Photo: Thearon W. Henderson
Dan Beyer: "You want to know why I think yesterday was so great for the NBA? It was because the players actually cared. There were 5 games in marquee windows, and in some shape or form all of them were competitive at the end. There was a sense of urgency, a sense of spotlight with the NBA. I actually think the NBA told on itself yesterday. While LeBron was right in that moment that yesterday the NBA had it over the NFL, it does not in the big picture, and in fact told on the NBA that 'what have you been doing for the first two months?' The only team that actually cared about the NBA Cup was the team that won the NBA Cup, the Milwaukee Bucks. This is the problem with it, this is why LeBron is thinking he's getting one over. No, what you did is you just did is that when you put all of these teams on this slate, where the NBA viewing starts for a lot of people on Christmas Day, that now you're going to try. It completely negated what we saw for the last two months and solidified what we thought is wrong with the NBA. You think it's a coincidence that we had 10 teams with competitive games at the end? It's not a coincidence. It's on Christmas Day, they were on national TV, and they felt they were in the spotlight. That's why you got the good basketball, LeBron, not because the NBA is better than the NFL."
Dan Beyer and Monse Bolanos react to the NBA's strong performance on Christmas Day despite facing a pair of headline NFL matchups. Dan breaks down how the NBA accidentally revealed their greatest flaw as a league right now and explain what the league can learn from this lesson moving forward.