jdd32 | Spurs

798 | 17 hours ago

Not often a hyped series delivers this hard this early. Great for the NBA, this rivalry is going to grow the next generation of fans.

thetalkinghawk | Thunder

197 | 17 hours ago

Regardless of the outcome of this series things are going preeeetty good gotta say

acciopizza_ | Spurs

171 | 17 hours ago

Two small market teams with ratings this high? It’s a fucking win regardless of the outcome

jonathanisaacisgoat | Magic

45 | 17 hours ago

Are the spurs still considered a small market team

Tyranitator | Spurs

90 | 17 hours ago

Yes, we’re a bottom 10 market in terms of size

cat_piss_lint_trap | Supersonics

69 | 17 hours ago

That’s not what Charles Barkley tells me.

MrWompypants | Knicks

18 | 15 hours ago

Spurs are #1 in size but not in size you feel

captain_ahabb | Lakers

6 | 15 hours ago

Girth counts too

SkillIsTooLow | Supersonics

0 | 13 hours ago

6 inches is not 6 inches, I’ll explain later

jonathanisaacisgoat | Magic

13 | 17 hours ago

Wild cause isn’t SA the 2nd most populated Texas city

sorelien

41 | 17 hours ago

You’re thinking of the city population specifically, but metro area is a better metric. It goes Dallas, Houston, and then San Antonio, but there’s a really big drop off from Houston to SA

halo364 | Celtics

14 | 15 hours ago

Because I’m contractually obligated to bring Boston into this, Boston is another great example of this phenomenon. By technical city size, Boston is waaaaaay down on the list of US cities, probably like 30-40 if I had to guess. But by metro area, it’s just outside the top 10, which makes much more sense given the amount of media attention it gets

Duzcek | Knicks

7 | 14 hours ago

Miami City: 442k (42nd in the U.S.)

Miami Metro: 6.07 million (4th in the U.S.)

Armanewb | Spurs

4 | 14 hours ago

City of Atlanta: 530k (#37)

Atlanta Metro: 6.48M (#6)

Side note Wikipedia has Miami metro at 6.39M but #8 in the US

DoesntMatterBrian | Spurs

3 | 6 hours ago

IMO you have to consider Austin part of Spurs territory. It’s right up I-35 and the cities are culturally tied. The Spurs even play home games in Austin at the Moody Center.

CaptainPussybeast | Spurs

17 | 17 hours ago

Our TV market size is small

Jonny_Qball | Pistons

1 | an hour ago

Which is crazy because shouldn’t your TV market also include Austin/Round Rock/San Marcos? That’s 2 separate metros in the top 25 of the US (albeit #24 and 24)

paul_f | Timberwolves

12 | 16 hours ago

city populations are spurious. always look up the metro size.

jdd32 | Spurs

7 | 16 hours ago

Technically. But we get a lot of Mexico, and now France. I think we have the fan base of a big market now

ridemooses | Bucks

3 | 17 hours ago

24th largest out of 28. So I guess yes?

Diorstrikestwice

2 | 17 hours ago

NBA definitely wants wemby the next face in the garden wanna see those finals numbers

HerkulezRokkafeller | Jazz

45 | 17 hours ago

So glad this is on NBC/Peacock and not WWESPN

Domainsetter

34 | 17 hours ago

It being on NBC adds to this. Every game is on broadcast TV.

OSUfan88

9 | 16 hours ago

I was told by Reddit that nobody would watch OKC, and that they had already ruined the sport.

jdd32 | Spurs

11 | 16 hours ago

Everyone loves to hate a good heel. It’s why Mayweather was the biggest draw for years

No-Owl-6246 | Lakers

1 | 10 hours ago

I made so much free money betting people Mayweather would win fights. They all genuinely thought he was a fraud and every fight was due for a loss because he wasn’t a good boxer. They legitimately thought all the punches he dipped away from were clean hits.

AlfaMenel | Raptors

1 | 3 hours ago

Every good story needs a villain.

