With new TV partners for the NBA, massive intrigue in the stacked Western conference and a wide-open Eastern conference, the league is cannonballing into the 2025-26 season.
Starting with opening night on NBC on Oct. 21, followed by two nights of games on ESPN and then a Friday night on Amazon Prime, marquee players, fascinating matchups and championship contenders will be featured on the NBA’s national TV schedule, which was released Thursday, Aug. 14.
NBC rejoins coverage of the league after a two-decade absence, and Amazon Prime gets its first shot at NBA games as part of the NBA’s new, 11-year, $76 billion TV deal. ESPN/ABC remains part of the league’s coverage as well.
Here are unique details of the NBA’s 2025-26 schedule:
What to know about the 2025-26 NBA schedule
This season, there are 247 national TV games, up from 172 in 2024-25.
As part of the new TV deal, in general, Monday NBA games are on Peacock; Tuesday on NBC; Wednesday on ESPN; Thursday on Prime Video; Friday on Prime Video and ESPN; Saturday on Prime Video in the afternoon and ABC at night; and Sunday on ABC in the afternoon and NBC at night.
ESPN and ABC also have the five Christmas games plus the NBA Finals.
Prime Video will feature doubleheaders on Fridays and stream the quarterfinals, semifinals and final of the NBA Cup and all six play-in games.
NBC and Peacock kick off the season with two games on Oct. 21 and will air the four Martin Luther King Jr. Day games. NBC and Peacock are also home to NBA All-Star Weekend events, including All-Star Saturday night and the All-Star Game on Feb. 15.
The NBA will play games on Election Day, Novermber 4, this season – which it did not do in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Each team has at least two national TV games with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors appearing on 34 national TV games.
The average number of back-to-back games for each team is 14.4, a tad down from 14.9 back-to-backs per team in 2024-25. No team has more than 16 back-to-backs, and a team will play never play the day before games during opening-week national TV games; all Emirates NBA Cup games; all Christmas games; the four-game Peacock/NBC schedule on Martin Luther King Jr. Day; the 10-game ABC Saturday schedule and eight-game ABC Sunday schedule; and the 11-game NBC Sunday schedule.
The NBA plans to launch a digital feature that will make it easier for fans to watch and stream games through NBA.com, the NBA app, team platforms and partner sites.
Making a return
Offseason moves once again altered the NBA landscape. Here are a few notable players who will visit their former team for the first time in 2025-26:
- Khris Middleton was traded from the Bucks to the Washington Wizards last season but will play at Milwaukee for the first time since that trade on Oct. 22. He was part of the Bucks’ 2021 championship.
- The Houston Rockets’ big new addition, Kevin Durant, plays at Phoenix on Nov. 24.
- Myles Turner left Indiana and signed with the Bucks in free agency and will return to play the Pacers on Nov. 3.
- Boston traded Jrue Holiday, who helped the Celtics win the title in 2024, to Portland, and Holiday and the Blazers play at Boston on Jan. 26. Two days later on Jan. 28, Kristaps Porzingis, who also won a title with the Celtics in 2024, returns to Boston as a member of the Atlanta Hawks.
- Michael Porter Jr. won a title with Denver in 2023, but the Nuggets traded him to Brooklyn in the offseason. The Nets travel to Denver for a Jan. 29 game.
- Brook Lopez, like Middleton, was a key figure on Milwaukee’s 2021 title squad, and he undoubtedly will receive a warm welcome when the Clippers play at Milwaukee on March 29.
Must-see NBA games in 2025-26
The 1,230-game schedule from Oct. 21 through April 12 is loaded with quality games. We take a look at the 25 games you can’t miss, including Houston at Oklahoma City on opening night and the Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State in the final week of the regular season. Click here to read the full analysis of must-see games.
