The president has warned the league – and the NFL – against player protests. But how much political action affects viewership is unclear
With the presidential election only two months away, the occupant of the White House appeared consumed on Tuesday by the shifting numbers and what they portend for the weeks ahead. The NBA viewership numbers, that is.
“Basketball ratings are WAY down, and they won’t be coming back,” Donald Trump thundered on Twitter. Last Friday, two days after three playoff games were postponed when Milwaukee Bucks players decided not to play in protest at the shooting by police of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Wisconsin, the president warned reporters that political activism “is gonna destroy basketball”.
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