WOODBURY – Over the years the NBA Finals viewership has slowly decreased. There just hasn’t been that much hype around the sport anymore. No big rivalries, no super teams, no dynasties, just boring basketball. 

The NBA Finals just don’t feel like a special event anymore. 

To be fair the league wasn’t given much to work with for last year’s finals ,either. They had two small market teams, the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder with no historical rivalries who at the time had both never won a championship.

According to Sports Media Watch, during Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals the league only averaged 9.54 million viewers which was down 19% from last season’s Game 5. It was the least watched Game 5 since the Spurs vs Nets on a Friday night in the 2003 NBA Finals. 

Viewers feel less relevancy with the NBA and the Finals as a whole.

“My tuning into the NBA has decreased as the years have gone by. I still will watch from time to time, but I just have not enjoyed how the game of basketball has changed over the past several years,” said Ryan Campernario, gym and wellness teacher at Nonnewaug. “However, I am more interested in the playoffs and more so the NBA Finals. I feel as if the Finals have not been as relevant as years ago but that is just my honest opinion.”

The league hasn’t had many exciting rivalries over the past few years; this is partly because a new team has been crowned champion every season. The last back to back champion was the Golden State Warriors back in 2018. In short, fans love superteams.

A factor towards the finals decline is the lack of rivalry series occurring in the championship. 

“The NBA Finals have definitely felt slightly less relevant in recent years, mostly due to rivalries being less relevant,” said Mark Street, an NHS student and San Antonio Spurs fan. “For example, we haven’t seen a Celtics Lakers finals in 15 years, so that sort of rivalry feeling in the Finals is gone, which is the biggest reason for the finals popularity dropping off.” 

In Game 5 of the 2010 NBA Finals between two of the biggest rivals in basketball the Celtics vs the Lakers, the league brought in 18.7 million viewers. In 2022 the Celtics fought another one of their biggest rivals, the Warriors. In Game 5 the league brought in only 13 million viewers, 5.7 million less than only a little over a decade later. 

Possibly because of the slow decline of the hype around the NBA Finals, the league has added the new in-season tournament named the NBA Cup. Similar to the NFL playoffs, the NBA Cup consists of a group play then a playoff tournament with wild card games and group winners in a single-elimination format. The final two rounds are played at a neutral site.  Each team is provided a unique fully painted special court by the NBA for this tournament. The tournament has also been heavily advertised over the past few years, maybe even more than the NBA Finals. 

“I feel as though it is an attempt to get the NBA more relevant prior to the playoffs,” said Campernario. “Not sure if I like the concept or not but I did kind of keep track of it during last season. 

But there’s no real reward from winning the NBA finals, all teams get is a useless trophy and banner to hang up.

“The NBA cup should be changed, it doesn’t feel like it means anything right now,” said Street. “One way to fix it would be to just make a better prize for the winner, like moving up 5 spots in their next first round draft pick could solve the issue.”

But luckily for the NBA, they have a golden opportunity for marketing this Finals to raise their ratings. 

The New York Knicks, a storied franchise who hasn’t seen the finals since 1999 has swept the Cleveland Cavaliers and once again made their way to the finals after 27 years. Either the OKC Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs will represent with Western Conference on June 3rd for Game 1 of the finals. This is great for the league since the Thunder is a rising dynasty comparable to the 2010’s Warriors squad, and the Spurs have a rising star in the 7 foot 5 “alien” Victor Wembenyama. 

“I feel like this year‘s NBA Finals could go either way for the ratings as well as viewership because with the Knicks already cemented in, that’s the one franchise in pro sports that unite New York City,” said  Adam Hart, an NHS sophomore who is a sports fan. “The entirety of New York State will be watching it whether they like basketball or not.”

Talk on social media, TV, and even in school have been filled with opinions, predictions, and excitement for the NBA Finals. For the first time in a while people have been non-stop talking about the NBA and it has finally felt relevant again. 

The Spurs are currently a fan favorite this season at Nonnewaug High School

“I personally believe there will be more viewership if the Spurs win the west,” said Hart. “A lot of people are starting to dislike the thunder because of their dirty playing and flopping while the Spurs play like a classic 2010s era team that everybody loves.”

Also fans also feel the vibes of the series have died down with the ratings. Up until 2010 the courts for the teams contained a giant painted Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy on the half court point and multiple Finals logos painted onto the court; this has since been taken away. People on social media last season finally noticed and voiced their opinions. Fans say the finals feel “bland.” Some fans cared more about the lack of “aura” more than who will be crowned champion.

Because of the severe backlash Adam Silver and the NBA virtually added logos to the court on broadcasts to please the fans. But that wasn’t enough to please the fans. Due to more backlash the NBA is reintroducing the giant Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy to the middle of the court for the 2026 Finals.

With the classic “NBA Finals” decal painted on the court next week, the vibes–and the viewers–will be back and better than ever.