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After months of competition, there remain only two teams as the 2025 NBA Finals are set to tip off on Thursday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the Indiana Pacers in a series featuring two of the most electric and complete teams on both ends of the floor led by superstar point guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton.
While the two finalists don't come from big markets, that hasn't slowed what's been a positive year for the NBA from a viewership perspective. It's almost as if all the whining on social media about market size and how this series will affect the league's profitability ignores the fact that the league had a strong year as far as both ratings and social media growth.
Let's dive into it.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton dominate social media as NBA Playoff viewership increases
The 2025 Eastern Conference Finals between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks averaged 7 million viewers on TNT and truTV, which is up 10 percent vs. last year's series between the Boston Celtics and Pacers.
It's also the most-watched Eastern Conference Finals that ended in six games or fewer in 11 years.
Game 6 between the Knicks and Pacers in Indianapolis averaged a whopping 8.12 million viewers and peaked with 9.91 million viewers between 10:15 PM and 10:29 PM.
The 2025 Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves didn't have as strong of a showing as the Eastern Conference Finals, but still averaged 5.59 million viewers across the five-game series.
As a whole, the 2025 NBA Playoffs averaged 4.5 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and TNT, which is up three percent vs. last year's postseason.
NBA playoff games have driven ABC, ESPN and TNT to be the most-viewed networks across all of TV in primetime among people under the age of 50 on 37 out of a possible 39 nights of playoff coverage — a whopping 94.9 percent.
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Additionally, NBA playoff games on ABC, ESPN and TNT averaged a 10.6 share of the TV audience — the percentage of households with TVs on that are watching the NBA). That figure is the highest share in NBA Playoff history.
According to the league's data, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has driven the most views of any player across NBA social media accounts this postseason, with 864 million views through the Conference Finals. Gilgeous-Alexander was also the seventh most viewed player on social media during the regular season, accruing 1.06 billion views.
Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton is right behind SGA at number three with 679 million views. Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards ranks second through the Conference Finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander has gained the most Instagram followers of any NBA player this postseason with over 310,000 followers.
Haliburton has added the second most Instagram followers of any NBA player this postseason at over 291,000, trailing only Gilgeous-Alexander. According to the league's data, Tyrese Haliburton is the fastest growing player with a 24 percent follower growth rate.
The NBA has also generated a record 32 billion views across all social media platforms during the postseason, which is up 62 percent versus last year, according to Videocites.
The league experienced record engagement throughout the regular season, generating 124 billion views, which is up 67 percent year over year, according to Videocites – making it the most-viewed regular season and postseason ever on NBA social media platforms.
