It has been expressed numerous
times already around the world, but it does bear repeating: the death of NBA basketball
legend Kobe Bryant, along with his daughter and several others in a tragic
helicopter crash last January 26 was a sorrowful loss to so many people. None
outside of his surviving family must feel the pain of his death more than his
former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, the sole NBA franchise Kobe played for in
his two-decade career. The Lakers played their first major game following the
passing of their most famous member last week, and while they lost, the
accompanying tribute to Bryant was well worth the dive.
The Hollywood Reporter has it that the January 31 NBA game between
the LA Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers became one of the most-watched
league games thus far on ESPN and local Los Angeles broadcaster Spectrum
SportsNet. It was after all the first game for the team following the death of
Kobe Bryant at age 41 on Sunday of that week. Before the game proper the
Lakers, from which Kobe retired from in 2016 after spending his whole NBA life
there, gave their fallen champion a most fitting tribute.
Headlining the memorial for
Bryant that day at Staples Center was current Lakers ace LeBron James, who gave
a touching speech honoring his former teammate while wreaths in the shape of
Kobe’s jersey numbers – 8 and 24 – stood behind him. Each seat at Staples was draped
with a replica of the fallen NBA star’s jerseys featuring either number,
allowing fans in the audience to wear their idol’s gear. For all of the subdued
spectacle to give praise to Bryant however, the climax of the game against the
Blazers was a letdown when the Lakers lost 119 to Portland’s 127, but honoring
Kobe was more the draw, as TV ratings prove.
According to ESPN the audience
they got for last Friday’s Lakers game was easily over two time what they get
for other NBA games on average. That means 4.41 million viewers or the fourth
largest in the current season, with the top three coming from the NBA’s
three-game Christmas Day 2019 showcase. For viewer demographics they got a 2.0
rating for both the age 18-49 and age 25-54 adults, the former being a key ad
demographic. Spectrum SportsNet meanwhile scored 4.51 for the Lakers game, the
second highest household rating for the team this season. Compared to this
numbers and the touching Kobe Bryant tribute, the loss was remarkably trivial.
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