When you look at the NBA now, you see a multi-billion dollar business that just keeps growing with every passing year. The ratings this past season were higher than they had been in the recent past, and thanks, in part to that, the league is looking for a new broadcasting deal of about $75 billion.
The league’s annual revenue also topped $10 billion for the first time ever, and the NBA is in as good a place right now as it has ever been. It is almost unimaginable then, considering the current state of affairs, that there was a time when it wasn’t doing all that well, and the league was, in fact, in terrible shape heading into the 1980s.
Byron Scott Says Magic Johnson And Larry Bird Saved The NBA
Drug scandals had hit the league, and not a lot of people were tuning into games on television either. Owners were losing a lot of money, and the league faced an uncertain future, but all of that changed with the arrival of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. The two of them elevated the league to new heights, and Byron Scott recently stated on his podcast that they did really save the NBA.
“Those two guys Magic Johnson (and) Larry Bird saved the NBA. Really saved the NBA from really going under because at that particular point it was only maybe four teams that were making money out of, at that time there might have been 22 or 24 teams in the league and these two guys came along and they just kind of saved the NBA. So, all these guys out here just making all this money, they owe Magic and Larry Bird a lot of kudos.”
There is no doubt about the fact that Bird and Magic played a big role in laying the foundations for where the game is today as they ushered in a new era. The players of today really owe a lot to these two, as without them, the league wouldn’t be anywhere close to what it is now.
Charles Barkley also thanked the two of them and Michael Jordan for taking the game to a whole other level. He stated that he never had to get a real job because of those three guys who made everyone else who played in the league incredibly rich. Gone are the days when athletes had to do other jobs to help their families, as so many of them earn generational wealth by just playing in the league, and they all know who to thank for that.
