The NBA is a star-driven league.
They determine not only courtroom outcomes but also television ratings.
And the Nets feel a sense of loss.
The moment Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are traded, the Nets will take a hit not only nationally, but also in terms of local TV ratings.
And while viewership numbers remain strong, ratings on the YES Network have slumped despite the Emmy Award-winning broadcast.
The Nets entered this week averaging 43,000 total viewers per game on YES.
That's down 34.85 percent from 66,600 at the same point last season, when Durant and Irving were still in Brooklyn.
Two seasons ago, when the Nets opened training camp with the Big Three of Durant, Irving and James Harden, YES averaged 78,000 total viewers, and in 2013-14 it averaged 85,000 viewers. It was the most-watched “traditional” season since People.
That team was led by Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
But Brooklyn has since dropped by 35,000 people, or 44.8 percent.
This is despite the fact that Ian Eagle, Sarah Kastok, and producer Frank Di Grassi have won New York Emmy Awards.
And if there's any doubt about the impact star power has on these numbers, the Nets' ratings are actually up 19 percent from around the same time in 2018-19, the last season before Irving and Durant. There is.
The Knicks average 115,000 viewers per game.
Backup center Dayron Sharp (knee) will miss Wednesday's game against Portland.
Guard Ben Simmons (back) will take a three-game trip to the West Coast with the Nets and is expected to accelerate his return to play.
Trail Blazers guard Shaydon Sharpe will be out for at least two weeks with a lower abdominal strain.
