Despite the fact that the first two games have provided little in the way of intrigue thus far in the 2017 NBA Finals (the first quarter of Game 1 and the first half of Game 2 were amazing though), the trilogy is still alluring to the masses as the first two games of the NBA Finals are the highest rated since 1998.
Ratings for 2017 #NBAFinals highest since Jordan's last title in 1998 https://t.co/G9mxRhQYso #Warriors #Cavs #DubsOnNBCS pic.twitter.com/vVHa8AMMm1
— NBC Sports Bay Area & CA (@NBCSAuthentic) June 6, 2017
Game 1 and 2 averaged 19.6 million viewers, up five percent from last year’s finals. The last time the NBA Finals garnered as much far reaching interest was in Michael Jordan’s final season with the Chicago Bulls, when he hit “The Shot” and won his sixth and final NBA championship.
It is not often that you are able to watch anywhere from four to six future hall of famers on the court in the same series (LeBron, Durant, Curry, Irving, Thompson, Draymond) and the 3 best players in the league all vying for an NBA title.
There has admittedly been little intrigue in the 2017 postseason as a whole as this matchup felt as predetermined as any ever and thus far two dominating performances by the Warriors has been a bit disappointing.
While watching their greatness is special in and of itself, we are all hoping (save for Warriors fans and LeBron haters) that Cleveland can muster up a fight and make this the epic battle we were hoping for.
A Game 6 or a Game 7 would probably break ratings records with this matchup.