1. For weeks now, one of the most-discussed topics in sports and sports media is the NBA’s ratings.

Everyone has chimed in with their take on why NBA regular-season ratings have declined. Right off the bat, this is ridiculous because there isn’t just one reason why any sport’s ratings would be up or down unless you have a Caitlin Clark situation.

But out of all the takes I’ve seen, the dumbest, by far, is that the ratings have gone down because Charles Barkley regularly dumps on the product while appearing on TNT’s Inside the NBA.

Inside the NBA is a historic studio show and Barkley has a lot of power and influence. But anyone who thinks NBA fans are going to tune out of (or tune into) a regular-season NBA game because of anything he says is lost (or looking for engagement).

No one is flipping the channels, coming across an NBA game on TNT or ESPN and saying, “Oh, Chuck says the product is terrible, so I’m going to watch something else.” That’s not how sports fans operate.

The latest example of Barkley taking heat over not being an NBA fanboy was his reaction to LeBron James’s left-handed dunk two nights ago.

Someone needs to explain to me how Barkley saying we didn’t need to see LeBron’s dunk 22 times on the postgame show translates to people not watching an NBA game. It’s just a lazy narrative that doesn’t make sense, but is good for clicks.

Just speaking for myself, I liked the NBA product much better years ago. But guess what? I have that opinion because of what I see. Not because of anything Barkley says on Inside the NBA.

If anything, Barkley brings viewers to the NBA. There isn’t a sports studio show in history that gets more buzz than Inside the NBA. That helps the leagues.

Lakers coach JJ Redick recently said, “If I’m a casual fan and you tell me every time I turn on the TV that the product sucks, well, I’m not going to watch the product.”

A casual fan isn’t watching meaningless regular-season NBA regardless of what Barkley or anyone else says about the product. The casual NBA fan will tune in to watch LeBron or Steph Curry or a huge matchup like Wednesday’s Cavs-Thunder game. The casual fan isn’t going to watch a random Wednesday night Timberwolves-Heat matchup.

Plus, the casual fan is likely not tuning into Inside the NBA. I’m supposed to believe a “casual fan” is watching Inside the NBA’s pregame show or postgame show at 1 a.m., but then not watching the games because Barkley says he isn’t a fan of today’s product? Please.

2. A brand-new SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped today and this week’s guest is CBS play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle.

Eagle talks about calling Saturday’s Chargers-Texans wild-card game, which he dubbed, “The Houston Invitational.” He also shares his thoughts on what it was like to call the Chiefs-Steelers Christmas Day game for Netflix, working with J.J. Watt and Pittsburgh getting snubbed at halftime while the Texans got Beyonce. Eagle also revealed the advice he gave us son, Noah, on calling a blowout in the other Christmas Day game on Netflix.

In addition, Eagle addresses reports that he will be Amazon’s lead NBA voice next year and discusses what it was like to call his first Final Four. Other topics covered include Eagle’s hotel issues, his addiction to pens and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.

Following Eagle, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s subjects include the betting lines for the six NFL wild-card games, when is the right time to take down your Christmas tree, Hulk Hogan getting loudly booed on Monday Night Raw and much more.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

3. Great news here from the legendary Dick Vitale, who has gone throughout numerous heath battles in recent years. It appears that Dickie V is ready to get behind the microphone once again. The 85-year-old Vitale hasn’t called a college basketball game for ESPN since early 2023.

4. Sports Media Watch has an excellent and thorough recap of the NFL’s regular-season ratings.

The biggest takeaway for me is that despite Fox adding Tom Brady, CBS beat Fox for the season in the 4:25 p.m. window. It was only the second time ever that CBS beat Fox in the late window. This is even more impressive when you consider how badly CBS got screwed late in the season with Chiefs-Steelers and Ravens-Texans airing on Netflix on Christmas Day and Texans-Chiefs airing on NBC and Steelers-Ravens airing on Fox, the week before on Saturday.

5. Recall a few weeks ago on College GameDay when comedian Shane Gillis said, “Now that everybody can pay their players, Notre Dame has a shot. It’s not just the SEC. It’s not coach Saban.”

On his podcast, Gillis gave an inside account of what happened after the cameras were off and an angry Saban confronted about the remark.

6. Netflix and the WWE announced that 4.9 million people globally watched the debut of Monday Night Raw on the streaming service earlier this week.

In the U.S., Raw generated 2.6 million viewers.

Those numbers include live viewing and same-day viewing.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 60th birthday to Muggsy Bogues, who gave us one of the better athlete cameos on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.