Extra-Tax-9259 | Thunder

2 | 9 hours ago

“Unwatchable”
*hate watches two hours later*

Iloveskinnywomen

-1 | 16 hours ago

Not a rivalry spurs own the thunder

Extreme-Site-8496 | Lakers

331 | 17 hours ago

Spurs Knicks finals would do insane numbers

Positive_Register_94

112 | 17 hours ago

Could hit 20 M for a game 6 or 7

EpicBlinkstrike187 | Pacers

52 | 17 hours ago

Without a doubt it would. Thunder v Knicks would do it too honestly.

The Pacers Thunder game 7 peaked at 19.2m and averaged 16.3m. NY Finals game 7 would kill those numbers imo

JustAManAndHisLaptop | Spurs

7 | 17 hours ago

It would t go that far lol

MurseShark | Spurs

50 | 17 hours ago

Bro gtfoh. Knicks are a good ass matchup for us.

Novel_Ask_4226

20 | 17 hours ago

Or a bad match up, depending how you look at it

BaconKnight | Suns

15 | 17 hours ago

Yeah like I’m still taking the alien, but Knicks uniquely have OG on defense and KAT on offense to at least put up a fight with Wemby, and they can play both players on the court at the same time unlike other teams that are built to only have one big on the floor at all times.

Steridire | Knicks

14 | 17 hours ago

There’s no centre in the league better positioned to draw Wemby out of the paint…unfortunately he can still block layups from the 3PT line

MurseShark | Spurs

3 | 16 hours ago

Yea dude Kat is a huge issue. Maybe we can get Mitchell Robinson out of the game because he’s a big issue for us also.

Winter-Olive-5832 | Wizards

1 | 3 hours ago

why not put wemby on a non shooter he can help off of

NoShape0 | Spurs

9 | 17 hours ago

maybe they meant we’d get swept 😵

JimC29 | NBA

8 | 17 hours ago

I think many people are under estimating the Knicks. I wouldn’t bet on them straight up, but I think they will make a competitive series against either team.

BedKlutzy9141 | Knicks

9 | 17 hours ago

Knicks took the Cup!

Duzcek | Knicks

3 | 14 hours ago

Cocky are we.

Diorstrikestwice

2 | 17 hours ago

Indiana okc got 16 million last year. knicks in a game 7 vs wemby could get close that would have the biggest city in america talking about that game

zoom518 | Knicks

23 | 17 hours ago

In this day and age it could actually do better than 1999

Victor_Wembanyama1 | Spurs

14 | 17 hours ago

Yeah new york would be in ruins

awmaleg | Suns

8 | 17 hours ago

On regular old over-the-air NBC. A return to good old free tv helps too. I like to think the theme song helps too!

mikuyo1 | Bulls

6 | 16 hours ago

Finals will be on ABC, not NBC

SeaworthinessSome454

5 | 17 hours ago

It would also just be the best finals we’ve had in an incredibly long time.

Flat-Neat-3584

42 | 17 hours ago

OKC vs Pacers last year was a great final

Mg29reaper | Celtics

4 | 17 hours ago

Those are tiny markets though so less viewership

SeaworthinessSome454

0 | 17 hours ago

And nobody wanted to watch OKC

WarlockEngineer | Trail Blazers

3 | 14 hours ago

Until game 7 😭

Affectionate_Yak6739

3 | 16 hours ago

Lol Knicks would stand no chance

SeaworthinessSome454

9 | 16 hours ago

Yeah, it’s not like we’ve seen the knicks play the spurs in a high stakes game. Oh wait, we have, and they won.

TheMindsGutter | SAS

7 | 16 hours ago

I was about to say, the Knicks matchup very well against them.

SeaworthinessSome454

3 | 16 hours ago

The combo of Kat and Mitchell Robinson is a phenomenal matchup for Wemby for completely different reasons. Especially with the Knicks using Kat as the facilitator at the top of the key, Wemby is going to be drawn out of the paint.

