1. The excitement generated by Golden State and the interest in seeing LeBron James in purple and gold paid off big time for ESPN on Wednesday night.
The Warriors-Lakers game from Las Vegas generated the highest rating ever for an ESPN preseason contest.
Ratings news: last night's #Warriors vs. #Lakers game was @ESPN's highest-rated @NBA preseason game ever, according to Nielsen. It delivered a 1.6 metered market rating, peaking with a 1.9 rating from 11:30-11:45 p.m. ET. It was up 129 percent from last year's comparable game.