Why is Basketball Culture a world major source of influence?
It is a well-known fact that sport, music, and all types of arts are factors in creating the culture that we share throughout the world, even if depending on where we live or what we are passionate about, we are more or less inclined to be impacted by certain types of influences. Still, I strongly believe that the basketball culture represented by the NBA and its players is growing and inspiring a lot of people, and this is even happening far from the US borders. In this article, I will demonstrate why it is happening and how much impact basketball has in determining the world culture we share.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) among the best sports leagues in the world:
Sports leagues are big business, which are generating a lot of revenue, and in this business American leagues are at the top, with the NFL (American football) having generated more than $16 billion in revenue in 2018, followed by the MLB (baseball) with $10.3 billion, and the NBA (basketball) with $8 billion. These numbers show us that the European Soccer leagues, which include the Premier League (Great Britain) and La Liga (Spain), are far behind the American Sports with €5.7 billion and €4.8 billion respectively.
Even though the NBA generated less revenue than the NFL, it’s still: “number one when it comes to the most followed American teams”[1], with the first six teams in the ranking, including the Los Angeles Lakers at number one. However, European soccer teams such as Real Madrid (Spain) and PSG (France) make the NBA teams number of followers look small. Using Instagram as an example, where Real Madrid has 86.5 million followers and the Los Angeles Lakers have only 13.3 million, shows that soccer’s fans are dominant, and there is no doubt that this is due to the fact that soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Despite the clear supremacy from soccer teams in terms of followers, as a league, the NBA is leading in numbers across the different social media platforms in comparison with any other league on the planet. (NBA followers: Instagram: 47.5 million; Twitter: 30.4 million; Tik Tok: 10.5 million)
The numbers of NBA followers clearly prove that the NBA fan base is growing, which increases its ability to broadcast content that will be seen and impacts a larger amount of people than other dominant sports leagues around the world. Furthermore, the average NBA television viewer is 37 years old, while the average audience of other American sports leagues are 47 years old for the NFL and 53 years old for MLB. This means that the NBA strategy of letting its content flow through the Internet and not restricting view as much as other leagues are paying off with a younger audience watching NBA games and consuming its highlights on social media. This young audience is good news for the NBA, but it is not the only reason to be optimistic about the future of basketball.
The NBA, and basketball becoming more and more global:
Building interest and having worldwide visibility is not easy, but the NBA is creating a huge international community of support. Basketball is a sport played everywhere, which means that talent is coming from different countries and the NBA is definitely more and more open to international players. Following the path drawn by some of the greatest international players ever, including Vlade Divac, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Yao Ming, Manu Ginobili, Steve Nash, etc., a new wave of talent is arising and continue to demonstrate that international players can be really successful in the NBA. Last season’s MVP was Giannis Antetoukompo from Greece, and in addition three of the four players who won 2018–19 Kia NBA Performance Awards were foreign: “Luka Dončić (Kia NBA Rookie of the Year; Dallas Mavericks; Slovenia), Pascal Siakam (Kia NBA Most Improved Player; Toronto Raptors; Cameroon) and Rudy Gobert (Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year; Utah Jazz; France).” It is not surprising that starting the 2019–20 season NBA franchises included 108 international players from 38 countries and territories, which is: “more than four times the 24 international players on opening-night rosters for the 1994–95 season 25 years ago.” [1]
Therefore, this evolution is giving the opportunity to international fans who can identify themselves with players coming from the same part of the world. As a French basketball player, I grew up watching highlights from Tony Parker, or games where Boris Diaw, Joakim Noah, or Mickael Pietrus were playing and feeling in a certain way connected to them. That’s why kids from Slovenia are probably feeling the same way watching Luka Doncic and Goran Dragic, or kids from Cameroon watching Pascal Siakam or Joel Embiid.
Playing in the best basketball league in the world allows those players to represent their country and culture while bringing their stories and personality to the NBA. By being in the league, international players are becoming ambassadors, and are helping to build a strong basketball culture all over the planet. On top of that, the Basketball Without Borders (BWB): “is the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program that has seen 69 former campers drafted into the NBA or signed as free agents since 2001.”[2] Naturally, these kinds of programs have a bigger purpose than just developing NBA players. For instance, the BWB mission statement is: “unites young basketball players to promote the sport and encourage positive social change in the areas of education, health, and wellness.”[3]
Basketball culture is expanding all around the world, and the NBA becoming global is without a doubt the reason for it. I am under the impression that other established basketball leagues in the world are also benefiting from this cultural awareness by getting more visibility.
