Hungry Knicks Fans, Wemby to Propel NBA Finals to Ratings Highs

The New York Knicks reaching the NBA Finals for the first time this century and facing emerging superstar Victor Wembanyama promises to become one of the most-watched championships in league history.

With a team from the biggest US media market, whose fans are hungry for their first championship since 1973, the Finals will be a “ratings bonanza,” according to John Kosner, a sports media consultant and former executive with the league and ESPN.

Fans watch the NBA playoffs at a bar in New York on May 31.

Photographer: David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

Ratings will be more juiced, Kosner said, by Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 center, whose San Antonio Spurs beat the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. The Finals ...