An average NBA team is now worth $3.85 billion as per Forbes’ October 2023 estimate. About three decades ago, Grant Hill recalls, the league was on the brink of shutting down. So, how did the league flip the script? According to the Atlanta Hawks’ co-owner, it’s all about adapting and, more importantly, promoting.

Grant Hill recently appeared on Bloomberg Live’s YouTube channel, where he was asked about the free agency frenzy that keeps the NBA a year-round spectacle. Players are hopping teams like never before. “Is it good or bad?” Hill was asked by one of the fans. He admitted it’s different now. In his day, players were more likely to stick with one team. Now? Not so much, but the league has embraced it.

Name-dropping Larry Bird, Majic Johnson, and Isiah Thomas, Hill recalls the loyalty back then. But he acknowledged the league’s success lies in its ability to adapt and adjust. The constant movement of players? It’s just another aspect the NBA has leaned into. It has only made the league popular with all the excitement, right alongside Summer League with TV coverage Hill explains.

“The NBA… the season ends. Then all of a sudden you have the draft…. The draft ends, now we have free agency. And so now is ‘where are these guys going?’ We cover that. And it’s excitement not just here domestically, but internationally.” 

The broadcasting has indeed been a game-changer. The NBA’s current deal with ESPN and Turner Sports, pulling in $2.66 billion a season through 2025, is one of the largest in sports history. Moreover, an average of 1.5 million viewers tuned in last season while the finals drew in 11.3 million.

This hype and recognition has Hill admitting, “I always say the NBA, it’s a league, it’s a global marketing and public relations firm disguised as a league facetiously.” But there might just be a more efficient and effective way: rivalry.

Grant Hill reveals NBA’s marketing secret

Back in May, Grant Hill spilled some tea on how the NBA turned the never-ending GOAT debate between Michael Jordan and LeBron James into a marketing powerhouse. While Hill seems to lean towards MJ, crediting him for laying the foundation for NBA stars in sports marketing, he doesn’t shy away from acknowledging LeBron’s undeniable impact.

“I think he kind of took the mantle from the sports marketing standpoint that Michael Jordan had started and he took it to another level,” Hill noted during LeBron’s NBA 75 Stories.

However, not everyone agrees. Chicago Bulls chronicler Sam Smith, author of The Jordan Rules, argues that LeBron still hasn’t matched Jordan’s overall impact. For Smith, it’s all about MJ. He even added, “I’ve never heard anybody say they wanted to be like LeBron, but everybody wanted to be like Mike.”

It’s a debate that won’t end soon, but one thing’s for sure—both players turned their greatness into a marketing phenomenon the NBA couldn’t ignore.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.