Renck & File: NBA deserves ratings decline for focusing on Joel Embiid, Bronny and not Nikola Jokic

Scoring, soaring and passing drive interest in basketball — not sitting, sulking and pampering.

The NBA has a problem because of the way it is packaged and covered. Nikola Jokic is off to the greatest statistical start in league history — 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, 11.7 assists in 38 minutes per game — and ratings stink.

They cratered during the opening night doubleheader and remain in decline with ESPN viewership down 27% and TNT 16%, per Puck News.

There is a confluence of contributing factors. It starts with the most talked-about players the first two weeks: Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and the Lakers’ Bronny James. The pair combined for 17 points in 39 minutes. Embiid has played one game, his debut delayed by a balky knee and a two-game suspension for pushing a columnist in the locker room.

Embiid has been in a sour mood for months, likely because of his aching body, plus criticism of his gold-medal-chasing Olympic team selection and desire to no longer play both ends of back-to-backs.

Once the smirking face of the NBA, his act has grown tired and sad. But at least he is worthy of headlines when he participates. The amount of bandwidth used on Bronny is misplaced at best and disingenuous at worst. He is the league’s Kim Kardashian — famous for being famous. Bronny seems like a good kid, a hard worker with doses of humility. But he’s not an NBA player. The Lakers rightly sent him to their G League South Bay Lakers for seasoning. Except for one problem: He is only playing home games.

It was cool when he and his father, LeBron, made history by appearing in a game together. But they are not the Griffeys. It feels so contrived and forced. And now this: The Lakers are allowing Bronny — or more likely his advisers — to turn a G League schedule into his personal day planner. It is cringey and runs counter to his development.

The NBA should be flooding Jokic’s start into our inboxes, blasting it on promo commercials, while knocking us over the head about the storylines developing in Cleveland and Golden State. Instead, too much of the focus is directed elsewhere.

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