Who Is Winning the NBA’s TV Arms Race?

One of my earliest NBA memories is standing in a Muskogee Mazzio’s, gripping an empty plate, and watching Michael Jordan hit a game-winner to beat the Jazz. This was Game 1 of the ’97 Finals. I was 8. Jordan was everywhere, and I was stoked about that. If he was on the TV, well, then, so were my eyes. I had a freshly updated pizza buffet I needed to return to and a knockoff Galaga machine I needed to dominate, but before I wrought havoc on outer space and its many hostiles, I stood leaned against the back of a red pleather booth, stared at a Magnavox hanging in the corner, and watched MJ cross Bryon Russell into history.