Now, after all that prosperity and popularity, the perception is that the game belongs to the thugs and the punks. The NBA is now seen as a league of the outrageously overpaid. The NBA is now regarded as a league whose players know nothing of their athletic ancestry. They are barely out of the cradle. It is a generational thing, Stern says, and there is truth to that.
Attendance is down.
Newer, bigger arenas are why, Stern says. TV ratings are down. Because, Stern says, all sports ratings are down. Too many options. But now we come to the product itself, which has deteriorated into being too predictable.