Wednesday evening was an incredible night for basketball. At the exact same time that Kobe Bryant was dropping 60 points in his final career game, the Golden State Warriors set the NBA record for wins in a single season at 73.

It was tremendous to watch, but it posed a little bit of a conundrum for fans: do you watch the Warriors make history, or do you watch the Black Mamba, one last time?

The decision was easy for viewers in the Bay Area, at least. According to the Associated Press, the Warriors' game against the Memphis Grizzlies racked up a 23.2 local rating, the highest recorded mark for a NBA game on a regional sports network, ever. It translates to 577,025 homes being tuned in.

Draymond Green
Thearon W. Henderson/ Getty Images

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Back in the 1995-96 season, the Chicago Bulls‘ highest rated game locally was a 22.9. That night they won their 70th game, breaking the all-time wins record at the time.

On a national scale, the Warriors still took the top spot for the night, just narrowly edging Kobe's finale.

Golden State drew in 3.6 million viewers on ESPN, the highest total for a NBA game on the network in more than two years. The Lakers–Jazz matchup was close though, pulling in 3.4 million viewers on ESPN2.

At the end of the day, ESPN is the big winner here, compiling 7 million total viewers between the two games. Boy, does it pay to have those television rights.