Andrew Buller-Russ
There is no bigger event in basketball than the NBA Finals. All 30 NBA teams compete for 82 regular season games, just hoping for a chance to reach the playoffs. If they can climb to four wins before their opponent in four consecutive series, the ticket to the NBA championship is punched.
Every player and coach that ever steps foot in an NBA arena strives to reach one goal, winning an NBA championship trophy. Yet, as we know, several players and coaches go their entire careers without even sniffing a trip to the Finals.
While each fan has their own ideas on what an ideal NBA Finals matchup would look like, the truth is, basketball enthusiasts tune in no matter what, each and every year. It doesn’t matter who’s playing or not playing. It’s still the annually the most anticipated event in the NBA.
Except, the interest from the sports community doesn’t seem to be there early on. Despite the world having a larger population now than ever before, TV ratings for Game 1 of the NBA Finals actually took a dip compared to last season.
According to The TV Ratings Guide, Game 1 averaged just 7.62 million viewers, a stark drop from 11.4 million viewers tuning in for the series opener between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors a year ago.
Unlike the Celtics and Warriors, the Nuggets have never won an NBA championship in their 56-year existence. Adding to the intrigue, Jimmy Butler is still searching for his first ring too, so there should be plenty of excitement brimming from both teams’ fanbases. Unfortunately, that phenomenon hasn’t caught up to the rest of the world just yet.
Related: Mike Malone to Denver Nuggets: We haven’t done a damn thing
