Alex Caruso, a guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, has played in the big markets. He was on the Los Angeles Lakers team that won that franchise’s 17th championship. He played in Chicago.

Now, in one of the league’s smallest cities, he sees firsthand how much less media coverage the smaller markets get. Despite setting a franchise record for wins behind the league’s most valuable player, the Thunder had little or no press visiting them at times.

To some degree, Mr. Caruso gets it. “Part of the reason we get paid so well is because we have attention on the league and people watch the league, and a lot of that has to do with the millions of people in the big markets,” he said.

Still, he thinks it’s a missed opportunity.

“Oklahoma City’s been here for 17 years, but they treat it like they’ve won 17 titles, too,” Mr. Caruso said. “The connection that our fan base has to us is like a Michigan football, it’s like a Kentucky basketball.”

This season has offered the National Basketball Association a case study in what happens when the best teams play in less populous cities. The smaller the market, the more challenging it is to stoke appeal beyond it, even as a changing media landscape alters the way fans consume sports.

It’s possible that the N.B.A. finals will feature two of the smallest markets if the Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Indiana Pacers beat the New York Knicks in the current round. The Thunder and the Pacers are teams with a lot of talent but not many big names.