Pandemic finals a bust for NBA

Nielsen ratings showed Monday that just more than half as many people tuned in to Sunday night’s NBA championship game as last year’s. After the pandemic hit, the league scrambled to put together a delayed season with players and staff quarantining at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. But as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat to win the team’s 17th NBA title, a tie for the most ever, a scant audience watched from the stands and at home.

What was the final score? The Lakers led by as many as 36 points during Game 6 on their way to a 106-93 triumph. Afterward, LA players LeBron James and Anthony Davis honored Kobe Bryant, who played his entire career with the team and died earlier this year in a helicopter crash. “All we wanted to do was do it for him,” Davis said. “And we didn’t let him down.”

Dig deeper: Read Sharon Dierberger’s report in Muse on the NBA’s Jonathan Isaac and his Christian faith.