Without fans in the arena, the NBA is staring at the possibility of everything the players say on the court being picked up by telecasts. It sounds great for fans over the age of 18, but to create a more family friendly broadcast, commissioner Adam Silver is considering tape delay.
The last time an NBA Playoff game was aired on tape delay was 1986. In the era of immediacy. It’s hard to have predicted the NBA could seek a return to those days, but the league is understandably concerned about foul language and trash talking being picked up by network mics.
“I think often players, they understand when they’re on the floor, they’re saying certain things to each other because it’s so loud in the arena, they know a lot of it is not being picked up,” Silver told Time.com. “They may have to adapt their language a little bit knowing what they say will likely be picked up by microphones and in all seriousness, we may need to put a little bit of a delay.”
Basketball lends itself to trash talking more than other sports, simply because there is so much one-on-one action between players. But how would cancel culture react to hearing Kevin Garnett’s infamous and rumored Honey Nut Cheerios insult to Carmelo Anthony? Corporate sponsors will want to make sure the NBA product they endorse remains socially acceptable and politically correct without crowd noise to drown out anything R-rated.
A 10-second delay and dump button probably won’t suffice enough to protect the game from airing foul language and trash talk. So how much of a tape delay will the league need? If the broadcast is delayed 30 or 60 minutes, it’s difficult to imagine the final score won’t be leaked an hour before it actually airs on national television, erasing intrigue.
As much as the NBA will prioritize protecting its image and sponsors, the league also won’t do anything to potentially damage their TV ratings. With many questions surrounding the NBA’s restart in their Orlando bubble, how they censor telecasts remains an interesting one.