The Los Angeles Lakers star deleted the tweet amid backlash, saying he took the missive down because it was “being used to create more hate.”
This week Outkick summarized the NBA’s ratings problems cited by Trump (excerpt):
“Self-inflicted wounds are purposely ignored until they can’t be. For the NBA, that moment is inching closer. Coming into the 2020-21 season, NBA games on ABC — the league’s most important partner — were down 45% since 2011-12. On cable, it’s only slightly less damning. NBA broadcasts on TNT were down 40% and 20% on ESPN. To stick with more recent trends, the past two NBA Finals crashed to double-digit declines, with the most recent falling down 51% to an all-time record low. Last season’s NBA on ABC games fit that same category, recording the lowest average (2.95 million) on record…”