In a column published on the Daily Beast, acclaimed author and Vanity Fair contributing editor Buzz Bissinger makes the argument that the NBA is losing white fans because it has no white superstars. He points to a lack of identifying with the game’s best players, and the purveying attitude “nationwide” that black athletes simply don’t have to try as hard to be good at basketball, as the two main reasons for declining white interest.
It boils down to this: Are whites losing interest in a game in which the number of white American players not only continues to dwindle, but no longer features a superstar?
Yes.
It’s an argument that has been rehashed thousands of times: white people like cheering for white players, and since the NBA’s best players are black, whites care less about the NBA. And, despite the fact that All Star Saturday Night had the most viewers it’s ever had (I’m assuming some of those viewers were white people), Bissinger is right on some level. I’d venture to guess that white NBA fanship, for the last 10 or so years, has probably declined.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The NBA is in the midst of its most exciting season in years, thanks in large part to LeBron James‘ decision to go to the Miami Heat, the continued relevance of some major market teams (the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics), and the sudden relevance of some others (the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls). When the TV ratings for the All-Star game come in, in fact, I bet that it will have garnered the highest level of viewership it’s gotten in 10 years.
Also, people in China apparently love pro basketball. And there are a lot of people there.
There is nothing wrong with Bissinger’s argument; nothing that he says in his article is incorrect, despite that fact that it might be tough for some people to acknowledge. But what is wrong is the notion that the NBA needs white people to like it, because it doesn’t. The NBA will always be culturally relevant, regardless of white flight.