The NBA Finals are supposed to be the most important games of the year. It’s the culmination of a grueling nine-month season, highlighted by the league’s two best teams going head-to-head in a thrilling seven-game series. Yet, Adam Silver and Co. have constantly failed to bring a big-game feel to the encounter. No added theatrics, same old team courts, and a dull broadcast setup. The fans want more. They deserve more. And their backlash has finally led to NBA and ESPN surrendering to their demands.

Ahead of Monday’s Game 5, NBA announced that they would be adding the pregame starting lineup introductions to their ESPN/ABC broadcast. It was a welcome change as the hyped in-arena introductions of superstars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton in front of a roaring OKC crowd gave their clash a big-game feel. Moreover, this was the first time NBA has broadcasted player introduction at the Finals since 2013.

Apart from this initiative, there was also an effort to address the issue of lacking NBA Finals decals. While the league did not add physical Finals logo on center court for Pacers vs OKC games, they added digitally superimposed Larry O’Brien trophy decals during the broadcast for the viewers at home. Unfortunately, due to their lack of preparation, the digital logos were low quality and garnered harsh criticism from fans. However, Adam Silver and Co.’s effort to make these slight adjustments to please the fans shows that they are willing to take criticism and improve.

Sure, NBA still has a long way to go in the process of making their NBA Finals presentation top notch. Comparing it to the in-season tournament, which has much lower stakes yet gets customized team courts equipped with the latest technology, fans expect similar preparation from the league for the June games. However, their mid-series effort seems like a step in the right direction, and media veterans Rob Perez and Frank Isola commended them for it.

NBA garners praise from veteran insiders after effort to improve OKC vs Pacers Finals broadcast

It’s great to see that Silver embraced the criticism and decided to do something about it instead of shying away. So, media veteran Rob Perez was pleased with his effort for the OKC vs Pacers series, “It does not take a genius to realize the most controversial trending Twitter topics about players were discussed on the broadcast, and the most viral complaints regarding the game presentation’s lack of pageantry were remedied the very next game. I certainly commend the NBA for keeping the feedback line open and acting on what their fans desire.”

However, NBA’s quick fix to the fans’ backlash also had Perez a bit worried, “Worry that they can be so easily influenced by a small, loud faction. The Board of Governors’ vote was obviously an exaggeration, but maybe an ambassador to Secaucus is not out of the question to streamline communication between the viewers and the business.” Meanwhile, another media mogul Frank Isola also had good things to say about the league’s effort, “People like the player introductions. It gives the games a big feel. This was the one time where the pressure from social media has been good. Because it certainly influences how these teams and the league are covered.”

Well, if NBA wants to compete with premiere sports events like the Super Bowl and the World Series, they need to do a lot more than what they did this year. Hopefully, they will be more prepared next season and will not require fans’ backlash to fix the glaring issues. What changes do you think they should make?