The NBA (National Basketball Association) is riding the wave of vMVPDs (virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributors), with the North American basketball league achieving its highest ever share of vMVPD viewing. More than a quarter of the NBA’s viewership now comes from services like YouTube TV, with basketball fans increasingly streaming on smartphones, tablets, and games consoles. While liberating for the NBA on one hand, the caveat of fragmentation is a complex and frustrating audience measurement environment. Speaking during a fireside chat at Streaming Media Connect, the NBA’s VP of Global Media Insights, Michelle Auguste, did not have kind words for Nielsen. “Nielsen has been the industry standard since the 1950s, but the model was built solely on traditional TV. Nielsen…