If you needed any more evidence that the NBA’s business partners are salivating at Luka Dončić joining the Los Angeles Lakers, now we have it.
As soon as news broke that Dončić would make his Lakers debut this weekend, ESPN flexed its schedule to air Saturday afternoon’s matchup with Indiana Pacers at Crypto.com Arena in place of a Friday night tilt between the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz.
Dončić has been recovering from a left calf injury and was due back this weekend when the Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA world by trading its cornerstone player to Los Angeles.
This is an unusual flex for the NBA, given that the game takes place mid-afternoon on a Saturday. ESPN will air Lakers vs. Pacers ahead of the regularly scheduled ABC Saturday night game, which is a cornerstone of the network’s NBA coverage. This week, that game is a highly anticipated rivalry matchup between Boston and New York.
That likely means Lakers-Pacers will not feature the top ESPN/ABC broadcast team, which is usually reserved for the Saturday night game. It also will not feature Hubie Brown, who will call his final NBA game ever on Sunday afternoon on ABC alongside Mike Breen.
The busy weekend could be just the start of a captivating close to the NBA season for sports media. With Dončić teaming up with LeBron James in SoCal, a ratings draw just multiplied exponentially. Add in a potential influx of talent for Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors or a possible shakeup in Phoenix around Kevin Durant, and ESPN and TNT could end up quite happy with the attention on the league following this year’s trade deadline.
Yet in Week 1 of the Dončić era for the Lakers, ESPN wins. Coincidentally, TNT is scheduled to air a Lakers game on Thursday night, but Dončić will miss it.
With its flexibility to broadcast weekend games, ESPN swooped in to broadcast one of the most momentous games in league history in L.A. on Saturday.
