As one would reasonably expect, Luka Dončić’s return to Dallas drew a superb television audience.
Wednesday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks averaged 2.26 million viewers on ESPN, the most-watched NBA game on ESPN this season, excluding Christmas Day, per ESPN PR. The audience peaked at 2.79 million viewers.
Luka Dončić’s return to Dallas on Wednesday drew the largest non-Christmas #NBA audience on ESPN this season (2.26M avg. viewers) 🏀 pic.twitter.com/vedYlxKEPg
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) April 10, 2025
The Lakers’ win increased 71% versus last year’s comparable NBA audience, a Mavericks-Heat game that drew 1.23 million viewers, though nothing about Wednesday’s game was comparable to any regular-season NBA game last season. The unprecedented circumstances surrounding Dončić’s return gave ESPN and the larger NBA media sphere another opportunity to re-litigate just how awful the trade that sent the superstar guard to SoCal really was.
The trade heard ’round the world has certainly been a boon to NBA viewership in its aftermath. In February, Dončić’s debut in Los Angeles drew 2.87 million viewers for ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime. And as the league’s regular season comes to a close, viewership has essentially drawn level compared to last year, despite panic from many in the media earlier this season.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.