LeBron James has undeniably dominated the NBA for more than two decades, securing four NBA championships, four MVP awards, and a record 13 All-NBA First Team selections. Not only has he excelled in the game itself, but he’s also significantly influenced its dynamics. However, despite his remarkable success on and off the court, entrepreneur, author, and YouTuber Patrick Bet-David holds a controversial view.

According to the New York Yankees owner, James’ “divisive” political ideology is to blame for the NBA’s recent decline in viewership. As a result, he considers players like Giannis Antetokounmpo as better representatives of the league due to their Michael Jordan and Tom Brady-esque persona.

Should Giannis be the face of the league instead?

In a recent episode of his podcast Valuetainment, Patrick Bet-David stated that James makes the NBA “unattractive to watch, unattractive to follow” because of his political preferences. Although James has been the face of the league for two decades, he believes that the league would be better represented by players like Giannis Antetokounmpo. “LeBron James is a divisive face of the NBA. When you think about a face of the NBA, you know who you want? You want somebody like a Giannis [Antetokounmpo]. You want a [Tom] Brady. You want a Michael [Jordan]. You want a Kobe [Bryant],” said David.

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PBD supported his assertions by citing Michael Jordan’s actions. The Hall of Famer had contributed $1 million to both the Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. His donations were intended to foster better relations between law enforcement officers and civilians. “That’s the premier example…LeBron could never ever,” added Bet-David. So, is James responsible for hurting the NBA ratings, as PBD claims?

Is James the reason for the NBA’s plummeting viewership?

In a recent tweet, David highlighted the difference in viewership between the NFL and the NBA. As per the statistics, the NFL draws more viewers in one game than the NBA does in five combined. On this Christmas Day, the NFL hosted three games, which garnered a staggering 28.47 million views. On the other hand, the NBA also had a full slate of five games but struggled to generate an average viewership of 2.88 million views.

However, despite these alarming statistics, PBD’s criticism of James seems unwarranted. Throughout LeBron’s consecutive eight-season run of NBA Finals appearances with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers, each game drew in an audience of over 14 million viewers.

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Even though the 2020 NBA Finals had a lower average viewership than both the 2021 NBA Finals and the 2022 NBA Finals, it is important to consider that the 2020 NBA season was different due to the pandemic, which contributed to fluctuations in the NBA’s ratings.

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What are your thoughts on these statements? Let us know in the comments!