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Luka Dončić’s first game as a Laker on Monday, one of the most highly anticipated debuts in NBA history, delivered in the ratings.
The Jazz-Lakers game delivered 2.01 million viewers on ESPN despite the 10:30 p.m. ET start and a blowout finish. Dončić played just 24 minutes and missed the entire fourth quarter as the Lakers led by as much as 34 points. The game peaked at 2.55 million viewers during the 11:15 p.m. quarter-hour, which was around the second quarter.
The viewership number is close to the 2.14 million viewers who watched the 2022 championship rematch between the Warriors and Celtics on Nov. 6, the most-watched NBA game on ESPN this year. That game tipped off at 7:30 p.m. ET. Nine games that were not exclusive to ESPN—whether simulcast with ABC, or airing purely on the network—have eclipsed that number this season.
The next nationally televised Lakers game is on Feb. 22 against the Nuggets, which will air on ABC. Three days later, Los Angeles hosts Dallas on TNT, the first time Dončić will play the team that shockingly traded him less than two weeks ago.
Dallas will likely be without Anthony Davis, the key piece it acquired back in the trade, who suffered an adductor injury in his first game with the team.
ESPN had originally flexed in Saturday’s game between the Lakers and Pacers as it was originally reported that the five-time All-Star was going to debut then. The network adjusted its Friday NBA schedule and Saturday college basketball schedule to fit the Lakers game, only for Los Angeles to change its tune and move Dončić’s debut to Monday.
To accommodate the Jazz-Lakers game, ESPN cut away from the second half of a men’s college basketball game between Houston and Baylor. The game was moved to ESPNU.
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