Josh hart won’t be able to play at the same time as Wemby and Kat tho. Otherwise they’ll put Wemby on hart and let him be free roamer

HokageEzio | Knicks

1 | 15 hours ago

Everybody has to get their lolknicks jokes in no matter how good the Knicks play.

Vast_Combination_110 | Spurs

3 | 16 hours ago

Any Knicks finals after 27 years would do insane numbers.

TastyPoopKnife

139 | 17 hours ago

Should really be for the championship. These 2 teams could win 8 of the next 10 championships between them the way they are set up.

-xXxMangoxXx- | Raptors

84 | 17 hours ago

Basically just a repeat of the lakers and spurs rivalry from the 2000s.

anonymoususer6407 | Rockets

38 | 17 hours ago

The Spurs being good is just a constant. Only team to have won a championship in the past 3 decades, soon to be 4.

-xXxMangoxXx- | Raptors

32 | 17 hours ago

It’s unfair how lucky they are along with being so well run most of their all time greats just constantly hang around with the team.

SeaworthinessSome454

23 | 17 hours ago

That’s not lucky, that’s a sign of a good organization

-xXxMangoxXx- | Raptors

32 | 17 hours ago

The luck is getting Tim, wemby, castle, Harper

TerrySaucer69 | Spurs

15 | 17 hours ago

I agree we are lucky, but you choose an odd set of players as proof.
Getting David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and Wemby is crazy unfair luck.

Getting castle at 4th isn’t particularly notable, and Harper is lucky, but the sort of luck most teams occasionally have. (Also it happened because Wemby was out a year with blood clots, so not really a lucky situation overall)

-xXxMangoxXx- | Raptors

10 | 17 hours ago

It’s wemby into castle into Harper that makes it lucky. Compared to the jazz’s tank, I would say that’s really lucky.

Duzcek | Knicks

0 | 14 hours ago

Is it just the draft or are the spurs better at developing rookies?

SeaworthinessSome454

-1 | 14 hours ago

The jazz tank failed bc they’re a failure of an organization that’s terrible at developing talent. They’ve picked high in the lottery like 5 years in a row now and have nothing to show for it. That’s nobody’s fault but their own.

quizblorg3 | Thunder

7 | 17 hours ago

I think it’s more about consistently moving up in the lottery luck. That being said, SA absolutely nailed the picks outside of the obvious #1 picks so they certainly deserve credit for that. Top tier organization from the top down

1gnominious | Rockets

1 | 15 hours ago

Castle wasn’t luck. He got passed over by 3 other teams who all whiffed.

That was just everybody else being bad.

TreyTreyStu | Pistons

1 | 14 hours ago

They’re undoubtedly the luckiest team in the league. 3 #1 picks all in can’t miss drafts with generational big men. By the numbers they are literally the most lucky lottery team in the league.

General1lol

6 | 15 hours ago

Lakers won in 2000, 2010, and 2020. How is that not the past three decades?

NotAnurag | Spurs

2 | 17 hours ago

Past 3* decades

Beneficial-Hawk-4752

1 | 16 hours ago

Lakers won in 2000, 2010, 2020 … you dont consider that 3 decades ? Ok lets go back to 1996 - 2026 then … Lakers still have more 6 compared to 5. Spurs only won because Lakers were tired after winning 3 straight when the Spurs beat them in the 2003 WCF … then Shaq & Kobe broke up and the Spurs won in 2005 again and then could never repeat but won again in 2007 when Kobe still had nobody on his team to help … don’t forget Kobe was the Spurs Killer!!! not so much Shaq because they had Duncan to “kind of slow” Shaq down LOL … Then Kobe & the Lakers showed the Spurs how to repeat when he got Gasol to join him LOL.

TastyPoopKnife

1 | 15 hours ago

And earlier than that Lakers and Celtics with Magic and Bird leading the way

knowshon

10 | 17 hours ago

In this era of injuries (and more so going forward), talent in the league coming from all over the world, second aprons, etc, I wouldn’t really count on a couple teams dominating that far into the future.

