It was a weird NBA season
The NBA playoffs are here—but first, let’s talk about the bizarre ride that was the 2024–25 regular season. Viewership whiplash, a 3-point barrage, historic blowouts, and some eyebrow-raising firings? Yeah, it was weird.
The NBA playoffs are about to tip, capping off a 2024-25 regular season that would be right at home on a Weird Al album (“my-my-my-myyyy bolog-NBA”).
By the numbers
Ratings went on a roller-coaster ride: After double-digit viewership declines through the first two months of the season, ratings finished relatively close to even, or 2% below last year.
The 3-point pace was historic: NBA teams made 13.5/game and attempted 37.6/game, both the highest totals ever. In fact, every team in the league now tosses up more 3s/game than the 2015-16 Warriors in their record-breaking season—and for the first time in history, missed 3s are now more common than missed 2s.
Lopsided games: The OKC Thunder notched 54 wins by 10+ points this season, breaking the record of 50 that had stood for 50+ years. For context: The team that shares their name with a weather term had more double-digit wins than any other Western Conference team had total wins😳.
Sus personnel moves: The Luca trade happened—a still sore spot for Dallas fans (but not Nico Harrison, who has no ragrets). The Denver Nuggets fired head coach Mike Malone and GM Calvin Booth with three games left in the season, in a pair of decisions analysts described as “unprecedented” since they came so close to the Nuggets appearing in the NBA playoffs. And the Memphis Grizzlies dumped head coach Taylor Jenkins late in the season in what many also considered an interesting move; the team was 44-29 at the time.
Stars appear to be fading: LeBron failed to average at least 25 points/game for the first time since his rookie season (2003–2004), while Lakers star Luka Dončić this year became the first player other than Steph Curry and the aforementioned King James to top the list of the NBA’s best-selling jerseys.
…or are they? Spurs guard Chris Paul became the only NBA player in history to start all 82 regular-season games in their 20th season or later.
The playoff picture: The Warriors topped the Grizzlies in the Play-In Tournament to set up a Round 1 matchup with the Rockets, while the Magic beat the Hawks and will face off against the defending champion Celtics. The Hawks and Grizzlies will now play separate games tomorrow to determine the #8 seeds in each conference. See the full playoff picture + expert predictions.
