There is always a lot of noise around NBA decisions. NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who has a net worth of $40 million (as per Celebrity Net Worth), has a tough job. With a responsibility for the entire league, he is always under the microscope.
In a recent interview, Silver talked about the availability of NBA games to fans, who have often struggled to watch NBA games on different streaming platforms. Silver addressed the issue, though his response didn’t go down well with fans.
“There’s a huge amount of content that people can essentially consume for free. This is very much a highlights-based sport. You know, so Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, you name it any service, you know. The New York Times for that matter, to the extent that the content is not behind a paid firewall. There’s an enormous amount of content, YouTube, another example that is advertising-based that consumers can consume,” Adam Silver said (via analyst Trysta Krick’s Instagram).
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Trysta Krick captioned:
“Literally no empathy for the many people who don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars to follow their favorite team … what a tone deaf comment from the NBA commissioner. Be better Adam Silver.”
Krik also claimed that this was a “middle finger” from Silver to basketball fans. Fans online were unhappy and angry with Adam for calling basketball a highlights-based sport.
“Taking a poopoo on his own sport,” one fan commented.
“That’s his version of ‘let them eat cake,'” another said.
“Ruined the game of basketball. Stern wasn’t much better but damn,” one user claimed.
“There’s league pass and the there’s cable. What more do you need outside of that? Am i missing something?” one fan asked.
“Highlight sport 🕊️🕊️🕊️ NBA is finished,” one user said.
“They ask why the viewerships go down,” another wrote.
“They wonder why we pirate,” one fan spoke on behalf of many.
“If it’s not available on my cable service, I will not be watching it,” another fan made it clear.
“YO ADAM LET ME WATCH SOME DAMN GAMES,” another showed his frustration towards $40 million worth commissioner.
A Decline in NBA’s Viewership Over The Years
The NBA suffered a dip of 2% in viewership in the regular season. Over three national television networks, TNT, ESPN, and ABC, could gather only 1.53 million viewers.
Moreover, NBA TV has suffered a year-on-year decline of an average of 5% since the 2021 season. Since the last season, NBA TV viewership dropped by 24%, averaging 250,000 viewers.
For the 2025-26 season, the NBA has a new 11-year media rights agreement valued at $77 billion. Fans still struggle with multiple streaming services and demand a much more streamlined solution to watch the sport they hold dear.
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