TastyPoopKnife

1 | 15 hours ago

Of course you’re probably right. But both teams are very young and set up well with future draft capital. The Spurs core of Harper, Castle and Wemby is 20, 21 & 22. CRAZY!!!!!!!!!

CutLonzosHair2017 | LAL

12 | 17 hours ago

Definitely not. This is just you being in the moment. Spurs are gonna hit cap hell after next year and they’re a team whose ownership has never been willing to foot large tax bills.

And OKC will start shedding talent this year. And although they have picks, they won’t really have time to develop them like they would like.

loegare | Knicks

7 | 16 hours ago

second apron comes for us all

TastyPoopKnife

3 | 15 hours ago

Eh. You can pay 2 or 3 as long as you still have draft equity and you draft well to get young talent on cost controlled contracts. OKC has half of the NBA’s draft picks it seems moving forward and nice young talent on the bench. The Spurs core includes Harper and Castle who are still on rookie contracts and they are in good shape with pics as well but not to the extent of OKC. These teams barring injury are set for quite some time.

CutLonzosHair2017 | LAL

0 | 15 hours ago

For the Spurs picks aren’t really a factor. They’re going to hit the cap with 7 players on the roster. And every player after that will have to be a minimum. That’d be the end of their depth. Unless they’d be willing to pay the tax. Which they have never done before.

And OKC is going to start shedding salaries this year. And will not have any reprieve from the second apron outside of trading away cornerstones. With Chet, SGA, and Jalen Williams, the OKC Thunder will be 30m from the second apron until 2030. Picks or not, they’re going to have roughly 30m of space to fill out 12 roster spots each of those years.

TastyPoopKnife

4 | 15 hours ago

The cap is a bitch for sure. But it’s that way for all teams. These teams will keep their best three and fill around the edges with cheap vets and young cost controlled players. Even if OKC sheds J-Dub and Lou Dort they have Cason Wallace, Jared McCain and Ajay Mitchell waiting in the wings. Brother they’re stacked and still have a million picks. And the Spurs young core is special with another cost controlled player in Carter Bryant. These teams are going nowhere even in this age of the cap.

CutLonzosHair2017 | LAL

0 | 15 hours ago

That’s what you’re missing. All of those guys are gonna be shed for OKC not some. They will not be able to carry any non-minimums without moving Williams, Chet, or SGA. Shedding will start this year, but continue ever year going forward. Because their cap situation is not going to get better, or even stay the same, its going to get worse.

Spurs would be in the best position if their ownership wasn’t one of the cheapest. But they are.

TastyPoopKnife

1 | 15 hours ago

Ownership matters for sure. Both teams have excellent front offices but you have to pay the tax at some point to stay at the top. We shall see how that plays out. But I think we can both agree on it’s better to be the Spurs and OKC than anybody else in the NBA hands down.

CutLonzosHair2017 | LAL

3 | 14 hours ago

For the next year or two sure. After that absolutely not. Which was my point. Another team is going to move into a better spot than these two teams within 2 calendar years. Maybe even next year. Reality is the current CBA does not allow for long term contention.

[deleted]

0 | 15 hours ago

[deleted]

CutLonzosHair2017 | LAL

2 | 15 hours ago

No chance. They’re making noise about moving Ihart and Caruso this summer. You don’t do that if you’re willing to eat the second apron. Not that it matters. Even if a team was willing to eat the 2nd apron once. Repeated years in the second apron would bankrupt Balmer let alone any other owner.

Winter-Olive-5832 | Wizards

1 | 3 hours ago

7 is plenty lol

captain_ahabb | Lakers

3 | 16 hours ago

I’m taking the under on anything higher than 3

TastyPoopKnife

1 | 15 hours ago

You’d get a lot of takers on that bet for the over.

