Frankly, I don't care, and haven't watched a single NBA game in the past five years (I admit this). Back in the 1980s.....I probably watched sixty to seventy games every year (that includes the champion series). At some point toward the 1990s...I started to lose interest, and this grew every single season.
So I'll go and suggest these five things occurring as we enter the next NBA season:
1. Viewership on TV marginally returns.
2. Owners start to have round-table meetings to discuss the way to recover. Certain behavioral issues with the players will be topic number one.
3. At least two teams will be on the sell-list, and active interest from China will occur....in bringing the teams there.
4. I don't expect much recovery on numbers for the next season's round in the championship series and viewers.
5. Finally, several players looking for new contracts will find limited interest in long-term contracts, or high-pay deals. Owners won't engage in big conversations over this issue.
So I'll go to the main topic....the TV contract is the only thing holding the league to a profitable brand. When this contract ends....there's trouble brewing. Oddly enough, a Chinese TV contract might actually save the league.