Ratings Say America Missed Non-Woke Basketball

Last week, more viewers tuned into the NBA playoffs first round than at any time since 2014. Media personalities like Darren Rovell claim that this NBA rebound debunks OutKick's coverage that the NBA had been in serious decline the past four seasons, when in fact it proves just how accurate we have been. As we first guessed before the start of the playoffs, the NBA postseason surged in ratings because the on-court product regained superiority over the woke messaging that sank the NBA to record lows the last few years. There's no LeBron James this postseason to overshadow the game with his post-game comments and tweets about law enforcement and the state of the country. A painting in honor of the political organization Black Lives Matter is no longer on the court. And broadcast partners TNT and ESPN are not taking time away from the game to discuss the racial reckoning of the country. And though the relationship between the NBA and China remains, it is not promoted during the tournament. "It’s amazing how that works. You abandon the woke bullshit and fans reward you," Clay Travis tweeted about the ratings. A YouGov / Yahoo News poll found that nearly half of the country changed its sports viewing habits once political and social messaging began to spread across the NBA. The data says that three times as many Americans watched sports less often than those who watched them more often. As Fox & Friends co-host Will Cain astutely observed to OutKick last year that Americans love basketball. They just don't love woke basketball. Based on the ratings, it seems as though a third of viewers abandoned the NBA during its woke phase but have since returned now that it's over, indicating that they never stopped loving the league, just the constant social justice lecturing. Some viewers are now seeing young stars like Ja Morant, Luka Dončić and Devin Booker for the first time. And they like what they see. Not bad, huh? So clearly unwoking works. Perhaps other brands that self-destructed in response to COVID and BLM will get the hint that Americans don't like to be told they are racist, privileged, uninformed and maybe a bit transphobic. Hope is not lost for award shows, late-night comedy, CNN, Hollywood, and Disney. Okay, maybe it's too late for Disney. But there's hope for the others. The NBA decided to entertain its fans this postseason with actual basketball, not soapbox speeches about systemic racism. And it worked. Who knew it could be that simple? Besides OutKick, of course.