The 2016 NBA Finals were an iconic series with massive interest from the U.S. audience. Game 7 drew 31 million viewers, making it the most-watched game since 1998. No NBA game over the last nine years has come close to touching it. Breen said he has thought about that game often this week because of all that was at stake. “There was so much going on because the road team won, because there was an upset, because there was history coming back from a 3-1 deficit,” Breen said. “It was so important for both teams. For Golden State, it was to cap off what was the greatest regular season in NBA history. For Cleveland, it was to pull off this upset and come back from 3-1 down and hand the city this championship that they’ve been waiting (on for) decades and decades. It meant so much to the teams and to the fan bases and the city. Just like this series. In this series, for both fan bases, the emotions are just off the chart. You can tell that by the sound in each arena.” -via New York Times / June 22, 2025
