June 9, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) tries to pass the ball from his back as he is defended by Boston Celtics small forward Paul Pierce (34) and Brandon Bass (30) during the third quarter in game seven of the 2012 NBA Eastern Conference finals at the American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

This is why you avoid an lockout.

From Sports Illustrated:

“The Miami Heat’s win over the Boston Celtics to reach the NBA finals has drawn the highest preliminary television rating for an NBA playoff game on cable since records started being kept in 2003.

Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night on ESPN produced a 9.1 overnight rating. The network said Sunday that the three highest overnight ratings for NBA games on cable have come during this series.

In Boston, the game had a 21.7 rating, the highest on cable for an NBA playoff game in the market since records started being kept in 2003.

Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program. Overnight ratings measure the country’s largest markets.”

The Eastern Conference Finals was an intense, taut, physically draining series. The NBA Finals should be just as lucrative, if not more so, for the NBA and ABC. You can make the case that four of the top 15 players in the league reside in this series. Plus, Oklahoma City’s crowd can change the tenor of the game, Kevin Durant is gunning for an elusive first championship and the title of best basketball player alive the prevailing narratives around LeBron (no championship, not clutch etc) could either persist or cease at the conclusion of the series. I can’t wait.