NBA schedule release: Thunder, Rockets open 2025-26 season on NBC, Flagg to debut on ESPN

New York Times

a day ago

The NBA is celebrating its new 11-year, $75 billion media rights package with a week-long rollout of the 2025-26 schedule that launched Tuesday on the flagship morning shows of two of the league's broadcast partners.
In separate segments on NBC's 'Today Show' and ABC's 'Good Morning America,' the NBA's opening night and Christmas Day slates were formally announced, as were marquee games on the two networks and their subsidiaries (ABC has ESPN; NBC has Peacock) for the league's first week and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The full schedule for all 30 teams will be released Thursday.
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While ABC and ESPN have been broadcast partners of the NBA for years, NBC has not aired an NBA game since 2002. As reported last week by ESPN and confirmed by The Athletic, the first NBA game on NBC in 23 years will feature the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets on opening night, Oct. 21, followed by the Golden State Warriors at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Game on. 🎮 NBA Tip-Off, October 21st on NBC and Peacock. pic.twitter.com/AALohb2D0a
— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) August 12, 2025
The Cavs will open their season at New York against the Knicks Oct. 22 on ESPN, followed by No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg's NBA debut against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. On Oct. 23, also on ESPN, the Indiana Pacers will host the Thunder in a rematch of the finals, and the Nuggets will play the Warriors.
On Oct. 27, Peacock will stream the Cavs at the Pistons, followed by the Nuggets at Minnesota. And on Jan. 19, MLK Day, a major day for the NBA in the regular season, the Thunder will visit Cleveland, the Mavericks will play the Knicks, and Boston Celtics will visit the Pistons – all on NBC – while the Milwaukee Bucks will play the Atlanta Hawks on Peacock.
Also, as previously reported, the NBA's traditional slate of Christmas games on ESPN and ABC includes the Cleveland Cavaliers at the New York Knicks, the San Antonio Spurs at the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Rockets at the Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks at Golden State and the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Denver Nuggets.
For the first time, Amazon Prime Video will stream basketball games this season. Amazon is expected to announce its schedule highlights Wednesday. Amazon, which already carries NFL games during the regular and postseasons, will stream 66 regular-season NBA games, the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup and all the Play-In Tournament games before the start of the playoffs.
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NBC will debut Sunday Night Basketball on Feb. 1, with at least one regular-season game every Sunday night through April 5. The format will begin after NBC's NFL coverage ends. There will be no games Feb. 8 and 15 because of the Super Bowl, the NBA All-Star Game and Winter Olympics.
This story will be updated.
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