In an NBA Finals that featured a number of lopsided results, the two sides certainly saved the best for last. The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors 93-89 in a thrilling Game 7 in Oakland, CA. It represented the first championship for the city in 52 years and also added to the growing legacy of LeBron James, who delivered on his promise to bring an NBA Championship to the city.
While this NBA Finals didn’t feature the most competitive of games, it went the maximum seven games and was filled with lots of compelling drama such as Draymond Green’s suspension and the combined super-stardom of Stephen Curry and LeBron James that kept fans on edge until the final buzzer last night.
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In turn, this got fans on social media discussing the NBA Finals in record numbers and by the end of Game 7 turned into the most discussed NBA Finals ever on Facebook. 43 million people joined the conversation on Facebook throughout the seven game series and there was a total of 269 million posts, likes, shares and comments about the Finals since Game 1. Both of these totals represented NBA-Finals records for the popular social media platform.
The most popular of all the posts came from the Cavaliers themselves when they went to Facebook Live from the locker room celebration to give fans an up-close view of the players after they had won the NBA title. The video in total amassed more than 5M+ views, 367K+ reactions, 99K+ shares and 53K+ comments.
The NBA has taken to Facebook Live as an outlet to reach the fans in ways that television broadcasts don’t show during or before and after the games. It was especially prevalent during the final game for Kobe Bryant at the end of the regular season and has capped off a very active season for the league with digital fan engagement.
With the 2016-17 NBA Regular season coming to a close, one would think the fan engagement goes into the offseason with all of the league’s players but that is far from the case. In our interview with NBA SVP of Digital Melissa Brenner earlier this month, she explained that with the NBA Draft coming up this Thursday and the Las Vegas Summer League taking place next month, the league is always out producing content and engaging fans year-round. These digital strategies have enabled the league to have over 30 million likes on Facebook, which is a total that is larger than the NFL, MLB and NHL combined.
So while NBA fans will catch their collective breaths after the thrilling Game 7, the Philadelphia 76ers are on the clock and the preparations for the 2016-17 season begin in earnest.