Lyranx

2 | 17 hours ago

This is the true finals

sneakers91

56 | 17 hours ago

For a largely neutral fan, that game was an absolute treat. I bet it was so stressful for SA and OKC fans

pintvricchio | SAS

16 | 17 hours ago

I really enjoyed it, haven’t been that much into a ball game since 2014

YangoUnchained | Spurs

9 | 16 hours ago

Nah man inject more of these games into my veins. I live for this type of competition.

Comfortable_Cup5107 | Thunder

7 | 14 hours ago

Ya like it sucked we lost, but what the fuck they was so fun and didn’t want it to end. When wemby hit that shot of course I was like fuck, but I was a lil hype cause what the fuck lol

YangoUnchained | Spurs

2 | 14 hours ago

Going to be a hell of a series I think

H1Ed1 | Lakers

2 | 5 hours ago

First time I’ve rewatched an entire game in I don’t know how many years. Absolute cinema.

KineticFinch

44 | 17 hours ago

Well, duh. It was a good ass game.

Public_Radio-

42 | 17 hours ago

Game was cinema

FunIllustrator6890 | Jazz

32 | 17 hours ago

“No one cares about small markets!!”

Something fans of small market teams have had to endure since forever.

Almost like viewers just enjoy exciting, high level competition and don’t give a damn about games not being played in Los Angeles.

kemicalkontact

1 | 13 hours ago

Well the thing is those Timmy D Spurs didn’t get great ratings even though they were elite and high level.

iamsonuxd | Spurs

36 | 17 hours ago

Wemby effect 👽 🛸

TyposIncoming | Lakers

33 | 17 hours ago

Wemby is a superstar and is the face of the NBA going forward

heat_fan_ | Raptors

20 | 17 hours ago

It was hell of a game

ContextEnjoyer69 | Bulls

14 | 17 hours ago

I was told people are tuning out and the league is in decline. Was I misled? Could all of those r/nba comments have been wrong? Much to consider.

Winter-Olive-5832 | Wizards

1 | 3 hours ago

I mean I think it was always media reports telling us that, and the Reddit comments saying it was because of lack of access, which was true

wheretocop1of1

15 | 17 hours ago

So much for market sizes

NittanyScout | Spurs

10 | 17 hours ago

And it delivered

sirgrotius

9 | 17 hours ago

Wemby in line for a super-duper max contract after these numbers!!

Completely changing the game and love how both of these teams play. Great stuff. I feel bad for the Knicks or Cavs. Can they win a game?

NoShape0 | Spurs

4 | 17 hours ago

In the reg season Spurs did worse against the Cavs and Knicks than against the Thunder 🤷‍♂️

nbaistheworst

1 | 16 hours ago

Do you really think reg season records without context mean anything in the Finals?

NoShape0 | Spurs

2 | 16 hours ago

Context is important and they shouldn’t be completely ingnored

LaggingAround

5 | 16 hours ago

I am shocked people think so lowly of these Knicks. They are going to surprise a lot of people in the finals

sirgrotius

1 | 5 hours ago

Point taken. Mike Brown has got them unlocked and although they might not have a name such as LeBron, Wemby, Curry, Brunson is secretly on or close to that tier at least a workingperson’s version.

LaggingAround

1 | 4 hours ago

I just feel people are downplaying the east like they did last year. Same thing last year where OKC was playing brilliant basketball and claimed whoever came out of the east (Pacers or Knicks) were going to get destroyed.

