The NBA championship series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat is officially the least watched final tournament in the association’s history, with ratings plummeting after an unconventional season aimed at promoting “social justice.”
“Nielsen Media Research reports that 5.6 million viewers tuned in to ABC to watch the Los Angeles Lakers top the Miami Heat to capture the NBA title Sunday night, the lowest-rated Finals series on record,” reports The Hill.
“The series, which included the league’s biggest star in LeBron James and the second-largest market in Los Angeles, was played from the NBA’s coronavirus bubble at Wide World of Sports complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., without fans in attendance,” adds the website.
For comparison, more than 18 million people tuned-in to watch the NBA final game between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors just one year ago.
Read the full report at The Hill.
ANOTHER NEW LOW: NBA Finals Game 3 ‘Least Watched in Recorded Ratings History’
The NBA continued to hemorrhage fans over the weekend when their final championship series was viewed by less than 5 million Americans each night; the lowest recorded since the association started keeping track back in 1994.
The TV Ratings For The NBA Finals Hit Another Record Low. The Numbers Are Atrocious https://t.co/6tV8kJYdF6
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 6, 2020
The TV ratings for game three of the NBA Finals hit another record low Sunday night. The game averaged fewer than 4.4 million viewers.
The numbers are pathetic. This is what happens when you make sports political. People quit watching.
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) October 5, 2020
Well, there’s always the Chinese market
Game 1 of NBA Finals sees lowest viewership in recorded ratings history https://t.co/HAi3wKLICf
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) October 2, 2020
Dead. Good.https://t.co/KHTLa2yjn2
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) October 2, 2020
“The number is down 45 percent from last year’s Game 1 between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, which had 13.51 million viewers. This is the fourth straight year Game 1 viewership has gone down compared to the previous season,” reports Yahoo Sports.
Read the full report here.
BACKLASH: USA Today Calls LeBron James’ China Defense ‘Most Disgraceful Moment of His Career’
The backlash against NBA superstar LeBron James reached a fever-pitch Tuesday afternoon, with a major American newspaper calling his pro-China comments the “most disgraceful moment of his career.”
“On behalf of the 327 million American citizens who generally believe that freedom is good and authoritarian regimes are less good, let me apologize to LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers,” writes Dan Wolken.
“It must have been a real inconvenience to take that 13-hour chartered flight to China last week and hang around a luxury hotel in Shanghai for five days while promotional appearances got canceled. Surely it was awful to be in the middle of an international firestorm where the stakes were so high: Would preseason NBA games be played or not?” adds the author.
Hong Kong protesters slam LeBron James for comments about China, free speech https://t.co/LsukqStgei pic.twitter.com/TcKkc3p2Nw
— New York Post (@nypost) October 15, 2019
LeBron James on if Daryl Morey should be reprimanded for his tweet pic.twitter.com/6hCE8vCyNn
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 15, 2019
“LeBron, we’ve come to expect more of you. You’re obviously an intelligent person, a compassionate person and a socially conscious person. At this point in your life and career, it’s part of your brand. But to present that face to an American audience while essentially admitting that all you care about when it comes to the rest of the world is cashing those big checks — well, let’s just say it doesn’t look very good on you,” writes Wolken.
My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 15, 2019
Read the full report at USA Today.
Thank you for visiting