NBA news: Shaq's 'theory' blames Stephen Curry effect for bad TV ratings

Yesterday at 04:55 PM

The NBA has seen a ratings decline to begin the 2024-25 season. NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal revealed his “theory” in reference to the viewership decline while speaking on The Big Podcast, via Playmaker.

“I have a theory. It’s (ratings) down because we’re looking at the same thing, everybody is running the same plays,” O’Neal said. “At the d**n top of the key, dribble hand-off. I was talking to a coach… He said they want to shoot 50 threes. Because, you know, they were trying to contemplate if I could play in this era… I was like, ‘well how much do you want to make?’

“‘We want to make about 10 or 15 of them. I was like, ‘well that’s not going to help you win.’ But I think everybody is looking at the same thing. And Steph Curry and those guys messed it up. Like, 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 back up.”

Shaq said Stephen Curry and other players who have popularized relying on the three-point shot “messed” things up in the NBA. O’Neal added that he did not mind Golden State’s approach during the 2010s decade since they were one of the first teams to utilize the three-point shot at such a high rate.

Shaq’s concern appears to center around the fact that most teams are heavily three-point reliant in today’s game. The former NBA star seems to believe that since many teams have the same strategy, the game itself has become stagnant. O’Neal believes this could lead to a further decline in viewership.

Stephen Curry is the greatest three-point shooter of all-time. His greatness has led many teams to follow his approach to the game, though, and the NBA has changed because of it.

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