NBA: Why was famous live subreddit NBAStreams banned by Reddit?

One of Reddit's most popular sports subreddits r/NBAstreams was deleted early this year. This deletion came at a time when a lot of fans throughout the world used the subreddit to watch NBA games for free. Here is why the subreddit got taken down:

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Free streaming is... illegal

Like any other sports subreddit, NBAStreams had thousands of members who bantered about the sport, talked about their team, and shared their thoughts about basketball. But along with all this, there was another factor that majorly contributed to this page's popularity – Free Livestreams. Users used to often post links to pages that live-streamed NBA matches for free. Some of these links were even based on peer-to-peer networks which were hard to track. 

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Now, the NBA broadcasts its matches on networks and streaming sites that require the users to pay to access them. This is also the precise revenue model with which the NBA survives since broadcasts earn the NBA huge money through the audience and the advertisers. Now if people stream these pirated streams, the NBA suffers a lack of revenue since not as many people are paying to watch the match. Pirated content violates Reddit's policies and that is the exact reason Reddit took down the subreddit. If you visit reddit.com/r/NBAstreams, you will see the message that the subreddit has been banned.

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How do I stream NBA matches?

The people behind the famous subreddit have not given up and a new subreddit called r/adam_silverfanpage is claiming to be the new NBAStreams. The subreddit name is a jab at NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. This subreddit, like the earlier one, will only share illegal streams so it is highly recommended that you do not use it. 

In India, matches can be watched live in High Definition and Standard Definition on the Sony Network's sports channels and also live-streamed on the Sony LIV streaming service. Fans can also buy the 'NBA League Pass' on the NBA App to live-stream matches on the NBA's site. These services are the only legal methods to watch NBA games and it is highly recommended that the fans do not stray away to other sources.

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