The Denver Nuggets not only won their first NBA title, but they also won over national television audiences as well.
Dispelling the widespread belief that mid- and small-market teams fail to attract viewers, the recently completed NBA Playoffs reached a five-year high in terms of Nielsen Ratings. What’s more, the playoffs drew eight billion views on social media, which is an all-time record for the NBA.
Nuggets’ five-game NBA Finals victory over the Miami Heat averaged 11.64 million viewers and tripled its nearest competition for all five broadcasts, according to the NBA’s press release. Series MVP Nikola Jokic was the breakout star on social media, as he became the most-watched NBA player on social media after finishing 18th in 2021-22.
The series-clinching Game 5 win for Denver was watched by an average of 13.08 million, which is up 1 percent from the 2022 NBA Finals. Game 5 peaked with 17.88 million viewers around 11pm EST.
This, the Nuggets’ 47th NBA season, finally ended with confetti, a trophy and an upcoming parade through the streets of downtown after the team’s first ever league title.
Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets is awarded the Bill Russell MVP trophy
What’s more, Stan Kroenke’s sports empire has now produced an NFL, NHL and now NBA champion in three consecutive seasons.
His latest title came Monday night when the Denver Nuggets won their first championship 47 years after joining the NBA. His Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in the Super Bowl following the 2021 season, and his Colorado Avalanche hoisted the Stanley Cup last summer after dispatching Tampa Bay in six games.
Through the champagne spray and cigar smoke choking the Nuggets’ locker room following their rugged 94-89 win over Miami in Game 5, Kroenke reflected on his football, hockey and basketball titles and couldn’t pick one over the other.
‘It’s like having children: You love them all,’ Kroenke said. ‘It’s unbelievably exciting. I’m just so happy for everybody involved, particularly the city, which for 47 years they never had this.’
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The Nuggets were a founding franchise in the old ABA and played for that league’s championship in 1976, falling in six games to Julius Erving’s New York Nets. Later that year, the NBA absorbed those teams along with the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers, both of whom made the finals long before Denver did.
The Nuggets didn’t play for another league title until this year, and their clincher came 55 years, seven months and 28 days after the team won its first game in franchise history over the Anaheim Amigos.
Even with the great duo of NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, the top-seeded Nuggets didn’t have an easy time dispatching the No. 8 seed Heat.
‘It was a dogfight,’ Kroenke said in a rare interview, which seem mostly to come in locker room celebrations of late. ‘I mean, that’s how they play. They are tough. That’s a great organization. Great coach. Pat Riley’s amazing, his influence on basketball and number of championships. just how clever they are with everything.
‘But that was a dogfight, and for our guys to go out there and persevere and win that thing, that was awesome.’
Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke lifts the Larry O’Brien Trophy on Monday
His Rams didn’t get past the Bengals easily in the Super Bowl and his Avalanche got all they could handle from the Lightning last year.
‘No, and I always say if you want to win a championship,’ Kroenke said, ‘you’ve got to go get it. Nobody’s going to make it available to you. And the guys over there are really good.’
Kroenke’s hope is that this is just the start of a long Nuggets run and that, unlike the Rams and Avalanche, they can defend their title in 2024.
‘We’ve got a great group,’ Kroenke said.
