The NBA, after Michael Jordan retired in '98, took a long 10 years to finally bring the finals viewership back to 80% of its peak period.
Hmm...
Yes!
Even so, it was only about 80%.
Because when Michael Jordan took his last shot, the real-time viewership was 36 million people.
Considering the proliferation of television over these 10 years, along with the internet's development, in fact, this year's finals needed at least 35 million viewers to catch up with the peak moments of '98.
Of course, David Stern never expected it to reach that level; even if it was around 33 million, he was quite happy.
After all, Kobe was only 28 years old, and Su Wan even younger at 22.
The two of them had every chance to create greater excitement...
Phil Jackson looked more solemn tonight than before.
He had thought that after the last game, Kobe would agree with him and stop trash-talking Su Wan.
But to his surprise, Kobe was even more resolute in his refusal.
