I had the game on last night but barely paid any attention because the Lakers were up early. By the time I finally had a chance to call it an evening around 8pm, the Lakers were up by 20 something, so I didn't even bother watching the last 8 minutes or so.

Hell, I live in Los Angeles and have always rooted for the Lakers in the past but for whatever reason, I'm just not excited about NBA basketball right now, especially during football season and now, the new MLB playoff format.

Also, this team doesn't really feel like the Lakers because there's so little homegrown talent. I mean, LeBron and AD are phenomenal players but it's just not the same as watching a Kobe led team or Showtime of the 80's.
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It's down 50% from GS vs. Raptors last year, man. Moreover, you cite people that aren't working from home without acknowledging that there are a HELL of a lot more people working from home right now and that Game 1 of the finals LAST year was a 6p PT tip as well.

And as you've noted, baseball is up. Golf is up.

What's being weaponized isn't the ratings in a vacuum - it's the glib response to them. Even the context you provided can, at best, explain SOME of the decline.

At some point there should be SOME kind of reckoning here, but there just isn't. There's always a justification.

Call it collateral damage to a vital mission from the NBA and it's players (or even a completely unavoidable one if you want to), but to say just say there's no damage from it at all is folly.

Yes, this messaging IS tiring the hell out of a lot of people. The haughty manner in which it is being delivered doubly so.
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For Laker fans, this I can absolutely agree with.

I just don't like this team. I've never cared for Kuzma and he's the only real 'Laker product' on the roster. Beyond him it's what, Caruso?

There's absolutely no sweat equity in this team for me. I haven't 'earned' this. And hell, I've spent 15 years absolutely loathing LeBron James. That's just not a switch that flips. That said, you saw what was happening with the 'baby Lakers' - fans were tuning out. The Die-hards that knew who the Lakers had in the D-League were enjoying the growing process, but the casual Laker fan? They need to see results.

I'm betting this year's Lakers squad did as well in the ratings (or better) than the 'homegrown' squad from 2 years ago. We may not like the team, but I'm betting we're outliers. Could be wrong there, though.
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If this was Lakers vs Celtics or Bucks I think you would see better ratings.
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I’m in the same boat. My fav playoff run was the Magic and Boston years. I appreciate the level of play bron and ad led squad has brought this year, but it’s not the same as years prior. I’m just happy we have a great shot at winning.
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Rivers to coach the 76ers
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It's just...weird.

I don't dislike LeBron or AD but it just doesn't "feel" right to me.

At least the Heat had Dwayne Wade and Udonis Haslem while the Lakers have... Kyle Kuzma?

I can't speak for other Lakers fans but the COVID delay aside, winning the NBA crown this year will feel empty, for lack of a better word, which fuels my disinterest, I guess.
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It's been a tough team to really like for awhile. Kobe's farewell tour was a circus and everyone had their eye on his cap hold the whole time. Nick Young was a massive d-bag but their best player for a bit. Lonzo Ball was just ghastly to watch.

They had to get rid of a guy who was genuinely developing here in D'Angelo Russell to get rid of the awful Mozgov deal and everyone was just marking time before they could use the stretch provision on Deng. The Lonzo experiment was so clearly doomed to fail from the beginning. Magic was a mess and so interested in being a celebrity without being an actual asset that it even made HIM look bad. And frankly, anyone that's ever read Pearlman's Showtime book could've seen THAT coming.

Jimmy Bus just made that such a hard team to like. Ingram came in and was something of a breath of fresh air...so of course he had to go. Likewise Josh Hart who was a guy we saw develop in college and become a REAL easy guy to root for.

And in 2 years when LeBron is finally gone and the roster is Davis + cap space, they'll just do it all over again. By then I'll have probably grown to 'accept' Davis because I really do like the guy, but that's all they'll have. No picks to speak of, no young players w/ long-term upside. Just another free agent recruiting period in the hopes of getting another star that someone else developed to come to LA for the glitz of the town.

Hurray.

I'm just not sure if/when/how I'll ever really come to embrace this team again. They sure don't seem to have a plan for it because in the end, I'm the outlier. The Lakers don't need guys like me to care in order to be profitable.

For most fans, the destination IS the journey. For me that's just dull.
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NHL Stanley Cup ratings were apparently way down too which lends credence to the idea that it is a timing/bubble/COVID-19 thing, not a political thing.
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Philly is so terribly run. Rivers isn't getting that team where it needs to go based on what he did in LA.
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I'm with you 100%. Jeannie and Pelinka have done a much better job than Jim, Magic and Mitch but the future looks sooooooooooo bleak.

And unlike you, I can't even watch regular season Lakers games because Spectrum has the monopoly on their broadcasts, so without subscribing to their cable unit, the only time I can see them is when the local blackout is occasionally lifted when their games air on TNT and ESPN, which isn't all that often.

I even switched to Spectrum's Choice Plan, which is internet-based and not cable, and I still don't get Lakers games (or Dodgers, for that matter, which is the dumbest shit of all time).
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And just to add to the point from earlier:

Viewership trends:
NBA Finals Game 1: -45% to all-time low
Stanley Cup Final: -61% to 13-year low
U.S. Open (golf) final round: -56% to all-time low
Kentucky Derby: -43% to all-time low
Indy 500: -32% to all-time low

All of them May and June events moved to August and September.

— Sports Media Watch (@paulsen_smw) October 1, 2020

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The Sixers hired Doc Rivers is this could be a good thing in the future. Otherwise fuck Lebron James and the CCP Lakers.
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That front office is terrible. Doesn't seem like a good hire at all when there were a bunch of options with higher ceilings.

But their roster is a mess anyway, so probably doesn't matter.
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LOTS of people who cut cable stream the game online. Just like people on here who stream NFL games. The viewership is much higher than what traditional TV providers will tell you
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