Would a Raptors vs Thunder finals help or hurt the NBA?

[imdaman99]

Bad for ratings, but good that a new team will win. Everyone goes into the playoffs picking a certain few teams being the only teams capable of winning a championship. This year it was Cleveland in the East while Warriors and Spurs in the West. Everyone penciled those teams in as the only 'true' title contenders. This will remind everyone that a team can get hot and go all the way just like the Mavericks did 5 years back.

[miggyme1]

Bad for ratings, but good that a new team will win. Everyone goes into the playoffs picking a certain few teams being the only teams capable of winning a championship. This year it was Cleveland in the East while Warriors and Spurs in the West. Everyone penciled those teams in as the only 'true' title contenders. This will remind everyone that a team can get hot and go all the way just like the Mavericks did 5 years back.

yet the mavs had the second best record in the west that year. smh.....I cant believe people still believe that the mavs somehow overcame some type of odds and just Got hot. They played great basketball that whole season now its the viewers fault if they didn't deem the mavs worthy of a ship that year. I wasn't shocked at all about the mavs success...I was shocked about them sweeping the lakers but the lakers was kinda looking like a team on cruise control that IMO overlooked the mavs and by the time they started taking the mvas seriously it was game 3 in dallas and yea....

[imdaman99]

yet the mavs had the second best record in the west that year. smh.....I cant believe people still believe that the mavs somehow overcame some type of odds and just Got hot. They played great basketball that whole season now its the viewers fault if they didn't deem the mavs worthy of a ship that year. I wasn't shocked at all about the mavs success...I was shocked about them sweeping the lakers but the lakers was kinda looking like a team on cruise control that IMO overlooked the mavs and by the time they started taking the mvas seriously it was game 3 in dallas and yea....

I wasn't insulting the Mavs I was just saying, no one (ok fine, very few) expected the run.
Everyone had the Lakers and Spurs penciled in the WCFs because I think the Spurs were the 1st seed and the Lakers were going for a Phil Jackson special 3peat

[bdreason]

Do the Cavs have a larger fan-base than the Raptors? Remember, the Raptors represent an entire Country.

[r0drig0lac]

true nba fans will watch anyway

[FreezingTsmoove]

This hurts the NBA:

[kamil]

Watching Toronto getting molested would be really really boring

But Cleveland just got molested TWICE by this team you hate so much...

Are you in denial?

[nba_55]

USA ratings would be lower, but it wouldn't hurt NBA's popularity in the grand scheme of things.

[knicksman]

It will help in the long run. Coz that means that the league is serious in repairing its integrity

[kamil]

It will help in the long run. Coz that means that the league is serious in repairing its integrity

Adam Silver and the other suit wearing co[COLOR="Black"]c[/COLOR]kbags don't give a f[COLOR="black"]u[/COLOR]ck about integrity, lol. It's all about ratings, advertising and MONEY.

[Optimus Prime]

Terrible for ratings, but I would love it.

Then again, LeBron stans would be like, "But he's not 2/7 doe!" even those his super stacked team failed to make the Finals in the dumpster fire called the Least.

So I don't know. Almost better that LeBron goes 2/7 to further trash his legacy.

[Foster5k]

Here's the cold hard truth....

The Raptors are irrelevant. The casual NBA fan wants to see LeBron in the Finals. The casual NBA fan represents the majority of NBA fans.

Love him or hate him, the LeBron saga has carried the league these past years. Without LeBron, the popularity of the league wouldn't be as great as it is now. People love drama and LeBron brings it. The whole leaving Cleveland and turning heel by going to Miami was huge for the league. The going home story was huge.

The NBA needs LeBron more than they need the Raptors. However we may feel about LeBron James, he's the bigger story going into the finals. The Raptors are just another obscure team that people will forget and couldn't care less about, outside of Toronto.

If the Raptors make the Finals, which I highly doubt, the story will still be about Lebron James. It will not be about the Raptors making the Finals.

And, that's the cold hard truth.

[Legends66NBA7]

Here's the cold hard truth....

The Raptors are irrelevant. The casual NBA fan wants to see LeBron in the Finals. The casual NBA fan represents the majority of NBA fans.


Love him or hate him, the LeBron saga has carried the league these past years. Without LeBron, the popularity of the league wouldn't be as great as it is now. People love drama and LeBron brings it. The whole leaving Cleveland and turning heel by going to Miami was huge for the league. The going home story was huge.

The NBA needs LeBron more than they need the Raptors. However we may feel about LeBron James, he's the bigger story going into the finals. The Raptors are just another obscure team that people will forget and couldn't care less about, outside of Toronto.

If the Raptors make the Finals, which I highly doubt, the story will still be about Lebron James. It will not be about the Raptors making the Finals.

And, that's the cold hard truth.

All the more reason for the Raptors to make the finals.

Pretty sure a multi-billion dollar league will still survive without a LeBron finals.

[dazzer87]

will probably be the worst rating ever....next to 2007 spurs vs cavs.

[FLDFSU]

Refs will do their best to get GSW and Lebron in the finals. You watch. Silver is a slimy c[COLOR="Black"]u[/COLOR]nt.

You guys are the funniest people. I remember a couple of years ago the NBA could have had a NY MIA LAC OKC Final Four...

We ended up with IND MIA SAS OKC Final Four...

In the deciding game 6 of Indy-NYK, the Pacers went to the free throw line 50 times more than the Knicks.

In what universe does the NBA prefer Indy over NYC? Or the Spurs over the Clippers?

Give it a rest.