Stephen A., First Take Trying to Push NBA Over Big NFL Weekend

In the media, Fridays during the football season are known as "Football Fridays," as they give sports programs a full topic-sheet of games to preview. You'd think this past Friday, it would have been embraced fully. The country needed an escape from the anxiety-spreading election, and Week 9 has more significant games than a fan can keep up with. Yet, the face of ESPN, Stephen A. Smith, and First Take were not interested in the marquee football weekend. They've pivoted fully to the NBA.

On social media, Stephen A. ignored viewers and decided the NBA was the only topic that mattered. Instead of Cowboys-Steelers, Antonio Brown's return, Patrick Mahomes, Seahawks-Bills, Ravens-Colts, Brady-Brees, and Tua-Kyler — First Take previewed the upcoming NBA season.

Here's a look at Stephen A's last five sports tweets:

Just what every sports fan was thinking after Aaron Rodgers put on a show and before Tom Brady and Drew Brees could face off for the final time: LeBron vs. MJ, dethroning the Lakers, and the Rockets' new coach. No wonder First Take only drew 233,000 viewers on Thursday (Friday's viewership is not out yet).

The show's staff may have even forgotten the NFL season is ongoing. Its last six tweets were either about the past NBA season or the upcoming; including these yawners:

Aside from its decision to compete with MSNBC in the race for the most radical left-wing network on TV, ESPN's constant desire to push the NBA over the NFL is why it has turned viewers away.

In short, on the day to preview arguably the best football weekend of the season, Stephen A. and First Take sent a middle finger to the sports world with redundant, low-level NBA topics.

The NBA season ended on October 11, the next season begins on December 22. Who could possibly care on November 6? And based on last seasons' ratings, the answer is very few.

The NBA Finals tanked to historical lows, setting record-low after record-low. Its Finals games, led by LeBron James, couldn't even beat LSC baseball and regular-season college football. By contrast, the NFL, with some games that triple the 2020 Finals viewership, is growing after an expected small early-season drop.

Good time for another sports network to benefit from this boneheaded decision-making.

Maybe Stephen A. is trying to get a job on CCTV?