The Numbers Are In And As It Turns Out, A Ton Of People Are Watching A Miami/Denver NBA Finals

Matthew Stockman. Getty Images.

Once both the Lakers and Celtics were eliminated from their respective Conference Finals, one narrative that you heard over and over again was that Adam Silver and the NBA had to be pissed because nobody was going to watch a DEN/MIA matchup in the NBA Finals. Maybe people like myself and other basketball fans who watched all year would, but the casual fan wouldn't waste their time. I didn't really understand that way of thinking given the fact that Nikola Jokic is arguably the best player on the planet, the Nuggets were going for their first ever title, and the Heat were on a war path taking down every title favorite in route to potentially making NBA history themselves. 

As it turns out, plenty of people seem to be watching

So for all those asking who the hell wants to watch a Nuggets/Heat Finals, I guess the answer appears to be a shit ton of people? In terms of this era of NBA basketball, I'd say BOS/GS is a pretty big matchup loaded with history, stars, storylines etc and as you can see, the 2023 Finals are matching those numbers so something tells me Adam Silver isn't too upset at how things shook out.

Not only that, but through two games these Finals have been wildly entertaining! Do you have any idea who is going to win right now? Nope! Anything and everything is still on the table as we head to South Beach, and that's what everyone (and the league) should want. These Finals sure do seem like we may be headed for 7 games, in which case everybody wins. We as fans get a highly competitive and long series before we have to say goodbye to basketball until Summer League, the NBA makes their money, everyone is happy.

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Hopefully, these numbers will show the league and the big networks that it IS possible to market and talk about NBA basketball without everything revolving around the Lakers or Celtics or other big markets. People care about much more than that. The only time we really hear about any of the other "smaller" market teams is how their best players need to leave to go to LA. Remember the narrative around the Nuggets heading into the Finals? About how they were boring and not compelling?

Whoops!

Something tells me Game 3 is going to be pretty damn compelling. How will the Nuggets adjust? Can the Heat really put the pressure on and take both games at home after dropping their last two games in that building? Can the under .500 on the road Nuggets steal one? Will Jimmy Butler snap out of his little mini funk? As good as these Finals may have been already, something tells me they're about to get even better.