To be honest, I'm also quite puzzled by this question. Is it really the case that the basketball kingdom is destined to abandon soccer? There are some interesting arguments in the article below:
1 - Americans don't like continuous sports.
2 - Soccer is a team sport, but Americans prefer individuality.
3 - Americans are fascinated by game rules, but soccer seems too simple.
4 - Soccer is a game for people of medium build, whereas Americans...
5 - Americans like order and precision.
6 - Fairness; indeed, there are too many tricks in soccer.
I think the last point might be very important. One responder said: all (soccer) players are liars.