Amid one of the most electrifying NBA Finals matchups in recent memory, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is calling out a trend that continues to overshadow the on-court brilliance: an obsession with TV ratings. As the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers battle for their first-ever championship, Silver is urging fans and media to stop fixating on numbers and instead focus on the basketball itself.
Ahead of Game 2 of the 2025 Finals, Silver addressed the ever-growing ratings chatter that seems to follow the league year-round, calling it an odd but persistent phenomenon.
“I think about it a lot. I mean, on one hand, I’m looking at Mike Bass, the Head of Communications, and I like the fact that people are talking about us. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. It seems a little unusual how much discussion there is around ratings in this league.”
“Again, as I said, I’m a fan of all sports and I follow lots of media and it seems like there’s a lot more chatter.”
“And even for me, just walking down the street and fans coming up to me often and it frustrates me that the first thing they say is, ‘how are the ratings,’ or, ‘what are the ratings going to be,’ as opposed to, ‘wow, you just had two incredible Conference Finals. What a great playoff series you’ve had.’ So I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
He has a point. While the narrative around a supposed ratings “collapse” continues to echo across sports talk shows and social media, the actual numbers tell a more nuanced story. The 2025 Eastern Conference Finals between the Pacers and Knicks averaged 7 million viewers, up 10 percent from last year.
It was also the most-watched East Finals that ended in six games or fewer in over a decade. Even the Western Conference Finals, despite lacking a coastal market, still averaged nearly 5.6 million viewers.
And overall, the NBA Playoffs are up three percent from last season across ABC, ESPN, and TNT. Beyond television, the league’s digital footprint is exploding. The NBA hit a record 32 billion social media views through the Conference Finals, up 62 percent from last year. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander alone generated a staggering 864 million views through the postseason, leading all players.
Yet the focus remains on Nielsen ratings, often to the detriment of the game itself. Silver hinted that some of this narrative is shaped by the media partners themselves, who lean into negative storylines for engagement rather than showcasing the positive evolution of the sport.
He added that some of this obsession may be rooted in nostalgia. For years, the NBA Finals were dominated by teams like the Lakers, Celtics, or Warriors, and fans grew used to seeing legacy markets thrive.
With OKC and Indiana, two so-called “small markets,” now in the spotlight, some are quick to question their legitimacy from a ratings standpoint rather than celebrate the quality of play.
Game 1 was a thriller, decided in the final seconds with Tyrese Haliburton hitting another late-game dagger. It may not have set a ratings record, but it delivered a moment fans won’t soon forget.
Adam Silver’s message is clear: stop counting views and start appreciating the view.
