President Trump spews fake news while criticizing the NBA

President Trump is not a fan of the NBA and thinks the bubble has been a terrible outcome for the league as they push forward with the season after it was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

President Trump doesn’t like the NBA and has made his opinions very clear on the league and the players in the league. That isn’t news. What is news is the president is criticizing the league for resuming the season that was halted in response to the coronavirus pandemic and players testing positive and playing their games in a bubble in Disney World.

In an interview with Fox Sports Radio, president Trump suggested the basketball ratings are down and he thinks it’s because players are too political and nasty.

President Trump spews fake news while criticizing the NBA

“I think it’s been horrible for basketball,” Trump said. “Look at the basketball ratings, they’re down to very low numbers. Very, very low numbers. People are angry about it. They don’t realize that, they don’t want, they have enough politics with guys like me, they don’t need more as they’re driving down, going up for the shot. They don’t need it. And there was a nastiness about the NBA the way it was done, too.

“So I think that the NBA is in trouble – I think it’s in big trouble, bigger trouble than they understand. And frankly, ice hockey, which is doing very well, they didn’t do that, they respected the mores, they respected what they’re supposed to be doing. And they’re actually doing very well as I understand it.”

There are certainly sports fans who want the NBA to stick to sports and don’t want to be reminded of police brutality when they’re watching games, but it’s odd to criticize the NBA for playing in a bubble while praising the NHL for playing in a bubble in Edmonton. Could it be the racial makeup of the two different leagues?

The NHL hasn’t been as vocal about the Black Lives Matter movement or other political issues compared to the NBA, but players have been vocal on social media, others have worn Black Lives Matter shirts and the NHL’s opening night focus was on Black Lives Matter with Matt Dumba as the voice.

Nevertheless, Trump’s claims that the NBA is in trouble because of “very, very low numbers” is fake news.

Games on ABC, ESPN and TNT have crushed in the 18-49 male demographic, according to the NBA. In fact, since the restart on July 30, the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers is the most viewed sports game and eight of the 10 most-viewed primetime sporting events are NBA games.

Maybe Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity have better numbers in the Boomer demographic, but as far as the NBA, they’re not hurting in the least.