift away from defense, pro basketball has seen better days.
I was curious as to how NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was going to respond to all of this. After all, in 2024, the National Football League took the NBA’s lunch, hosting special attraction games on Christmas Day. The holiday, a typical basketball bastion, reduced the NBA to nothing more than an afterthought. And while the NBA doesn’t have a formal plan to snatch back the crown of cool from other sports, I have been seeing the league lean into nostalgia of its 1990s heyday.
Remember the ‘90s NBA? Whether you were a Jordan guy watching His Airness on highlight reels nightly or more of an AND 1 Mixtape Tour person, basketball was everywhere. It was the culture of youth AND cool. Someone must’ve realized this because the ‘90s coding is real. NBC (and Peacock) has signed up to broadcast some NBA games, and their presentation is straight out of a thirty-year-old time machine:
For reference here’s how it looked back then:
If you remember both, you should probably be scheduling your routine colonoscopy.
This week was ALSO the announcement of the NBA video game, “NBA The Run.” Which is yet another 3 vs. 3 streetball game, BUT it takes me back to one of the best basketball games of all time, NBA Street Vol. 2, which came out over twenty years ago. Check the side by side:
The Run (2026)
NBA Street Vol 2. (2023)
And while that’s all well and good, the question I have will be “Is it enough?” Yeah, going back to the 90s and 2000s could be a dope memory lane jaunt for ‘old heads’ like myself, but somebody think of the children! Is looking back 30 years to grab some zeitgeist cache the move where youth athletes have more choices than ever before to focus their efforts (and that sweet, sweet NIL payday)?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually a fan of all these things. NBA on NBC Tripleheader Sundays were an institution. It would take me ten hours to do like forty minutes of homework because I was wrapped up in all the hoopla. Like, ALL of the hoopla! But this look back seems like one last grab into the velcro wallets of the generation who grew up with Grandma-ma.
…it was a different time.
But maybe former player Channing Frye was right. Maybe “nostalgia is killing the NBA.” Then again, I’m not sure what the league can do to get fresh eyes on the product. In fact, let me ask you. I’m opening up the comments (usually reserved for paid tiers) to hear your thoughts. What is missing from today’s NBA?