“We follow NBA for the action not for the actors”. It wasn’t rare to find such comments dominating the comments sections of X posts during recent Knicks games. The matchups at Madison Square Garden have always seen a high concentration of celebrities sitting courtside. Long-time fans might even know that Spike Lee has been a season ticket holder since 1985. However, in these playoffs, not only did more big-name celebrities show up, but it also led to the creation of a lot of non-sports-related pop culture (or, if you want to, the sports subculture) lore. Everything from Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet’s relationship to Ben Stiller calling Pat McAfee’s opinion on him ‘weird’ was catching attention. Now, a former NBA player wants to take things a step further, and get a Taylor Swift-type phenomenon into the basketball arenas that would probably please Adam Silver by pleasing thousands of others.
In the latest episode of his ‘Off Guard’ podcast, Austin Rivers addressed the hate that the celebrities were getting for suddenly showing an interest in Knicks games. He defended the stars by stating that “Bro, listen. These are the same people who got mad like when Taylor Swift was bringing all this attention to football. It’s never a bad thing. Football had its highest ratings ever.”
It is true that several NFL fans expressed disapproval of Taylor Swift’s increased presence at games, thanks to her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce. Accusations that she was a “distraction” and was “ruining football” ran rampant. The audible boos she received at the Super Bowl certainly made it clear that not everyone was a fan of the ‘You Belong With Me’ singer. At the same time, however, it was reported by February 2025 that Swift’s presence alone created an increase in merchandise sales and TV ratings. Last year’s Super Bowl recorded the largest female audience in history: 49% of viewers were women. The exact number was estimated at a total of 58.8 million women, a 9% increase over last year. On top of that, there was a 10% increase in the number of viewers aged 18-34 compared to 2022.
Credit: @KennethHitchner
If that wasn’t evidence of ‘The Taylor Swift Effect’, Travis Kelce’s Instagram followers also reportedly skyrocketed from 2.7 million to 6.7 million. The NFL’s TikTok saw over 50% new female followers in 2024. Experts estimate that Swift has already added over $1 billion in brand value to the NFL. Therefore, no matter the hate she receives from a small group of people, one cannot deny that the artist’s presence has been too beneficial for the NFL.
And Rivers expressed wanting something like that for the NBA now, especially after seeing the attention the presence of celebrities brought to the recent Knicks games. This led him to say something very very random. “I’m waiting for like Dua Lipa to just like just marry an NBA player so we can just get even more traction this way.” Woah! and Wow!
While the NBA cannot have Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa can do the same thing for the league. After all, she commands over 87.5 million followers on Instagram. Her ‘Future Nostalgia Tour’ reportedly generated $89.3 million from 71 shows. Her influence and impact on the music industry have made her a cultural phenomenon. Plus, it helps that she is an NBA fan. She once attended a Knicks game back in March 2023, sitting alongside DJ and producer Mark Ronson and his wife, Grace Gummer.
Unfortunately, Dua Lipa is not currently dating an NBA player, nor does it look like she will. The ‘Levitating’ singer has been in a happy relationship with British actor Callum Turner since January 2024. Furthermore, everything from her past relationships shows that she is maybe not interested in dating an athlete. Which is unfortunate, since Adam Silver could have used that boost in the ratings.
Adam Silver had to earlier defend the NBA’s 2% ratings decline as a ‘victory’
It is no secret that the NBA is currently going through a ratings dilemma. Last year, OutKick’s Clay Travis highlighted the league’s declining viewership numbers by revealing “NBA ratings are down 48% since 2012. Down 28% this year alone on ESPN. Every other sports league is setting ratings records. Total disaster”. By April 2025, it was apparent that things had not improved, with reports revealing that games on ABC, ESPN, and TNT averaged 1.53 million viewers, less than last season’s 1.56 million. However, for Adam Silver, even that 2% decline is a sign that things are good within the league right now.
Back in April, Adam Silver appeared for an interview on The Pat McAfee Show. During the same time, he defended the 2% drop by stating, “Remember, the narrative earlier in the season was that the ratings were down and, in fact, they were down. There was a competitive World Series, a presidential election. There were a bunch of factors, I think, that led to our ratings being down early on. But in order to end up down 2%, or relatively flat for the season, which is a victory these days, especially with declining television viewership from traditional television, that’s a victory”.
Early in the season, viewership had plunged by around 20%. However, a strong rebound during the holidays and late-season matchups helped narrow the gap. Silver noted this by saying that “post-All-Star, the ratings picked up a lot. In fact, to end up just down 2% for the season from where we came from, the ratings had to be up significantly. And I think you saw tremendous competition around the league. Teams playing for playoff seeding, teams playing to get into the playoffs, healthy stars, a trade that attracted a lot of attention, a bunch of things happened in the league, and that generated a lot of interest.”
“Post All-Star weekend the ratings picked up a lot and you saw tremendous competition around the league..
A bunch of things happened in the NBA that generated a lot of interest” ~ Adam Silver #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/b7e2ImhnOs
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 17, 2025
However, this still does not explain why this year’s All-Star game saw ratings down 13% across TNT, TBS, and TruTV. Just more than 4.7 million people tuned in for the game, compared to the nearly 5.4 million who watched in 2024. This was even though Adam Silver implemented a format change to get more engagement.
At a time when a 2% decline is considered a victory, it is apparent that the NBA needs a major boost in ratings. However, with Dua Lipa or any other big-name celebrity not interested in the basketball players right now, no hope seems to be on the horizon. If things continue to be this way, who knows? Adam Silver might end up engaging in matchmaking.
The post Dua Lipa Doing What Taylor Swift Did Will Only Please Adam Silver as Ex-NBA Star Addresses Knicks Outrage appeared first on EssentiallySports.
