That ESPN elected not to broadcast the latest tilt between the NBA’s two Los Angeles franchises is a fascinating development due to the fact that it proves a couple of things.
For one, it proves that neither team carries the appeal everyone believed they would, or were meant to, from the start. In reaction to the news, The Athletic’s Bill Oram tweeted, “ESPN looking at an intracity matchup of LA teams and saying, “Nah, we’re good,” is such a referendum on this Lakers team. Even with LeBron out, even for Warriors/Suns, it’s still a pretty stunning message of the Lakers lack of appeal right now.