Kobe’s last game, but nobody’s watching

A column By CJ Peterson

Wednesday, April 13th marks the end of an era.

For the better part of two decades, the world has been captivated by the second coming of M.J.

Hate him or love him, Kobe Bryant re-defined of the game of basketball as the entire world took notice.

But ironically enough, five championship rings, two finals MVP trophies, a league MVP honor and a 20 year career filled with memories of raising championship banners won’t be enough to keep the world’s attention.

For the Mamba, in his final goodbye, and in his last game on an NBA court, he will be ending a season to forget.

He will also be facing a Utah Jazz team in the middle of a playoff race.

But no one will watching.

Instead, the world will have their eyes set on the most exciting, and arguably best show on television right now; The Golden State Warriors.

In an attempt to win an NBA record 73rd game in their already historically great regular season, the Warriors have taken the spotlight away from Bryant ahead of an encore to his hall of fame career.

This statement became officially true when the “Dubs”, as many local fans have re-named their beloved franchise, bumped Kobe’s last game from front and center in a national television broadcast on ESPN, to second fiddle on ESPN’s sister channel ESPN2.

Following the trend of the season, the Warriors have had a league high 30 nationally televised games this year. Five higher than the originally projected 25, as they have set out on the quest for 73 wins over the past few weeks.

In turn, ratings have skyrocketed

Viewers have been tuning in to potentially witness history in the making at a record setting rate in its own right.

According to CSN Bay Area, the home station of the Warriors, they recorded their highest ratings ever on Sunday, April 10th during the 92-86 win against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio. Peaking at a 17.24 rating at 8 p.m. pacific standard time, the Dubs averaged a 16.08 household rating, surpassing the previously highest rating of 11.83 set on October 3rd, 2010 as the San Francisco Giants clinched the NL west against the San Diego Padres.

Local basketball fans have stated that the Warriors quest for 73 is more important than Kobe’s final game.

Head coach of the men’s basketball team at Las Positas team, James Giacomazzi says he’s watching the Warriors saying, “I’m paying more attention to the Warrior tonight than Kobe’s last game. Is it Warriors? Is it Kobe? Tonight I’m going Warriors. I respect what Kobe did, but go Dubs.”

So for all of the hoops fans out there, I hope you set the DVRs and tune into SportsCenter on Wednesday night because Kobe’s final goodbye will go unseen.