Luka Doncic’s much-hyped return to Dallas as a member of the Lakers delivered a season-high audience for ESPN.
Wednesday’s Lakers-Mavericks NBA regular season game, which marked Lakers G Luka Doncic’s first game in Dallas since being traded at midseason, averaged 2.26 million viewers on ESPN — the network’s largest audience of the season, excluding Christmas, and a sharp increase over Mavericks-Heat on the equivalent night last year (1.23M).
The Lakers’ win, which peaked with 2.79 million viewers, actually trailed the teams’ previous meeting after the trade — a February matchup on TNT that averaged 2.5 million. While that may seem surprising given the interest in Doncic’s return, keep in mind that ESPN’s coverage coexisted with local RSN telecasts in the home markets, while the February TNT game was exclusive in Dallas-Ft. Worth.
Viewership was not even the highest for a Laker game in the past week, but that is also explained by the lack of exclusivity. Last Thursday’s Warriors-Lakers game averaged 2.5 million exclusively on TNT.
Compared to other notable NBA returns, Doncic’s return to Dallas trails Anthony Davis’ first game in New Orleans after he joined the Lakers in 2019, which averaged 2.34 million on ESPN — and that was before Nielsen began including out-of-home viewing in its national estimates.
It ranks further behind LeBron James’ multiple returns. James’ first game in Cleveland after joining the Heat in 2010 had 7.1 million on TNT, his first game in Miami after returning to Cleveland in 2014 aired on Christmas Day and averaged 9.3 million on ABC, and his first game in Cleveland after leaving the Cavaliers for the Lakers in 2018 had 3.7 million on ESPN.
Other notable returns include Shaquille O’Neal’s first game in Orlando after leaving the Magic, which averaged more than six million on NBC in 1998, and his first game in Los Angeles after leaving the Lakers — which still ranks as the most-watched NBA regular season game since 1998 with 13.2 million on ABC Christmas Day 2004. Kevin Durant’s first game in Oklahoma City after leaving for Golden State drew 6.0 million on ABC in 2017.
Michael Jordan’s first return to Chicago as a member of the Wizards averaged 4.8 million on NBC in 2002, but that game aired as part of a regionalized window, with some of the country receiving Lakers-Spurs.
The Nuggets-Kings nightcap averaged 1.21 million, down from Timberwolves-Nuggets a year ago (1.57M).
