The NBA Playoffs Have Been a Gift to League’s TV Partners as New Rights Deal Looms

The NBA Playoffs Have Been a Gift to League’s TV Partners as New Rights Deal Looms

The 2025 NBA playoffs have been nothing short of a gift to the league’s incoming TV rights holders. NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video executives must be swooning with every three-pointer that has dropped since the NBA conference semifinals began on May 5. The games have been, for the most part, nail-biters – unpredictable, competitive matchups that appear to be sowing the seeds for a new wave of NBA superstars and team rivalries that shoul…

Connection, normalcy and fierce loyalty: why life is sweet on small market NBA teams

Small market teams have dominated this year’s playoffs. Former players say playing outside big cities can help bring unity and cohesionTwo-time NBA All-Star Reggie Theus remembers the 1981 playoffs. In a “big time” opening round series, his Chicago Bulls faced the New York Knicks. The first game tipped off in one of the world’s most famous arenas, Madison Square Garden, and it included stars such as Artis Gilmore, Bill Cartwright and Michael Ray…