The Denver Nuggets were the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed almost from the jump this season. Their best player, two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, is probably the best basketball player in the world.
And yet, for whatever reason, it felt like the Nuggets and Jokic winning the Western Conference was a surprise. That this team of “equals” was almost an underdog to the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Lakers. According to ESPN analyst J.J. Redick, this is a coverage problem of the NBA’s top teams and stars, and the league is first to blame.
On Tuesday, after Jokic and the Nuggets humbled Anthony Davis and Co. in a resounding sweep to earn their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals, the First Take crew discussed the ramifications of both the Lakers and Boston Celtics being swept in the Conference Finals.
This main point — that the NBA needed two of its historic marquee teams in the Finals simply for ratings — frustrated Redick. His ensuing rant on proper marketing was more than appropriate:
"We don't do a good job of selling what the NBA is which is 30 teams, 450 players, multiple superstars. The fact that people are now being like, 'Oh, I didn't realize Nikola Jokic was good.' Let's put him on TV more! Let's talk about him!"
— JJ Redickpic.twitter.com/7eLHQ8GS9i
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 23, 2023
What a pristine rant. Please, no one, don’t take away Redick’s soapbox. It wouldn’t be a “problem” for the NBA that two of its most popular teams could get swept if it made more of an effort to put players and squads that earn the pedestal instead.
Right now, that is Jokic’s Nuggets. If the NBA tried selling them better, like putting them on national TV more, many of these “issues” would never arise. No one should be surprised that Jokic and the Nuggets are in the Finals, in position for their first-ever title, after the stellar season they just had.
And if they are, it’s the NBA’s fault.