In fact, we should not forget that basketball has one of the highest numbers of professional leagues in the world, with countries such as China, Turkey, Spain, and Australia having major basketball leagues contributing to the outreach to new fans and spread of basketball erudition. All of this has resulted in basketball’s popularity growing exponentially in places like the Philippines, Lithuania, Puerto Rico, and China.
Chinese are in love with basketball:
The most striking example of basketball’s growth is in the world’s most populous country, where: “basketball is a massive business and the NBA’s fanbase has grown. […] According to the league: more than 300 million people in China play basketball. Meanwhile, the NBA is the most followed sports league on social media with more than 150 million followers.”[4] The possibilities for basketball seem endless with this enormous Chinese passion for the game. The best basketball league is aware of the love and will continue to build a strong relationship with its fanbase and keep investing to satisfy the market. Indeed the NBA has several partnerships with Chinese companies like Tencent, or the app WeChat, and even Alibaba, which was announced in March 2019: “NBA game highlights, original programming, and classic NBA games will be offered to nearly 700 million consumers across Alibaba’s platforms.”[5] These kinds of partnerships are offering opportunities to the NBA of sharing content and creating more interactions with Chinese citizens, which increase basketball popularity in China.
For this reason, I can’t help but think that if two superpower nations such as the U.S. and China are embracing basketball as one of their favorite sports, there is no doubt that the trends and ideas that will be shared by NBA players will have worldwide resonance.
Players are producing content and sharing experiences:
As the Internet fame and social media evolve, athletes are producing content at a scale we have never seen before. By using social media, athletes are able to spread their ideas or opinions and record everything they want to share with their community. I believe NBA players are doing a great job using all the different platforms and broadcasting valuable content online, which then is enabling people to get a better understanding of the life that they are living and their story. For instance, LeBron James does not hesitate to share the camera with his children. His older son, known as Bronny, is now famous on social networks with around 5,8 million followers on Instagram, and we can also see that his Tik Tok account has a couple of videos with more than 10 million views.
Moreover, I have the feeling that players are not hesitating to talk about different topics such as business, gaming, fashion, or wine. Plenty of them have their own YouTube channel; Lebron James with Uninterrupted, Kevin Durant with The Board, and Stephen Curry with Stephen Curry are examples of the player’s desires to not only have an impact on the court but also performing off the court within the media sphere. Another great example is happening during the Coronavirus pandemic, with NBA players communicating through social media and participating in different interviews or activities like the NBA 2K players tournament, where 16 NBA players including Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Patrick Beverley are gaming against each other while the game was streamed and then broadcasted on NBA and ESPN’s YouTube channels; in the meantime, other players are competing in a “HORSE” game by recording difficult shots they are trying to make. Hence, in my view, the NBA and its players are proving they are able to keep entertaining fans, even during these quarantine times.
On top of that, young basketball prospects are also contributing to the basketball culture and are benefiting from media exposure. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that college sports are huge in the U.S. Every university has its own basketball team composed of elite players and many future professional players. The college sport’s soul is special, with students and local communities feeling connected to the players for which some of them are locally grown and are really proud to represent their university. Games are held on college campuses, and the gameday experience, with its traditions of tailgating and barbeque, in addition to parties before and after the game, is unique.
That’s why college basketball’s Division 1 is broadcasted on television, and its annual March Madness tournament is one of the most existing events of the year for millions of Americans. In 2017, “the title game aired on CBS (North Carolina beat Gonzaga) averaged 23 million viewers.” [6] This explains why: “from 2011 to 2032, CBS /Turner will pay $19.6 billion for the TV/streaming rights.” [7] This kind of exposure on national television is for some of the young talented players, a way for them to gain visibility and use this recognition to spread ideas and trends to all their fans. We can also see that high school basketball is becoming more popular, and some games are also broadcasted on television. Media outlets such as ESPN, and YouTube channels such as SLAM, Overtime, or Bleacher Report are making documentaries and videos about the daily life of these young athletes and are creating storytelling around them. For example, the stories of the Ball brothers (Lonzo, LiAngelo, and LaMelo Ball) and phenom’s like Zion Williamson and Trae Young are entertaining. Therefore, young kids are able to identify with these future superstars and have dreams of watching young athletes trying to succeed and building their path to the NBA.
