NBA Small-Market Watch: Are small-market teams getting the short end of the stick?

There are 30 teams in the NBA, and only a few are located in the country’s biggest markets, hence their consistent exposure to the public. However, there are those such as the Phoenix Suns and the Utah Jazz this season who have performed quite admirably and find themselves not receiving any attention.

It’s ok, quite honestly. There’s a logical albeit despised reason for this. The answer is that they don’t generate ratings, and they are located in markets where success is often hard to come by. Gone are the days when the San Antonio Spurs, despite being a small market, consistently find themselves in the spotlight because they forced people to watch them. In fairness to them, they won five championships.

There are 30 teams in the NBA, and only a few are located in the country’s biggest markets. Are the league’s small-market teams getting left out?

Now, it’s all about the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James; it’s about Kevin Durant and the sharpshooters in Brooklyn and beyond. As a matter of fact, attention is even being given to the New York Knicks and their sudden resurgence after years of ineptitude.

But what about the others? Is it really becoming all about the bigger markets and the others, despite their resume not even being mentioned or, if they do, predictions of a swift exit from the playoffs being constantly regurgitated?

The Denver Nuggets are playing excellent basketball, and Nikola Jokić is playing at an MVP-like level. Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee has the Bucks well-positioned to make another run for the title. The Utah Jazz owns one of the top records in the NBA and are performing quite admirably, even with Donovan Mitchell out of the lineup. And don’t forget Phoenix and the play of Chris Paul along with Devin Booker that has the Suns in discussions for competition.

The proof is in the pudding. It’s the ratings and the money that tend to be responsible for this. While people like to watch the stars win games, it’s often preferred that the larger markets be the ones to hoist the hardware and the accolades.

Commentators such as Stephen A. Smith tend to favor the bigger markets such as an LA, Philadelphia, or a Miami, for that matter. Smith has even campaigned for the New York Knicks, not because they are anything spectacular (except for this season), but for the fact that they are based in what many consider the world’s largest media market.

Fox Sports 1’s Shannon Sharpe is another prime example. A noted LeBron James fanatic, Sharpe has repeatedly provided excuses for his favorite team’s struggles and often downplayed any smaller market competition from the Western and Eastern conferences that would be a threat to James and the Lakers, not realizing or refusing to acknowledge that there is a possibility that the defending champions may very well be defeated in the postseason.

It’s a sad reality that even as the years change and the players come and go, the truth still sits in stone. The smaller markets are likely never going to get the attention they deserve, and it’s even harder to win a championship than it was back then.

Hopefully, someday, the smaller markets will eventually become areas of high exposure. We’ve seen it before with San Antonio, Detroit in 2004, Golden State pre-dynasty in 2015, etc. It would be nice for it to happen again, and the league would be better of with it.