Mentioned my own reasons why I think basketball, while an international sport that has a presence in many countries, albeit niche in the majority of them, is a sport that is easily most popular in its home country.
1.its too back and forth, repetitive..you score, no you score, no you score... lacks one team having a spell of dominance as is the case in most other sports. It’s akin to a 12 round boxing fight where they take turns in winning rounds...you just want to get to the end part quickly to see who wins it. 2.Expanding on point 1, scoring is way too easy. You can’t really celebrate a score, as the opposition are about to do so in another 15 seconds, and 15 seconds later so will your team, and so on. The whole specialness of scoring is missing. It’s infinitely less meaningful. A winner right at the very very end can be exciting...but that’s a long time to wait for excitement. 3.Game for giants. How many 6 foot 5 plus people are there? It’s an exclusive club. You are precluded from excelling because of height, not ability. A 7 footer placing a ball inside a hoop that’s next to him is straightforward, doesn’t require much talent. One reason I always liked the 6 foot “midgets” far more. 4.its African American cultural feel.. the game being the domain of African Americans, think courts in the hoods, it feels alien, like somebody else’s thing (more extreme example, like Sumo wrestling to the Japanese). Hard to relate to.
In the UK it has never taken off, and these are some of the reasons I think why. Anyone else have any views on this? No question the skills are fabulous, Jordan the prime example, but the reasons given are why I think it is largely a niche sport outside the US.
1.its too back and forth, repetitive..you score, no you score, no you score... lacks one team having a spell of dominance as is the case in most other sports. It’s akin to a 12 round boxing fight where they take turns in winning rounds...you just want to get to the end part quickly to see who wins it. 2.Expanding on point 1, scoring is way too easy. You can’t really celebrate a score, as the opposition are about to do so in another 15 seconds, and 15 seconds later so will your team, and so on. The whole specialness of scoring is missing. It’s infinitely less meaningful. A winner right at the very very end can be exciting...but that’s a long time to wait for excitement. 3.Game for giants. How many 6 foot 5 plus people are there? It’s an exclusive club. You are precluded from excelling because of height, not ability. A 7 footer placing a ball inside a hoop that’s next to him is straightforward, doesn’t require much talent. One reason I always liked the 6 foot “midgets” far more. 4.its African American cultural feel.. the game being the domain of African Americans, think courts in the hoods, it feels alien, like somebody else’s thing (more extreme example, like Sumo wrestling to the Japanese). Hard to relate to.
In the UK it has never taken off, and these are some of the reasons I think why. Anyone else have any views on this? No question the skills are fabulous, Jordan the prime example, but the reasons given are why I think it is largely a niche sport outside the US.
