Kobe Bryant versus Dwight Howard is not delevering the big TV numbers the NBA was hoping for AP Photo/Gabriel Bouyes
For Game one of the 2009 NBA finals ABC earned an 8.9 rating. It now seems that the NBA public are tuning out after almost getting their dream match up of Kobe Bryant’s LA Lakers versus Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers.
Instead we have a match up of Bryant, who played game one with a fire in his eyes that has been missing recently, against Dwight Howard and his Orlando Magic. Howard in his fourth year as a pro may be looking to establish himself as a player on par with either Bryant or James.
Back to the TV numbers though, and we start to see that this league is by far a superstar league. The casual NBA fan and it seems a large percentage of their core fans are eager to see super star match ups in the final round of the playoffs. It now seems that this match up doesn't quite qualify.
The 8.9 rating 2009 Finals Game one received was off 14.4% from last year’s game one in the Boston versus Lakers match up that featured Bryant and superstar Kevin Garnett. However it was up 11.3% from the 2008 finals game one featuring Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs versus Lebron’s Cleveland squad.
While that is some positive news, this is the lowest rated NBA finals game one featuring the LA Lakers since 2000. That means this was the worst rated game one finals game over the last six NBA finals that featured Kobe and his Lakers.
For David Stern and the NBA that is not good news. While the NBA finals will beat the Stanley Cup finals in overall TV numbers the NHL’s final playoff round has been far more compelling.
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