The Effects of Milwaukee

Almost a week later, and the Milwaukee Bucks gave the NBA a shot in the arm. Being down two games to the Phoenix Suns, they won the next four en route to a championship for the first time since 1971. Back then, it was the young sensation, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leading the way. Here, it was Giannis Antetokounmpo and other starters playing defense and making shots count. Here's what helped the league.

First is the two teams. Small market ones, yes, but ones that hadn't seen a Finals. No Warriors, no LeBron James team. Excitement can occur for ones that never sniffed a championship or had, but haven't been at one for as long as Milwaukee did. How about the fact that these weren't super teams, either. Unknowns or stars accompany the guys like Antetokounmpo and Chris Paul. Anyone could play a factor.

The games having an underdog mentality. Milwaukee being down two games, the audience wants to see the "heroes" rise up to the challenge. In doing so, they fixed what was problematic and rebounded to get the championship. A lot of energy to stay in that fight. Phoenix lost some of that mojo after Game 2.  They were in close games, but had didn't take advantage of opportunities late or let Milwaukee crawl back into a game. In the history of Arizona sports, it unfortunately continues a thing where the state has yet to see a championship outside of the Diamondbacks World Series in 2001.

Ratings helped, but not good enough. Compared to last year, these are a big improvement, getting around eight to nearly ten million viewers.  Almost averaging ten million for the whole series. It doesn't come close to reaching 2019. Many factors have played a role. People getting tired of James. The Warriors making it to five straight Finals, winning three. Politics over the last two seasons, especially all the social justice stuff last year. I'd argue players speaking before thinking on social media. Adam Silver not understanding why his league is suffering. The NBA burnt its audience out.

I think this 2021-22 season is going to be an even bigger test. Does Milwaukee winning it bring forth a group of fans to return to watching it? Will Silver keep close eye on what his players do? There's more questions that have to be asked as there is a lot at stake for the NBA. Early prediction, I believe they will see a small improvement, but not by a lot. It all depends on the direction they want to go and any controversies that occur. They can't airball any mistakes.