NBA 2025-26 schedule features NBC return, Emirates Cup on Prime Video

The NBA has laid out its 2025-26 schedule with a pronounced emphasis on marquee matchups, multi-platform distribution, and high-profile events, opening on Oct. 21 with two nationally televised games on NBC and Peacock. The night features Oklahoma City Thunder receiving their championship banners against Kevin Durant’s Houston Rockets and a late slate capper pairing Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors with LeBron James’s Los Angeles Lakers. The plan signals a continued push to blend traditional network coverage with streaming platforms, while expanding special-event programming such as the Emirates NBA Cup and a robust Martin Luther King Jr. Day schedule.

The return to NBC marks a landmark shift for the league’s broadcasting landscape. After a long absence from prime-time network television, NBC will again air select games, complemented by Peacock’s streaming coverage as part of a broad media-rights deal through 2036. Lead play-by-play duties will be handled by Mike Tirico, with Reggie Miller serving as lead game analyst, among a roster of analysts and studio personalities designed to deliver a star-driven presentation. A one-hour studio show will precede the opening-night...