The New York Knicks’ first NBA championship in 53 years captivated basketball fans nationwide, delivering the most-watched NBA Finals since Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls last won a title in 1998.
Game 5 of the Finals, which saw the Knicks clinch the championship against the San Antonio Spurs, averaged 24.5 million viewers across ABC and ESPN. Viewership peaked at 33 million during the decisive moments of New York’s title-clinching victory.
The five-game series averaged 20.6 million viewers overall, more than doubling the audience from last year’s NBA Finals and setting a new high-water mark for the modern ABC era of NBA championship broadcasts.