Despite complaints, it’s not all bad with one great team
WASHINGTON» Monday night, in response to free agent DeMarcus Cousins signing with the Golden State Warriors for a song, furor took hold of the NBA universe.
Fans complained there was no point in watching next season. Players tweeted in mocking disapproval. Owners and executives had to wonder why they spent so much effort and money chasing a championship. The addition of a fifth allstar to a three-time champion, thereby sapping next season of competitive drama months before it arrives, prompted confusion and anger.
Inside the league office, the reaction was different. It was placid. Perhaps the NBA would prefer greater distribution of star players, and for sure it would like a do-over of the cap spike of 2016 that allowed Kevin Durant to join the Warriors in a once-in-league-history anomaly. But the NBA also understands a lesson of history, both ancient and recent, that applies across the sports spectrum: Leagues are often at their healthiest when one dominant team is lording over all the others, even if popular opinion makes it seem otherwise.
Cousins signing with the Warriors led to instant hand-wringing, but the NBA has reason to believe that those upset now will be watching next season. The NBA always has promoted itself based on greatness, constructing drama — or at least the potential for it — out of underdogs taking on an established villain.
Before the Warriors’ ascent, the last time the NBA team so frequently charged with being too great for the health of the league was the mid-1990s Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan. The last four NBA Finals, all of which the Warriors played in, have been the four highest-rated since those Bulls teams won three in a row. It crosses over to other sports, too: Baseball has not been healthier since the New York Yankees’ minidynasty in the late 1990s.
This year, Game 1 ratings fell compared to 2017, but it was still the most-watched NBA Finals game since Jordan’s heyday. Besides NFL games, the College Football Playoff and the Olympics, the Finals was the most-watched sporting event of 2018.
Ratings are by no means the sole barometer for sports leagues, and the effect of disillusionment among small-market fan bases could take years to fully surface. But while fans might feel a visceral distaste for a superteam, they cannot help but watch.
“The sport is clearly healthy and ascendant, in large part due to the tremendous amount of star power across the league,” ESPN executive vice president of programming Blake Magnus said.
The last team with five all-stars from the previous season was the 1975-76 Boston Celtics, according to Elias Sports. The most compelling matchup next season now exists in the realm of the hypothetical: Could the Golden State Warriors’ starting five beat the Eastern Conference all-star team?
But in sports, it’s not inevitable. The 2007 New England Patriots went 18-0 and created an aura of invincibility before losing in the Super Bowl. The 2004 Los Angeles Lakers, which added Karl Malone and Gary Payton to the ShaqKobe nucleus, were shockingly crushed in the Finals by an out-of-nowhere Detroit Pistons team.
The Warriors are now perhaps the heaviest favorite yet. The Westgate Las Vegas sportsbook made Golden State a 2-to-3 favorite to win the title, which means it believes the Warriors have a better chance to win the title than the rest of the league combined. It seems like they can’t lose. The safest bet may be that people are going to watch and see if they do anyway.