How NBA stole Super Bowl LIX’s thunder with trade deadline drama

Around this time every year, the NFL dominates fan and media coverage as the nation gets ready to witness the greatest sporting spectacle. This year however, Super Bowl LIX was overshadowed by the blockbuster NBA trade deadline, at a time when Adam Silver is facing dwindling viewership.

That dwindling viewership started a few seasons ago when the biggest names in the game were not a constant attraction in the NBA Finals. Along with that, the league saw a shift towards extensive use of the three-point shot. Coupled with boring overall play, viewership numbers declined consistently.

It came to the point when serious discussions took place between Adam Silver and other NBA executives. They have been pondering on how to bring the excitement back without sacrificing player health. However, most of the suggestions were being shot down as being detrimental to the game.

The heights of this was when the NFL’s Christmas games overshadowed what the NBA could muster up despite having better games and the biggest stars. Now, in a space of a five days, all that has changed. Let us examine what happened in these five days that has seen the NBA steal Super Bowl LIX‘s thunder.

Luka Doncic – Anthony Davis trade

Months before the NBA trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers players were talking about what they need to be better overall. LeBron James talked about playmaking, shooting and perimeter defense, whereas Anthony Davis continued asking for a proper center to play alongside him.

The Lakers tried to solve those concerns by bringing in a couple of players who did not necessarily move the needle. Then on February 2nd night, the world was going about their usual weekend business when suddenly a tweet from Shams Charania popped up on their notification bar.

The tweet revealed that the Dallas Mavericks had traded superstar Luka Doncic to the Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis. The instant reaction from fans suggested the tweet was fake or Charania’s account was hacked.

A couple of minutes later though, he doubled down on that news to confirm that the deal had actually happened. His employer ESPN then confirmed the news on their official account so did a couple of his colleagues.

But when Charania first broke the news to his colleagues, even they had to confirm if he was alright, and nothing happened to his phone. They were shocked beyond measure, a reaction the rest of the world shared.

Fans, celebrities, sporting greats from other fields were all taken aback. They could not believe the Mavericks would trade a 25-year-old franchise cornerstone for a soon to be 32-year-old All-Star. That news set the ball in motion.

NBA teams continue to make landscape changing trades

That Luka Doncic – Anthony Davis trade was just the start. But people from across the globe were still in a state of shock the following day as they still could not fathom what had happened. Even the likes of Patrick Mahomes were aghast, seeing his hometown team sending off his favorite basketball player.

But Charania was nowhere done. His extensive screen time had just ramped up as he then got news about another major trade. This time, De’Aaron Fox joined up with Victor Wembanyama and Zach Lavine reunited with DeMar DeRozan at the Sacramento Kings.

Then another Dallas Mavericks trade followed on the next day, which did draw some more attention. But since the biggest superstars had moved, it seemed as if the hype was cooling down. However, the NBA world was not done and now rumors suggested that Kevin Durant could return to the Golden State Warriors.

Despite it being a rumor, the world was hooked onto anything NBA. Fans were waiting for the next big move, and they felt it was going to be Durant. But then a while later, it was an Eastern Conference team’s turn. The Milwaukee Bucks brought in Kyle Kuzma and in exchange sent Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards.

By now, fans had their heads in their hands. They could not believe what was transpiring in the NBA. A couple of small trade bytes later Shams Charania revealed that Kevin Durant had made it clear there was no chance of a reunion with Steph Curry.

The finishing touches

Fans felt that Durant news was it, as rumors suggested Jimmy Butler was working to rebuild his relationship with the Miami Heat as chances of a trade were shrinking. But the ESPN Insider was waiting for confirmation, and once he received it, he revealed that Butler joined Steph Curry at the Warriors.

By now, every media house and fan had nothing else but to talk about the NBA. A while after revealing a trade involving Brandon Ingram, Charania then revealed a trade involving big man in Mark Williams. As the trade involved rookie Dalton Knecht and the Los Angeles Lakers, it blew the lid off.

Then trades involving the Memphis Grizzlies, league leading Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers and Dennis Schroder‘s multiple moves brought down the curtains on what could be one of the most memorable trade deadlines in sporting history.

Numbers to prove NBA trade deadline dominated Super Bowl LIX in traction

A total of nine prime All-Stars headlined this NBA trade deadline along with a myriad of other players. Shams Charania’s X account amassed 516 million views over the last five days of the NBA trade deadline. That number is only from player trades and does not include any other news.

NBA’s own social media platforms have been going bonkers at the same time, as have every media house in the nation. How it all impacted Super Bowl LIX is that no one was talking about the big game. Media houses did cover the topics, but most of their traction came from NBA related topics.

To cite an example, ESPN uploaded First Take’s content from New Orleans on their primary YouTube page. The sole video involving the NBA has nearly 740K views at the time of writing. In contrast, the page has two lengthy NFL debates, both combined have just 190K views, almost just a quarter.

ESPN flew Monica McNutt to Super Bowl LIX’s outdoor studio in New Orleans, just to talk about the NBA. All media houses have seen how much traction basketball has generated. So much so that the biggest game of the season was overshadowed by a considerable margin. Adam Silver was the winner at the end.