The Big Lead

NBA Playoffs ratings on record-setting pace for ESPN/ABC

Thanks in part to a strong Lakers-Timberwolves series, ESPN's coverage of the NBA playoffs has stirred viewership numbers unseen since the network acquired rights.

By J.P. Hoornstra

Apr 27, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; The Minnesota Timberwolves dancers perform before game four of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers at Target Center.
Apr 27, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; The Minnesota Timberwolves dancers perform before game four of first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers at Target Center. / Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
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The NBA might simply have to accept its role as a cultural lightning rod — for political conservatives who like to bemoan the league's association with the Black Lives Matter movement, and for "sports conservatives" who would prefer a style of basketball that more closely resembles an earlier era.

Even Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal, perhaps the sports' two most prominent spokespeople in the media, have been quick to criticize the game that made them rich and famous.

For now at least, the critics might have to abandon their favorite measuring stick of the league's failure: television ratings.

Through the weekend, NBA playoff games were averaging 4.45 million viewers on ESPN/ABC — the networks’ highest average at this point of the postseason since it acquired rights, and up 13 percent compared to last year.

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Sunday’s Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Los Angeles Lakers Game 4 on ABC peaked with 10,274,000 viewers, a 32 percent gain compared to last year’s equivalent game (LA Clippers vs. Dallas Mavericks Game 4).

Jon Lewis reported Tuesday that the games on TNT were averaging 2.98 million, down slightly from a year ago. He notes that ESPN/ABC has had six exclusive windows (all on ABC) and TNT none thus far, plus TNT had a combined five games from the two lopsided number-1 vs. number-8 series (six including Monday’s 55-point Cleveland wipeout of Miami).

It's tempting to project a narrative on this data. It's harder to do so without bias. We'll see where the ratings go from here — and how the opinionmakers interpret them.

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