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.”
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.