Great Leaders collaborating within the NBA:
When we are talking about a culture, and spreading ideas and values around the planet, you need leaders to carry them and execute them. I believe that players like Lebron James and Stephen Curry are definitely leaders, but they are not the only ones. Adam Silver has been a leader since he became NBA commissioner in 2014, and has had many accomplishments, starting with the rapid growth of the NBA’s franchises: “Franchise values of the 30 NBA clubs have risen fivefold, from an estimated $12 billion when Silver took over to $60 billion now.”[8] This growth is a result of a great collaboration with owners of franchises like Mark Cuban, Michael Jordan, or Steve Balmer.
Indeed, the NBA ownership groups are mainly composed of owners with backgrounds in tech and investment or management. An example of this is Mark Cuban, who owns the Dallas Mavericks. He is a billionaire and has had a lot of success in the tech and entertainment industry. So has Vivek Ranadivé, who owns the Sacramento Kings and is the founder of Tibco, a global corporation among the leaders in data science and machine learning. So, I am of the opinion that the collaboration between those businessmen and the league, will benefit the technological and entertainment development of the NBA. Moreover, Adam Silver seems to have a great relationship with the NBA players, and listening to Chris Paul, who is the president of the National Basketball Players Association, answering a question about the Coronavirus situation, saying: “shout out to Adam, he actually communicates with us”[9], demonstrates how attentive Adam Silver is to the player’s opinions.
Michael Jordan:
Obviously, we have to talk about Michael Jordan and what he means to the game. Michael Jordan is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time, and his name will always be linked with the game of basketball. Jordan as a player was a superstar and became a legend when he retired from his NBA career with six rings as an NBA champion.
Then, his collaboration with Nike, helped him built one of the most iconic sports brand and sneaker brand in the world. ESPN’s recent documentary “The Last Dance”, is showing how the Chicago Bulls not only became the best basketball team in the world but also how Michael Jordan transformed into a global icon. So, like Barack Obama said in the last episode of the documentary: “He became an extraordinary ambassador not just for basketball but for the United States, overseas. It’s part of the American culture sweeping the globe. Michael Jordan and the Bulls changed the culture.”
Artists collaborating with the basketball world:
Lastly, the NBA is also a place where artists such as the iconic Spike Lee, Drake, and Jay Z bring their passion and personalities to games and even invest in NBA franchises. You probably saw Drake during last year’s NBA finals supporting the Toronto Raptors and being the “6th man” as his favorite team was winning its first NBA title. For me, there is no doubt that the hype surrounding the NBA finals wouldn’t have been the same without Drake sitting courtside.
That’s why I believe those artists are also contributing to the growing worldwide basketball culture and are creating awareness and attention around it. The NBA is even encouraging artists to be a part of its culture with things like the annual Celebrity Game during All-Star weekend, as well as partnerships involving design and fashion. Recently a new partnership between Bleacher Report, the NBA, and Mitchell & Ness has announced: “Those worlds collide with the launch of Bleacher Report’s NBA Remix Collection limited-edition apparel line.” And the collaboration “features iconic hip-hop artists reimagining their hometown NBA team’s logos and uniform designs for a line of jerseys, T-shirts, hoodies, shorts, hats. […] including some of the biggest names in hip-hop: Future (for Atlanta Hawks), Schoolboy Q (for Los Angeles Lakers), Big Sean (for Detroit Pistons), DJ Khaled (for Miami Heat).” [10]
This mix of hip-hop culture and basketball is very interesting and important for generating new trends and tendencies that will be followed by large groups of fans around the world, which according to Guy Hilton, Global Marketing & Collaborations Director of Mitchell & Ness: “naturally compliments the culture of sports and entertainment.”
To conclude, in my point of view the NBA has a great strategy of business development by becoming more and more global and focusing on generating entertainment around the league. It seems that the use of social media platforms and the large amount of content produced around the game is helping expand the awareness around basketball. So, without a doubt, the positive synergy between the NBA’s actors and what’s going on around the game of basketball is enhancing the worldwide basketball culture and is capitalizing on its full potential to become a worldwide source of influence.
