Bobby Burack
Videos by OutKick
The 2020 NBA Finals, led by LeBron James and the Lakers, tanked to historical lows. Yet, the media is aggressively trying to distract from the conversation. Aside from OutKick, few other outlets have touched the topic that triggers woke sports media Twitter accounts, but one of them is Bill O’Reilly at The First.
O’Reilly demolished social justice warrior LeBron and the league’s political direction.
“The NBA: done,” O’Reilly began on No Spin News. “LA Lakers won, who cares? Does anyone care?”
Based on the ratings, no.
“The fifth game, went from 18 million viewers last year to 5.7 this year,” O’Reilly went on. “Why? Because Black Lives Matter [and] political slogans.”
“Do we want it during the game? Obviously, not.”
O’Reilly came to the same conclusion I argued last week: LeBron has ruined the league.
For two decades, LeBron lifted the NBA back into the discussion and grew its popularity. Today, he is an off-putting, politically reckless detriment.
He promotes misleading social statements, silences critics of the Chinese Communist Party, pretends to put human rights before his brand, and refuses to comment on the shooting of LA police officers, all while demanding to be worshipped.
ABC and the NBA were confident LeBron would bring the Finals back. Instead, he attracted even fewer viewers than a team from Canada was able to draw last year.
Here are the game-by-game LeBron-led Finals’ results:
Game 1: down 45%; lowest opener ever.
Game 2: down 53%; lowest Finals game ever.
Game 3: down 56%; new lowest Finals game ever.
Game 4: down 43%.
Game 5: down 52%.
Game 6: down 55%; lowest Finals Game 6 ever; nearly doubled by a head-to-head regular season football game.
Way to go, LeBron.
O’Reilly also blamed LeBron’s strong and unwavering support of Colin Kaepernick for his fall from favor. Recently, Kaepernick has irresponsibly called for the abolition of police and prisons.
Here is LeBron rocking a Kaepernick shirt and supporting his wishes in the locker room:
Self-inflicted historical fall.
Follow Bobby Burack on Twitter @burackbobby_.
Good. Eff him and NBA!
Let’s have a Kaepernick and bron-free Outkick from now on. They’re ignorant and dumb. There’s enough college ball, UFC, Golf, MLB to get us over the hump. Who’s with me! Lets gooooo!
If I never har the name LeBron again it would be to soon. Not a Bill O’Reilly fan but he’s 100% correct this time.
Great article and spot on “off putting ” is being too kind the queen is a self absorbed arrogant POS acts and thinks like a thug who is always ignorant of the facts. The market has spoken and says severe damage has occurred to the league the guy is a one man train wreck.
I actually think Outkick needs to keep publishing this narrative, given their growing readership and the ignoring of the MSM
Agree with you on this, Brettsky. Keep Outkick THE voice!
Bravo
When was the moment Lebron turned evil? He’s so far in it he may as well be Satan’s favorite athlete.
The next shoe to drop is advertiser rates going down 40-50%. Then player salaries going down in commensurate fashion. And staff being fired. And NBA players, staff and owners can thank “The Chosen One”.
The league is fully left, and like the left on other topics, they simply try to wish things in or out of existence. They want universal health care, basic minimum income and open borders, well dammit that’s what they want. Never spend a moment thinking about who’ll pay. Same with this.
They want to believe that nobody would object to their woke social agenda — in its ignorance of real police/civilian stats and ignoring of far greater problems facing black lives (like black on black murders and fatherless homes) — so by God that can’t be the reason for crappy ratings. If they speak it, it’s true. If someone differs, they’re evil. So. damn. tedious. Children clomping around in the grown-ups’ sneakers.
I couldn’t have said it better. The key line in your comment: “If they speak it, it’s true.” They just expect us to accept the lie that cops target and kill innocent blacks indiscriminately. The data doesn’t support that. In fact, the data shows that there has been huge progress made in this area.
One thing this NBA season proved. Sports fans don’t like being lectured by the dishonest, useful idiots of the Left.
It seems that whenever a “G.O.A.T.” conversation breaks out Kobe Bryant’s name surfaces. I’m not a Kobe fan nor did I want him to pass away so suddenly this year. I was one of Kobe’s personal bodyguards during the 2009-2010 Championship season. What I learned during that experience was he did not want me as a fan or a friend but wanted me to do my job! Sometimes that job made me uncomfortable. I could handle 30 yrs of active Law Enforcement but quit working for Kobe after One! But Kobe was 100% real!. He was very difficult, at times, rude to the point of insulting. He was also very intelligent and could be funny if the mood struck him. He knew where he could have the most success and he moved in that direction. He would have never been caught up in the “sjw” movement you see now. At the end of one game, he spotted ” Rev. Jesse Jackson” approaching him. He turned to me and said, “Keep that motherfucking asshole away from me”! Kobe recognized the dangers of “playing” to one side of the audience at the risk of the other. He didn’t outwardly involve himself in Politics and he went about building his brand quietly and directed by his own vision. While he possessed the ability to “wreck” a team (Shaq/Kobe), he never would have condoned destroying the League that made him who he was!
My point in all this is, giving a first hand account of how a “superstar” can use his influence to enhance a group and one who chooses to destroy it. I hated Kobe personally and quit after one year of working with him. I couldn’t handle his arrogance and demeaning attitude as it was directed towards me, the guy who’s job it was to keep him safe! I will forever be grateful for the lessons he taught me about how to separate celebrity from reality. Kobe never had to be seen with someone famous, go to a famous location to be seen or tell you how important he was. You already knew.
Great insight. Kobe was extremely intelligent and was a seeker. LeMoron is none of that.
James-Kaepernick for the White House in 2028! We can hear mumbling and stuttering in the debates just like Biden this year.
James and kaep believe they are exposing racism in white America. The truth is they are revealing their own racism towards the majority of their audience. I’ve been an nba fan for 30 + years and am finished with this racist radical product. I would only reconsider with lebron out of the league and major changes to the league.
i’m late here but don’t forget fishing and hunting ……… i found watching the bass tournaments far more fun than the nba or nfl ……. until they get back on track that’s my entertainment. only miss the good guys though.
“If I don’t speak out, I’m am not my authentic self,” argues the NBA players. They arrogantly believe fans should respect them for their politics. If I’m my authentic self at work, I’ll wear a MAGA hat; and I’ll be shown the door in about 30 seconds. Few workplaces allow authenticity.
And how do you justify authenticity in the U.S. and silent compliance in China? Mark Cuban says you serve the customer — you do what the market will bear. That allows the NBA to openly condemn the U.S. and turn a blind eye to the horrors of Chinese “inhuman” rights.
James Harden: “We love China.” LeBron James: In the US, “we’re hunted every day.”