# Did the NBA really lose popularity that badly since Jordan's days? Why?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-nba-really-lose-popularity-that-badly-since-jordans-days-why/609120>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [January 11, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-nba-really-lose-popularity-that-badly-since-jordans-days-why/609120 "2012-01-11T02:16:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-nba-really-lose-popularity-that-badly-since-jordans-days-why/609120/21 "2012-01-11T18:40:24Z")

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The correct word for a 32-year-old who scores 12 points a game, doesn’t play defense or rebound, and is on his fifth team is “journeyman.”

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**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-nba-really-lose-popularity-that-badly-since-jordans-days-why/609120/22 "2012-01-11T19:39:24Z")

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**GovernmentMan** forgot to mention _fucking hoopsters_ (© 2010 Deadspin).

My guess is that popularity of the NBA may be down (I don’t trust attendance figures, **RickJay** ), but basketball in general is down. I don’t think NCAA games get the ratings they used to, and I don’t think people follow it in general as much as they used. Maybe that’s my personal bias, though. But this doesn’t mean the NBA and basketball in general are specifically disliked. I think it’s simply due to an increase in options for other ways to spend entertainment time and dollars. UFC didn’t even exist (at least its current form) a decade ago. I don’t follow it, but I don’t think I could have watched F1 racing 15 years ago. I certainly couldn’t watch much European soccer back then, and that’s basically filled the space I used to fill with the NBA and NCAA. Add in on-demand movies and internet, and people are probably just more focused on lesser known interests.

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