What happened though? Pacers took them to game 7 and honestly could’ve won the game if Hali didn’t get injured that game

Winter-Olive-5832 | Wizards

1 | 3 hours ago

they were just down 20 to the Cavs before they choked lol

LaggingAround

1 | 3 hours ago

Rusty Knicks + returning OG who was obviously not as confident or playing like he was the first two series

Also acting like the OKC didn’t have a similar comeback last year (the year they won the title)

Like what am I reading now lol

Winter-Olive-5832 | Wizards

1 | 3 hours ago

I don’t think they can overcome the thunder or spurs. defense is sus. offense stalls frequently. heavily reliant on Brunson heroics

ButlerFromDowntown | Bulls

5 | 17 hours ago

Pretty incredible to have a matchup hyped up so much and then to see it still exceed the hype and by so much too. I had been worried this series would end up more boring than people thought, and I suppose that’s still a possibility for the rest of the series, but that game 1 will be one of the most remembered playoff games of all time.

thejuan | Spurs

7 | 17 hours ago

Hmm this Wemby guy seems pretty popular

imbutawaveto | OKC

2 | 17 hours ago

Cute you think that, but they were obviously tuning in to see Caruso’s 30 bomb 😤😤😤

No-Inside2846 | Thunder

1 | 10 hours ago

I was!

HawtPackage | Raptors

6 | 17 hours ago

Adam Silver:

“How can I get the Lakers and Warriors in the WCF? That’s what people actually want to see.”

A-Centrifugal-Force

7 | 17 hours ago

Further proof that the low ratings for the Duncan Spurs were because Duncan wasn’t a big star in the media and not that small markets can never get viewership

HenrikCrown | Pelicans

6 | 17 hours ago

The new era is finally here

cosmicdave86 | Jazz

5 | 17 hours ago

Game delivered and its a really hype matchup.

Should note though, viewership records have been shattered consistently this year across many sports due to changes in how they determine viewership.

nawksnai | Raptors

5 | 17 hours ago

Shaolin Wemby clips making their rounds AGAIN!

We throw the term “superstar” around far too easily, but Wemby is a superstar.

Winter-Olive-5832 | Wizards

1 | 3 hours ago

I haven’t heard anybody getting called superstar lately though

ShweatyPalmsh | Thunder

3 | 17 hours ago

Obviously I would have liked to win, but sort of awesome to have two of the smaller/medium size market teams have this much of a draw.

HankScorpio4242

5 | 17 hours ago

This is from AI but here you go.

1998 Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 (Bulls vs. Pacers): Pulled in over 15 million viewers on NBC. Michael Jordan’s final run with Chicago captured a massive, consolidated broadcast audience that dwarfed any modern opener.

2001 Western Conference Finals Game 1 (Lakers vs. Spurs): Averaged 11.2 million viewers on NBC during the height of the Shaq and Kobe Lakers dominance.

1993 Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 (Bulls vs. Knicks): Drew an estimated 13.5 million viewers on NBC, fueled by the intense, physical rivalry between Chicago and New York.

TheRealPdGaming | Mavericks

4 | 16 hours ago

So this is talking specifically about western conference finals.

2001 Western Conference Finals Game 1 (Lakers vs. Spurs): Averaged 11.2 million viewers on NBC during the height of the Shaq and Kobe Lakers dominance.

So I just looked it up and AI is just bugging.

Game 1 (Sat, May 19) — Lakers 104 @ Spurs - National Rating: 6.0

toggl3d

1 | 16 hours ago

A 6 is roughly 9 million viewers I think, but it’s hard to track down exactly.

HankScorpio4242

0 | 16 hours ago

A national rating of 6 represents 6 million households, not 6 million people. That represents roughly 10-12 million viewers.

This is why it’s hard to compare ratings over time. In 1991 that meant 10-12 million people sitting down in the living room to watch the game on TV. Now you have people watching on their phones or laptops so the old metrics don’t apply.

toggl3d

1 | 16 hours ago

I think a 6 represents a percentage.

HankScorpio4242

0 | 16 hours ago

It’s the percentage of households with televisions. There were around 100 million households with televisions, so each percent represents 1 million households.

It didn’t work like that anymore because people don’t only watch TV in their home, so the number of households is irrelevant.

