Lakers vs. Warriors Most-Watched Conference Semifinal in 27 Years

With the likes of LeBron James and Stephen Curry, it’s safe to say the Lakers-Warriors series had plenty of star power.

And not surprisingly, fans tuned in more than they have in a long, long time.

According to a press release from ESPN, TNT and the NBA league office, more people watched the Lakers’ 4-2 series victory than any other conference semifinal in 27 years.

That’s not Western Conference semifinal — that’s semifinal in either conference.

Overall, the series averaged 7.8 million viewers across ESPN, ABC and TNT. That’s the most since Michael Jordan and the Bulls were still doing their thing in 1996.

The Lakers’ Game 6-clinching victory did particularly well.

Per the ESPN release:

Game 6 of the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors NBA Western Conference Semifinals series on ESPN was the most-watched Conference Semifinals game broadcast in 12 years (since 2011), according to Nielsen.

The ESPN broadcast delivered an average of 8,640,000 viewers, peaking with 9,295,000 viewers at 11 p.m. ET. This was the most-watched program of the day for May 12 across all of television and in all key demographics.

The Lakers begin their quest for the West title in Game 1 vs. the top-seeded Nuggets on Tuesday in Denver.