Amidst issues of viewership decline and criticism over being too political, entrepreneur and podcast host Patrick Bet-David has one person to blame for all of this: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
One of the biggest issues of the BA since the start of the 2024-2025 season is the decline in viewership, both on broadcast and in ticket sales. Even the recently concluded NBA Cup Finals, where the Milwaukeee Bucks emerged victorious, the league saw a 10% drop in viewership compared to 2023’s numbers.
In one of the recent episodes of the PBD Podcast, Bet-David blamed commissioner Adam Silver for the viewership woes of the league, comparing him to David Stern, the previous commissioner, who served in office for 30 years.
“By the way Adam Silver [I have a] message for you: this falls on you,” Bet-David said. “You know why? David Stern was a great commissioner. Under David Stern we watched the game. Under you you’re okay with an owner talking like this, with a coach talking like this?”
Bet-David was referring to the recent comments of San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who openly criticized Donald Trump over Kamala Harris in a post-game interview.
He went on to compare Silver to Stern, placing the latter at a higher position than the current commissioner.
“David Stern was not just a lawyer, he was not just a commissioner, but he was a leader you are not a leader, Adam,” he went on. “You’re a nice guy who’s afraid to put his foot down and fix this. You want me to hear this b******t? Get the f*** out, no we’re not watching this. Adam Silver, it’s on you.”
PBD Blames Adam Silver: “Zero Interest” in Watching Games
Blaming commissioner Adam Silver for the decline of not only the viewership but the overall quality of the NBA, PBD praised the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for doing a better job with his league.
“Shout out to [Roger] Goodell for getting rid of all the b******t they had in 2017 and allowing us to watch a football game today. Shout out to them to MLB,” Bet-David said. “It’s a shame what happened to the product of the NBA, Adam.”
Bet-David also expressed his disappointment on how much he felt the league has changed, which he now describes as something he has “zero” interest in.
“This is how much interest I got in watching the game today, see how much that is? Zero.”
Adam Silver has been the commissioner of the NBA since February 2014.
For more sports content:
Follow us @HardwoodHeroics for your NBA and college basketball reading fix. You can reach out to Dan Agulto through email at papadanph@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
