Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum recently stated that he should be the face of the NBA when LeBron James retires. On February 25th, he told Michael Lee of the Washington Post that his on-court accolades make him a top candidate for the position.
“I don’t really want to insert myself in things that can be debated,” Tatum said. “Did he win a championship? Yes. Did he win gold medals? Yes. Was he always a part of winning seasons? Was he first-team all-NBA? Those are things that you know are hard evidence. Yes or no. Face of the NBA? They can always debate. But it’s like, I check off all the boxes.”
The criteria for face of the NBA
Unfortunately for Jayson Tatum, on-court achievements are not the only metric that qualifies a player to be the face of the league. A player needs to fulfill two criteria to become the face of the league: on-court success and the ability to evoke emotions from the fans and media.
James is a perfect example of a player who fulfills both of these criteria. On February 18th, 2002, Grant Wahl wrote an article for Sports Illustrated hyping James up as the heir apparent to Michael Jordan. He stated that LeBron had the high-flying ability of Michael Jordan combined with the street credibility of Allen Iverson.
“A spectacularly gifted 6’7″, 225-pound guard who averages 29.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.9 assists for St. Vincent-St. Mary High in Akron, LeBron is thought to possess all the elements necessary to do for some apparel company what Jordan did for Nike. Not only does he have the requisite high-flying game and an Iversonian street cred that Jordan himself lacked, but he can also turn on the charm when necessary”.
The Michael Jordan comparison set the stage for 20 years of debate on whether he could live up to Jordan’s legacy. Media personality Skip Bayless has spent James’ entire career arguing that he would never surpass Jordan as a basketball player. In 2012, Bayless stated during a segment on ESPN’s first take that he would never be better than good because he froze up in big moments.
This debate contributed to James’s ability to draw fantastic ratings for the league. According to Nielsen ratings, his free agency announcement called the decision was watched by nearly 10 million people in 2010.
Three months later, his debut for the Miami Heat drew a 4. 6 Nielsen rating, which is equal to 7.4 million people. At the time, the Miami Heat debut was the second biggest game in cable history, only behind a game in 1996.
On February 17th, 1996, the Chicago Bulls faced the Los Angeles Lakers, the first meeting between Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson after they came out of retirement.
Why Jayson Tatum cannot be the face of the NBA
Unfortunately, the league did a poor job of creating an emotional attachment between the players and the fans/media. Jayson Tatum could have been the face of a league if the NBA had put a bigger spotlight on his childhood.
Tatum previously stated that he was raised by a single mother who had occasionally had trouble putting food on the table. On May 31st, 2022, during a segment with ESPN, he revealed that his childhood home once had a hole in the roof.
Unfortunately, his mother could not afford to repair the roof, forcing her to put a tarp over it to limit the damage. Tatum revealed that he would often depend on his neighbor to provide dinner as his mother didn’t have the money to do so.
If the league had put a greater spotlight on this story before he became a champion, he would have been portrayed as a player who overcame a lot of childhood adversity and became a superstar.
Fans would have connected with that narrative as a significant portion of the league’s fan base grew up in a similar environment to Tatum. Therefore, Tatum would have been a sign of hope for fans looking to escape a challenging environment and make something of themselves.
However, the league had ruined the opportunity to capitalize on this storyline because Tatum is already a success story with last year’s championship victory.
The league’s decision not to promote Jayson Tatum’s back story has affected the Boston Celtics’ national TV ratings. The 2024 Finals vs. the Dallas Mavericks averaged 11. 31 million viewers, the third lowest since 2007.
The 2024 Finals featured three superstars approaching or in their prime: Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving, and Tatum.
There is no face of the league
Furthermore, the league has done a poor job of creating emotional connections between the media/fans and any of its young players. Victor Wembanyama is a great example of this. His appeal has been that he is the tallest player in the NBA who can occasionally make a three.
However, fans have no emotional connection to him as there isn’t a spotlight on his back story yet. Consequently, he is a freak of nature athlete, but there is no way for the average fan to personally connect with this as most humans are not 7′ 3.
In reality, it will be hard for the NBA to find a face of the league until they prioritize the development of a personal connection between their players and the fans/media.
The league is currently filled with Tim Duncan-type superstars. During his career, Tim Duncan did not try to establish an emotional connection with fans. He only focused on two things: accomplishing court achievements and completing the obligatory media obligations.
Tim Duncan’s demeanor led the NBA to see record-low ratings during some of his final appearances. The 2007 Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers averaged 9.3 million viewers, a record low at the time.
Consequently, the N B A must prioritize the emotional connection between the players and fans/media.
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