It had to happen sooner or later. For the first time since 2005, LeBron James will not be part of the NBA playoffs.
The 34-year-old Lakers superstar has been the best player in pro basketball for at least a decade (he won his first MVP in 2009), leading his teams to the NBA Finals eight straight times from 2010-18 and winning three rings in the process. Whether starring for the Cavaliers or Heat, James could be counted to draw both casual and hardcore viewers to the NBA's annual spring passion play.
NBA PLAYOFFS 2019:
Full schedule | West breakdown | East breakdown
But now the LeBron security blanket that's enveloped Turner and fellow NBA network ESPN is gone. To make matters worse, the Knicks, Lakers and Bulls — three storied franchises representing the nation's three largest TV markets in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — will be missing in action, too.
"Obviously, name recognition is huge — and LeBron James is the biggest name in our sport," said Reggie Miller, the former Pacers sharpshooter turned TV analyst on a press call. "Not having him in the playoffs? Obviously that’s going to hurt. But you still have a team that’s going for a three-peat, which is a huge story for the Golden State Warriors.
"Maybe this is a chance for some of these fringe stars — guys who think they want to be superstars — maybe this is a chance for them to grab a little bit of that spotlight."
The 2019 #NBAPlayoffs are SET. 🏀🚨
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 11, 2019
Who will hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy? pic.twitter.com/T0zssPAd7u
James' lost season in Los Angeles caused a reverse LeBron Effect. Turner's 66 NBA regular-season games averaged 1.5 million viewers in 2018-19. That's down 12 percent from the near record-setting 2017-18 season, but is about even with two years ago. ESPN fared better, averaging 1.99 million viewers across 101 games ESPN/ABC. That's roughly even with last year and up five percent from two seasons ago, according to ESPN spokesman Ben Cafardo.
"This season, we witnessed a highly-competitive and wide-open Eastern Conference produce great games," said Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president for programming and scheduling. "Teams like the Toronto Raptors and the Milwaukee Bucks performed above viewership expectations, further showcasing the NBA’s depth of stars and compelling storylines.
"In the Western Conference, superstars like James Harden, Russell Westbrook and, of course, the Golden State Warriors continued to excite and capture fans’ imaginations. We’re looking forward to the NBA playoffs, which tip off and culminate on our platforms.”
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James' move to the West Coast, and subsequent injury troubles, all helped depress Turner's viewership. It started opening night. With James' Lakers not on the schedule, viewership for Turner's opening state plummeted 42 percent. That put the network in a hole it's been trying to dig out from all season.
With James gone from the Eastern Conference, viewership for Turner's early game window dropped 22 percent. Due to injuries, James missed five TNT appearances, including a hotly-anticipated Martin Luther King Day NBA Finals rematch with the defending champion Warriors. To top it off, the Lakers' last three TNT appearances all came after the team had been eliminated from the playoffs.
At the same time, the NBA continues to drive engagement among its young, tech-savvy fan base like no other league. Turner partner Bleacher Report's NBA content rose 39 percent this season to 600 million engagements across social channels. Meanwhile, Bleacher's House of Highlights Instagram was up 14 percent to 500 million engagements.
More good news: Turner's Emmy-winning "Inside the NBA" with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal continues to be the gold standard for sports studio shows. With loyal fans still tuning in to watch Ernie, Chuck, Kenny and Shaq, "Inside the NBA" maintained its TV audience from the previous season.
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Scooter Vertino, Turner's senior vice president of content, production and programming, addressed the LeBron-sized elephant in the room with Sporting News. There's no getting around it, said Vertino. Not having James is going to hurt. But Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant's Warriors are also a compelling story, he said, as they gun for their third straight Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy and fourth in five seasons.
"It would be disingenuous to say there will be no impact created by the absence of LeBron and the Lakers, but we’re confident the NBA playoffs will continue to perform incredibly well," Vertino said in a statement. "There’s a very strong depth of talent in the league right now, with a wide number of emerging teams and stars, and we’re looking forward to putting a spotlight on them as we capture all the excitement through the playoffs.
"The Golden State Warriors continue to be one of the most exciting teams in the league, and we anticipate them driving considerable interest throughout the playoffs."
On the other side of the bracket, James' stranglehold over the Eastern Conference is finally over. The wide-open East is chock full of young, upstart teams like the Bucks, Raptors, 76ers and Celtics. Across the league, there's a long list of budding stars ready to provide postseason drama, including Harden, the reigning MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks, Joel Embid of the 76ers and Donovan Mitchell of the Jazz.
Take Mitchell, the 22-year-old rising star who made a surprising run at Rookie of the Year in 2018. He plays in the tiny Salt Lake City TV market. This could be his opportunity to strut his stuff on the national TV stage, noted Miller — especially if he's able to knock off Harden, the league's leading scorer (36.1 points per game), in their first-round series tipping off Sunday.
"Yes, not having LeBron hurts. But it’s also a great opportunity for younger players. Like a 'Spida' Mitchell," Miller said. "This is a great opportunity. True basketball (fans) know who Donovan Mitchell is. But for casual fans, this is a chance for him going against the reigning MVP in James Harden. This is an opportunity for him. So I look at it more as guys getting a chance to shine a little bit more."
Turner's Chris Webber noted James is not just a player. He's a global "ambassador" for the NBA and the game of basketball. His absence can't help but hurt, especially among TV viewers who tune in to either root for or against him, not to mention TV pundits such as FS1's Skip Bayless who've made a living debating whether he has a "clutch" gene come playoff time.
But for the first time in years, the playoffs won't be the LeBron Show. That could draw some viewers suffering from LeBron (and Warriors) fatigue.
As Webber says, "These playoffs are going to be so exciting," and excitement has been in short supply for the last two NBA Finals series, both Warriors blowouts.
