The NBA Has Lost Its Way: Tanking, Threes, and Lost Rivalries are Killing the League

Endless questionable calls.

Alarming number of three-point shots.

An all-star game that has seen endless rebranding.

Outright losing.

The NBA…in 2026.

As we transition into the late 2020s, the NBA is so far off from its once golden era. That era where Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan and the Bad Boy Pistons reigned supreme. Where Dominique Wilkins took flight. Where a young Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway pulled an expansion team from obscurity. Where a young Kobe Bryant laced his sneakers on a purple and gold floor, that seemed made for him. Where Vince Carter had us all thinking a basketball was made for just his hands.

That era of basketball has been relegated to the dusty archives. Packed away into cardboard boxes of VCR tapes.

What has led to this shift in how the NBA is perceived? What has led to the decline in viewership?

There are five reasons why the product has declined in the way that it has.

1.      Tanking. That word the NBA execs and Adam Silver have wished never made it to the NBA lexicon. The outright losses by numerous teams have become laughable. The Washington Wizards, the Utah Jazz, the Memphis Grizzlies…pretty much any team that finds themselves at the bottom of the league has become synonymous with losing on purpose. For whatever reason, losing to get a better chance at winning the draft lottery has made losing almost feel acceptable. But…it’s not. It destroys the credibility of the league and the product on the floor suffers incredibly. Teams call it planning. What it really is, is shafting paying fans. Overpriced popcorn and hotdogs don’t make up for that.

2.      Three-point shooting. What Stephen Curry did for the basketball game is unmatched. One look at the Golden State Warriors now…. enough said. The problem is that everyone thinks they are Steph Curry. The thing that made Curry great was that his efficiency was high. You expected him to make the shot and most certainly, 99% of the time, he did. Now, three-point shots clank off the basketball hoop at such a rate that they become memes on social media. It has turned the NBA into a caricature of itself. A line up drill. Not a game at all.

3.      Gambling. The latest gambling scandal that involved Chauncey Billups and the mob was just another thing that the NBA couldn’t afford today. Which was more startling? Billups, a Pistons legend being at the helm? The mob still be such a dominating force in 2025? Or a combination of the two? Often, questionable calls lead to NBA fans questioning the legitimacy of the game. Yet another gambling scandal did nothing to lighten the casual fan’s mood on that stance. Every league is in the betting network. The NBA doesn’t shy away from that reality. But the shock and awe from the Chauncey Billups scandal could seem to most people exaggerated. The NBA really didn’t think money could be exchanged illegally? That is the cost of being in a partnership with betting networks. And with that brings the cost of a causal fan crafting conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory.

4.      The players. The NBA is probably the most player driven league in American sports. The players themselves dictate the brands they attach themselves to and the causes they support. In a lot of ways, the players’ reach is a good thing, especially when it comes to social injustices, but when it is problematic it is when loyalty to a team turns upside down. Winning has been at the cost of loyalty. Kevin Durant, for all his greatness, will go into the Hall of Fame one day. But it is highly unlikely a team will ever retire his number because of the vast number of teams that he has been on. And nobody will ever forget the press conference Lebron James did to go to Miami. Leaving Cleveland, in that way, left many Cavaliers fans yelling at the top of their lungs. Staying with one team seems to be a lost art. A player’s loyalty costs a fan’s loyalty, and the league has suffered for it.

5.      The NBA needs its next big star. The reality is that Lebron James could retire next year. Steph Curry has only so many seasons left. And the NBA has yet to find its next face of the league. Luka? Wemby? Shai? Anthony Edwards? Cade Cunningham? There are plenty of choices but somehow, things have not aligned the way the NBA would like. When Michael Jordan was at the top of his game, everyone wanted to see him. His allure pulled everyone in. Good or bad. Same with Kobe. Same with Shaq.  But now? Who do the next generation of basketball fans want to be like? Mold their game after? And who can transcend the game like many before them? A question with no definitive answer.

Basketball is an international sport. No more proof of that than the number of international players in the league currently. All you need is some version of a ball, a hard surface and something to throw the ball in. Basketball brings people together, puts friends on opposite sides of the court and then brings them back together again with a simple handshake. On the edge of the night sky, under the stars, a kid could dream of the day when they make a game winning shot, or they could hoist a shining trophy. At the edge of a sidewalk, a kid could wait to cross the street to a gymnasium that could change their lives. Basketball is a sport that changes lives. To love the game, is to love it. Is the NBA still worthy of people’s love?

New York Knick fans have probably been on edge all season. After firing their coach in the offseason, the Knicks hired Mike Brown and had only one request. Win. Win it all. While the team has been on somewhat of a rollercoaster ride this season, some of the team’s most anticipated games have been the ones played against the Detroit Pistons. Those pesky Detroit Pistons who made life difficult for the Knicks in last year’s playoffs. Those Pistons who have a budding star in Cade Cunningham but still embody the word team. Even as Knicks fans have watched their team not fare well against the Pistons, there has been one thing that is apparent. Those games are what the NBA used to be. Defensive. Hard hitting.

Physical. No love lost between the teams. Watching the games, you would almost think the teams did not care for each other, even in good sportsmanship. In any way. What the NBA used to be like all the time. There was respect but there was no interest in being best friends with each other. The competitiveness was at an all-time high. Those are what the Pistons/Knicks games are. A small semblance of what used to be.

Somewhere along the way, the NBA lost its way. It stopped at the stop sign, in the middle of the desert and took a hard turn. Somehow landing in the middle of the sand, next to a cactus. Long past its prime. What any remaining NBA fan could ask for is that the league finds its way. The NFL will continue to be a well-oiled machine. Baseball could be in for a strike season in 2027 and even with its current momentum, hockey still struggles to break away from the pack. The NBA still has an opportunity.

The in-season tournament won’t save it. The revamped All-Star game won’t save it. The endless gimmicks won’t save it. Those numerous ideas can go back on the shelf. What can save the NBA from declining any farther is for them to realize that basketball is something you can’t just throw money at. If throwing money at the problem could fix it, then all problems in life could be fixed that way.

The NBA doesn’t need gimmick basketball courts, fancy sponsorships and multicolored confetti.

The NBA needs to find its love for the game again; the game is created out of love and dedication. Doesn’t it get lonely in the desert? Once the mirage fades away, what will the league have to show for itself?

The teams that lose on purpose? Give them the consequences they deserve. No draft lottery or anything. Since gambling isn’t going away, run a tighter ship and create a formidable system. Make the three-point line less accessible. Let the players still have their say but make it a partnership and not one way or another. The owners don’t deserve all the say either. Find the next face of the league or let him find you. Make it happen now.

The NBA needs to find its way out of the desert and find its way back home.

Before it’s too late.