FRATPACKER WORLD.

HOW THE NBA FINALS EXPOSE LACK OF YOUTH IN MEDIA

The 2025 NBA Finals was one of my favourite NBA Finals in the last few years. It’s mainly because it was the true confirmation that the new age of basketball is here and ready to take the spotlight.

The 2025 NBA Finals featured Oklahoma City Thunder going up against the Indiana Pacers. Both are small market teams, teams that do not generate that much money or attraction due to them being in a small town or not having a history of winning as their legacy. On top of this they both happen to be the youngest teams in the NBA showing the recent evolution of the new generation of basketball players and superstars taking over the league. Now this should be a celebration and welcoming of the new age, but it was met with some weird critique and analysis.

To start off with if we look at the last 5 years of the NBA Finals we have OKC (24.7) v Pacers (25.7), Boston Celtics (26.2) v Dallas Mavericks (26.3), Denver Nuggets (27.1) v Miami Heat (28), Golden State Warriors (27.8) v Boston Celtics (25.9), Milwaukee Bucks (28.1 avg age) v Phoenix Suns (26.6). In these last 5 years, we can see that the teams getting to the finals are becoming younger and younger. This goes hand-in-hand with us witnessing the superstars who started their journey in the 2000’s & 2010’s retiring and leaving the game,  more and more, because no matter how much of a winner you are, father time is undefeated.

In the ushering out of the legends made, we see the birth of new legends to be created with superstars like Giannis, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Anthony Endwards, Shai-Gil, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Jalen Brunson, Trae Young, Ja Morant, Jaylen Brown, Donovan Mitchell,  Sengun, Brandon Ingram, LaMelo Ball, Lonzo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, Karl-Anthony Towns, and many more. The point I’m making is that there is a plethora of young talent in the NBA that are ready to take over for the new generation and playing excellent basketball.

You would not think so with how mainstream basketball media has been covering the finals and the new era. Instead of focusing on the new emerging talent and their own style of flavour and play that they are bringing; we are being distracted with the topic of old guard and who will replace or be as good as them. This is always a problem because every new generation coming never wants to replicate greatness but create their own mould and have their impact recognised in the game. Instead of giving the young kids a platform to write their own history right now they are worried about the history made by the generation before.

The source of the problem isn’t with the players or the league but with media and the fact that we are not seeing enough youth with a voice in the media space and not just basketball alone but overall, throughout the sports, arts & culture fields. This is a problem because we all know how it goes when you’re a kid you feel like all the old people don’t get or understand your generation and the trends or art going on and then jiki-jiki one day you’re the old person sh*tting on the younger generation.

The evolution of young rebel to old hater is an inevitable pipeline and path that about 95% of us follow in life but with us knowing that and having seen it throughout the history of media you’d think that in 2025 with all the social media platforms available and people creating their own media that somehow one of these broadcasters would have them join the team but it’s something we’ve rarely seen.

I think the biggest case for this phenomenon might be that because growing up on the internet and social media the need for journalism and traditional media might not be a priority for most or downplay the actual impact it still carries throughout the world.  It might be that the older generation feels like the younger generation have not dedicated themselves to the art & craft of broadcasting, journalism and media, and therefore feel like they haven’t put in the 10 000 hours needed to be seen as a peer or professional.

The cause is important because it will lead us to the solution of the cure, but I want to look at why this is a problem because I know the notion nowadays is, “It doesn’t matter we have social media create your own thing.”, oh but it does matter because of centralisation. Where on social media, yes, we have the access to any and every topic available it can feel overwhelming and honestly speaking it’s hard to know who a credible resource is and who is looking for clicks, likes and engagements. Whereas with traditional media there is a built relationship that as the audience we have built not with the personalities but the broadcasting stations. Whether it be SuperSport, ESPN, SABC, CNN etc. there is that feeling of these are trained professionals who now how to do research, investigate and report on stories accurately.

When we only have the older generation in these positions and not training and grooming the younger generation, the voice of the younger generation ends up lost and silenced. Sticking with the NBA as our motif I can use a personal example where my baby brother’s favourite basketball player is Jayson Tatum but when you look at media coverage he is mostly spoken in comparison with Kobe and how he will never be him. This is unfair because we are not allowing the kids to live in the times of their heroes and stars but forcing them to live in our nostalgia on players, they never seen play, and instead of telling the Jayson Tatum story it uses Jayson Tatum to tell the Kobe story.

I genuinely believe that this can be avoided if media allowed for more youth to come in and give their thoughts, opinions and perspectives on things as to try get more people to understand what motivates, inspires and drives the youth and why they look up to the stars that they do. This translates into the Micheal Jordan and LeBron James debate where when you really look at it, it’s more a debate about still of play. MJ focused on being the ultimate killer and clutch player compared to LeBron being a more focused on teamwork, uplifting players, making the right plays and being the best teammate. One could argue it shows the evolution of thinking with generations where the older generation was focused on getting the job done at any cost compared to now where mental health, community and personal development is the highest priority.

The point I’m trying to make is that every generation has their inspirations, role models, superstars, idols, heroes etc. and as the older generation it should be the duty to help them learn how to properly and professional use their voices to highlight this as wells as the issues and concerns of the younger generation to help uplift and amplify their voice instead of dismiss it and silence it. We need to get a better understanding of the youth and the only to do that is to talk and engage with them, not talk over them and enforce our legends and folklore upon them. Help raise a voice today.