Some fans in the United States were starting to find the games a little boring.
At a nightclub, two men were drinking and watching an NBA game on TV.
The heavier of the two took a swig and cursed.
"This game is so damn boring. There's no excitement at all."
His companion took a swig too and shook his head. "I completely agree. No fast breaks, no tactics—what kind of mess are they even playing?"
Just then, a middle-aged man happened to walk by and overheard them. He smiled and said:
"Young men, it's not just this game. All the games over the past few days have been boring. Last night, I watched the Grizzlies play the Cavaliers after work, and I actually fell asleep. You have to understand, the Cavaliers are my favorite team, and I still fucking fell asleep watching them. That's how boring the game was."
Meanwhile, at the game between the Raptors and the Trail Blazers,
a white woman said to her boyfriend, "I thought I'd get to see Wang play, but he's suspended. And I never expected the game to be this boring without him."
Her boyfriend shook his head helplessly. "Games really are boring without Wang. We should've returned the tickets."
A small number of fans online in the United States had already started complaining:
"The NBA is getting more and more boring."
"I usually go to a game in person every Saturday night, but I'm skipping this week. The games just aren't any fun."
"Wang was suspended for today's Trail Blazers–Raptors game. If he hadn't been, I might've gone just to heckle him. With him out, there's no point in going to the game."
Although these fans thought the games were boring, they hadn't yet realized that the reason the games were boring