Write3120

1 | 12 hours ago

I thought it was percentage of tv’s that were ON and watching anything.

zoom518 | Knicks

4 | 17 hours ago

Love my dying league /s

Dar4125 | Thunder

5 | 16 hours ago

It’s Wemby vs reigning champs, of course it’s gonna do ridiculous numbers lol

chitoatx | Bulls

4 | 15 hours ago

I just don’t understand these numbers. When the NBA was in NBC during the Jordan Bulls viewership was 40 million. Even the Utah Jazz Western Conference finals had 13 to 14 million.

People scrolling past a highlight clip to be “views” is not the same as a human being sitting down and watching the game.

by_yes_i_mean_no | Warriors

3 | 15 hours ago

It was a great game and highly anticipated I am sure, but it being on NBC was probably crucial for this stat.

bananasmash14 | Lakers

2 | 10 hours ago

I’m shocked I had to scroll this far down to see this. When was the last time a conference finals opener was on an OTA broadcast?

Appropriate-Tart-609

4 | 17 hours ago

Just like they planned it too

tjc815 | Thunder

3 | 17 hours ago

I was told that not only was the NBA dying and viewership declining, but that one particular team was the cause

TheGoatPurdy | Warriors

8 | 17 hours ago

Nobody wants to watch Thunder bruh. We tuning in for Wemby and Spurs ethical bball

NotVacant | Thunder

3 | 16 hours ago

Okay

tjc815 | Thunder

3 | 16 hours ago

Elbows and shoulders and suspension proof?

Well, you’re a fan of draymond so I can see it lol

Distinct_Source_2194

2 | 17 hours ago

Not surprised. Everyone wants to tune in and watch ethical basketball win over unethical basketball.

Geiseric222

0 | 17 hours ago

How could you even know that

imbutawaveto | OKC

1 | 17 hours ago

(Ron Howard voice) they don’t

Geiseric222

2 | 17 hours ago

What’s funny is they are probably right but only that people like to see the big bad lose, nothing about ethics or anything

Like how people tuned in to see the pats potential lose

Sports need a villian

killersky99

2 | 17 hours ago

Would be way more if it was on Amazon Prime, had to sail the seas

loplopol | Thunder

2 | 11 hours ago

NBC is free over the air. Just order an antenna on Prime lol

No-Fill1769 | Mavericks

2 | 17 hours ago

Could you imagine this game paywalled behind Prime 🤮

crusader104 | Cavaliers

2 | 17 hours ago

If those game 1s don’t bring in viewers I don’t know what could

theeExample | Raptors

2 | 17 hours ago

Now imagine how many people were watching it on less than legal avenues

Craigboy23 | Timberwolves

2 | 17 hours ago

Spurs v Knicks will be the highest watched finals of all time (if that’s the matchup)

here_for_the_lols | Thunder

2 | 16 hours ago

I have been told 200 times this year that the thunder are unwatchable

dabomtitan

1 | 16 hours ago

They watched for the Spurs. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Plane-Gur2798 | Thunder

2 | 16 hours ago

The hate watching fuelling the NBA to new heights

tonypearcern | HOU

2 | 16 hours ago

Awesome hopefully this means the refs will continue to let the teams play.

WeevilKnievel | Thunder

2 | 11 hours ago

That first game was amazing

bookienightmare75

2 | 5 hours ago

as soon as i saw this on social media i already knew what was gonna happen in game 2.

starshame2

2 | 4 hours ago

Im a Spurs fan but its cool to see 2 small market teams with potential dynasties.

Ready_Preparation816 | Spurs

2 | 17 hours ago

Face of the league conversation is over. Shouldnt even be talked about anymore.

No-Inside2846 | Thunder

0 | 10 hours ago

Cause one really good game? Every single player has dominating games, bam had over 80 lmao

Wemby is good, but he’s not better than Luka or Jokic.

Ready_Preparation816 | Spurs

1 | 5 hours ago

ok bro

CutLonzosHair2017 | LAL

1 | 17 hours ago

I find all these apple to oranges comparisons for historic ratings dumb as fuck.

Zagethademonking

1 | 17 hours ago

Most hyped game since the warriors days

jumboshrimp93 | Celtics

1 | 17 hours ago

I didn’t watch this game and deeply regret it

BananaRepublic_BR | Spurs

1 | 17 hours ago

Big mistake.

