Tanking NBA Finals ratings go beyond small-market problems
Surely it wasn't selected to make a point or to lament what the NBA has become, but it was, nonetheless, a picture worth a thousand 3-point heaves.
During Thursday's Game 6 of the Thunder-Pacers Finals, ESPN/ABC went to commercials with a full screen color photo of Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon trying to gain position on each other. Presumably the picture was taken during the 1994 NBA Rockets-Knicks Finals, won by Houston in seven.
That was in a time — a long time, but not long ago — when riveting center vs. center games made nationally televised NBA games extra special. Didn't matter if your team was playing, an epic was in the wind and it was headed your way.
5 Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) dunks against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) during the third quarter during Game 6 of the 2025 NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Maddie Meyer-Pool Photo via Imagn Images
Outside of Michael Jordan, the game's appeal since the late 1950s began with the opposing centers. Willis Reed vs. Wes Unseld or Gus Johnson, Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O'Neal vs. Tim Duncan or Dikembe Mutumbo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs Bob Lanier or Moses Malone, Robert Parish vs. Bill Laimbeer.
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