Kobe Bryant also beat the Golden State Warriors in his season finale

By foxsports
Published

Wednesday night was the most historic regular-season finale in NBA history. Kobe Bryant's final game was an instant classic, 60 points on a career-high 50 shots. It was the climax of a biopic Hollywood waited 20 years to wrap. 

A five-hour drive north, in Oakland, the Golden State Warriors won their 73rd game of the season, an unthinkable feat that very few, if any, people ever thought they'd witness after Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls went 72-10 in 1996. 

That's two monumental games that, in many ways, simmered on the stove for 20 straight seasons. But being that they aired at the exact same time, which one did people care about the most?

This figures. The Warriors gave us a season for the ages, but, as consequential as it was, their finale lacked real-time drama. Everybody knew they were going to break the record because they were at home, Steph Curry was aiming for his 400th three pointer and the Memphis Grizzlies had Jordan Farmar in their starting lineup.

And then there was Bryant single-handedly knocking out the Utah Jazz in a fourth quarter that featured nothing but haymakers. It was truly unforgettable: 

All that being said, the Warriors still had the higher average, setting yet another all-time record in the process (via Variety):

According to Nielsen estimates, the Golden State Warriors’ victory over the Memphis Grizzlies to set the all-time NBA regular-season victory total averaged 3.65 million viewers on ESPN. At the same time on ESPN2, Kobe Bryant’s final game of a 20-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers (against the Utah Jazz) averaged 3.46 million viewers. The Bryant farewell did better among younger viewers, with the Lakers game edging out the Warriors’ game, 1.7 to 1.6 in adults 18-49. It was even more lopsided among persons 12-34, where 1.8% of viewers in that age group watching Bryant’s final game and 1.5% of persons 12-34 watching the historic Warriors’ victory.

There's a good chance people flipped back and forth, but staying away from Bryant's final moments as a professional would've been extremely difficult for some people. He put on the better show, the only way he knows how.