304rising

1 | 17 hours ago

Tonight will be over 10 mil

anonymoususer6407 | Rockets

1 | 17 hours ago

The hype, plus a lot of people tuning in since the game went to OT, and then even more when it went to double OT probably.

SuperShadowStar | Spurs

1 | 17 hours ago

Wemby has the Ohtani effect.

I_lost_mybackupcodes | Spurs

1 | 17 hours ago

Man, I was a senior in high school when the spurs played the heat in the finals for the second time & how at the time it was lowest viewership for a finals & now everyone wants to watch the spurs. Feels good man

ReporterAmbitious330

1 | 16 hours ago

To be fair the 2014 spurs were 2 to 3 tiers above the heat. Unless you were a spurs fan or liked the beautiful game it was not close so not as exciting to watch.

mrsardo | Thunder Bandwagon

1 | 17 hours ago

Adam Silver knew the whole time rigging the league for OKC would be great for ratings. League needed a heel. 4d chess grandmaster.

denimmanila

2 | 2 hours ago

Look at game 2. It will be that way til game 7.

Ok_Owl1991

1 | 17 hours ago

Drove 1.3 billion views and counting across social media, the most ever for a Conference Finals game and the second most for any NBA game ever

wonder what #1 is???

buckminsterfullereno | Spurs

1 | 16 hours ago

I think it’s a combination of multiple factors. DPOY vs MVP, and it’s on the peacock 🦚.

My wife uses this streaming service for a lot of shows. It was easy to access and the ads were not horrible.

neongem | Supersonics

1 | 16 hours ago

This series is going to be a big win for the league. Most hyped series since Warriors vs Cavs, both teams have recognizable young superstars and should be contending for years to come and finally a star looks to be emerging as the league’s next face. I saw so many Wemby posts from ppl that don’t even follow the NBA after game 1. If the NBA and Nike know what’s good for them, Wemby should be pushed everywhere this summer regardless of what happens in this series.

Yommination | Lakers

1 | 16 hours ago

Well it’s the real NBA finals

fibberjabber | Raptors

1 | 16 hours ago

They tried really hard to ruin it with their camera work and audio difficulties.

GotMoFans | Grizzlies

1 | 15 hours ago

In 1996, the Bulls semi-finals against the Knicks had a rating of 13.9 which translates to 13.3 million households which would be more than 14 million people.

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1996/may/14/bulls-knicks-series-boosts-tv-ratings/

I’d expect the Western Conference Finals game 1 between the Sonics and Utah that season would have an audience bigger than 9.2 million.

the_chin2

1 | 14 hours ago

Imagine Wemby played for the Knicks.

Far-Veterinarian104 | Rockets

1 | 12 hours ago

Nba on NBC was the best thing to happen to modern basketball

Chinbie

1 | 10 hours ago

We just love this series, thats why many are tuning on this series

Active-Pineapple-252

1 | 6 hours ago

Its a instant classic

charlton11 | Timberwolves

1 | 6 hours ago

So much for taking it to the NBA for OKC’s basketball terrorism.

PAN--

1 | 5 hours ago

But all of you NPCs in here keep telling us that the league is unwatchable

macaulaymcgloklin | Spurs

0 | 16 hours ago

Silver found his Stone Cold vs Undertaker series

opkpopfanboyv3

0 | 16 hours ago

I’m interested to see if Wemby will draw numbers like Steph/Lebron

CollectionVarious210

1 | 16 hours ago

He will, but he needs a rival.

TheBeljumWaffle

-3 | 13 hours ago

HOLY FLOP SGA….. Cut it out dude seriously

NBA PR: The San Antonio Spurs’ double-overtime victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder to open the Western Conference Finals delivered the highest average viewership for a Western Conference Finals Game 1 on record, averaging 9.2 million viewers on NBC/Peacock