On Monday, ESPN posted a graphic on X touting the success of the NBA this season. Specifically, the network highlighted a “5%” increase from a season ago.

Hmm.

Readers might recall that just a few weeks ago a report saying NBA games on ESPN were down 28 percent year over year. That’s quite a change. It’s also quite misleading.

When you click on the link attached to the post, ESPN references NBA ratings on “ESPN platforms.” Keyword: platforms.

ESPN’s NBA ratings are not actually up 5 percent — or anywhere close to that. The network calculated that figure by combining the ratings on ESPN and its sister station ABC, thus “ESPN platforms.”

But here’s why the spin is so dishonest: The network aired all five Christmas Day games this year on both ESPN and ABC, compared to just two last year. 

The difference is substantial. ABC is a broadcast network that airs in significantly more homes across the U.S. than a cable network like ESPN. Live sporting events on broadcast networks frequently draw millions, as in plural, more viewers than sporting events on cable.

Moreover, the NFL aired three games head-to-head with the NBA last Christmas, compared to only two this Christmas. In response, the NBA put its juiciest matchup (LeBron vs. Steph) in primetime on ABC without any competition from the NFL. (Last year, the NBA put a dud matchup in primetime on ESPN against an NFL game on Fox.)

Naturally, ESPN and ABC saw an “84% year-over-year increase” on Christmas Day. The network then coupled that inflated increase with its previous double-digit decline and landed at a “5%” increase year over year.

As you see, networks can manipulate ratings. They often do. In this case, ESPN is spinning a disastrous year for the NBA into a positive.

Still, the spin shows just how desperate ESPN and the NBA are for more positive press. When the NBA ratings first started to erode, OutKick was among the only outlets to report on it. Anyone who dared to acknowledge the declines was met with accusations of racism by the NBA fanboys, who couldn’t fathom how writing “Black Lives Matter” on the court while bending the knee to China could dissatisfy American sports fans. However, viewership for the NBA has declined so substantially over the past few seasons that it became safe for other outlets to comment on the declines. 

Before Christmas Day, the list of outlets and pundits that have recently discussed the NBA’s decline included the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNBC, Dan Patrick, Stephen A. Smith, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, and even current NBA coaches.

Most brutally, but still accurately, Fox Sports Radio host Colin Cowherd compared the fall of the NBA to the losing state of the Democratic Party. 

“The NBA ratings are down 48% in the last 12 years and they have fallen off a cliff this year,” Cowherd said. “Adam Silver’s solution is to make the courts brighter. “It is a really bad look for a family of four to go to a game and the [stars] don’t play

“Go ask the Democrats. Be warned, once you detach from regular people in America, you will pay a price,” he concluded.

Apparently, instead of trying to reach normal people, the NBA and its league partners have resorted to lying about their ratings. Luckily, for them, dutiful media reporters are running with the ratings increases without providing the proper context.