NBA keeps making it harder for longtime fans to simply watch basketball

I understand streaming. I use streaming. I’m not asking anyone to bring back the VCR.

But I do wonder whether the NBA occasionally stops to think about the people who have been watching its games for 40 or 50 years.

The Cavaliers announced Tuesday that their local broadcasts are moving to DAZN, a streaming service that will cost $19.99 per month. There will be 15 games available free over the air, along with 17 national broadcasts.

For most of the rest, you’ll need DAZN. Maybe that’s progress. I’m sure somebody can explain to me all the ways that it is.

But I keep thinking about the older Cavs fan who has watched this team since Austin Carr was playing instead of announcing the games.

That person may still have cable. He may know exactly where to find the Cavs every night. Turn on the television, go to the channel, watch the game.

Now we’re asking him to find DAZN, download an app, create an account, enter a credit card, figure out which television supports it and pay for another subscription. And that’s just for the local games.

NBA games are also scattered across multiple national partners. Some are on traditional television. Others are streaming, including on Amazon Prime Video, which carried Cavs playoff games last season.

Again, I understand where the world is headed. I just don’t particularly like what we’re leaving behind.

The Suns faced their own local television upheaval and went in almost the opposite direction. Owner Mat Ishbia moved games to free over-the-air television in 2023, and Phoenix recently extended that arrangement through 2030.

At least 75 Suns regular-season games will be available free in Arizona. Turn on the television. Find the channel. Watch Devin Booker. There’s something refreshingly uncomplicated about that.

This isn’t really about DAZN, either. The Cavs are investing heavily in their new broadcasts, and the actual production may be considerably better. They’re going from six cameras to 19, adding new technology and putting significant money behind the product.

Great. But none of that matters if Grandpa can’t figure out how to watch the doggone game.

Maybe I’m becoming Grandpa myself. I’ve covered the NBA full-time for more than two decades. I’ve watched the league go from local television, to regional sports networks, to streaming services, national streaming services and apps scattered everywhere.

Some of that is unavoidable. Technology changes. Businesses change. The NBA has to change with them.

But accessibility shouldn’t mean accessible only to people who know how to navigate six different streaming services.

Sports are different from most entertainment because fandom gets passed down. The 75-year-old who watched Bingo Smith might be the reason his 45-year-old daughter became a Cavs fan, who might be the reason her 15-year-old son watches Donovan Mitchell.

You don’t want to make the first person in that chain feel as if the league has moved on without him.

The NBA spends a lot of time trying to attract younger viewers. It should. Just don’t forget the people who were watching before those viewers were born.