NBA Finals ratings have plummeted since 2019, and the league is banking on the Knicks to reverse the trend

The New York Knicks advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999 is one of, if not the, best-case scenarios for the NBA. The league could use it. Last year’s Finals between the Thunder and Pacers was on pace to become the least-watched NBA Finals (outside the 2020 COVID bubble season) until Game 7 slightly lifted the average. Even then, it still produced the least-watched Game 7 in Finals history. More broadly, the NBA Finals has recently become a smaller television event than the W