Thursday night saw record attendance at the NBA Draft.
Ben Cafardo of ESPN made the announcement on Friday that Nielsen said the NBA Draft’s first round was the most watched round ever. On ESPN and ABC, the first round averaged just shy of 5 million viewers, peaking at just over 6 million around the time the first pick was announced.
In contrast, the NBA Draft the previous year drew nearly 4 million viewers per round on average. That was a 30% increase from 2021.
Victor Wembanyama, a French star, was No. Brandon Miller, ranked No. 1, came in second place overall to San Antonio. 2nd to Charlotte and No. 1 to Scoot Henderson 3 towards Portland Amen and Ausar Thompson, twins, won the No. 4 and 5 respectively, marking a historic draft first. Along with Lonzo and LaMelo Ball, who were selected three years apart, they were the first pair of brothers to be selected in the top 10 of the same NBA Draft and the second pair of brothers to be selected in the top 5 of any NBA Draft.
After the NBA Draft is over, the NBA Summer Leagues, which begin on July 3 in Sacramento, will take center stage. Wembanyama is going to take part in the Summer Leagues in some capacity, despite some initial doubts. The initial competition is one of several national Summer Leagues; the one in Las Vegas, which begins on July 7, features all 30 teams.
Topics #event #NBA Draft #Portland Amen #Thompson #Wembanyama
