LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and more of basketball’s biggest stars will be welcoming the NBA back to NBC for the first time in 23 years this fall.
The lineup for the first NBC “NBA Tip-Off” doubleheader on Oct. 21 and six other spotlight games during the coming season were announced on TODAY on Aug. 12. The NBA is making its return to NBC thanks to an 11-year agreement signed in 2024.
NBC Sports and the NBA also announced the doubleheader that will mark the debut of “Peacock NBA Monday,” plus the quadrupleheader that will be broadcast on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 19, 2026.
The full schedule of all games on NBC and Peacock for the 2025-26 NBA season will be announced on Thursday, Aug. 14. (Peacock is owned by TODAY.com’s parent company, NBCUniversal.)
Which Teams Are Playing in the First NBC Doubleheader of the Season?
The first NBA game on NBC since 2002 will pit the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder against the visiting Houston Rockets at 7:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 21. The game features reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander against Durant and the Rockets in a battle of two Western Conference contenders.
NBC will also carry the pregame ceremony starting at 6:30 p.m. ET as the Thunder players receive their championship rings and the team unfurls its first NBA championship banner at Paycom Center.
Mike Tirico will handle the play-by-play, with Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford as analysts and Zora Stephenson as the sideline reporter.
The one-hour, on-site studio show will be hosted by Maria Taylor with analysts Carmelo Anthony and Vince Carter.
The Thunder-Rockets game will be followed by a showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena in LA. It marks the latest meeting in the legendary careers of Curry and James, while also featuring a newly slimmed-down Luka Dončić leading the Lakers.
Noah Eagle will be on the play-by-play, with Grant Hill as the analyst and Ashley ShahAhmadi as the sideline reporter. On-site studio coverage of the game will be anchored by host Ahmed Fareed and analyst Tracy McGrady.
Both games will be on NBC and stream on Peacock.
Which Teams Will Be Playing in the First ‘Peacock NBA Monday’ Broadcast?
“Peacock NBA Monday” will debut on Oct. 27, led by the Cleveland Cavaliers and All-NBA guard Donovan Mitchell against the Detroit Pistons and budding star Cade Cunningham at 7 p.m. ET in a clash of Eastern Conference contenders.
That game will be followed by the Denver Nuggets and superstar Nikola Jokić facing the Minnesota Timberwolves and Anthony Edwards at 9:30 p.m. ET.
“Peacock NBA Monday” will stream up to three NBA games on Monday nights throughout the regular season, following a 30-minute studio show.
Which NBA Teams Will Be Featured in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Games on NBC Sports in 2026?
NBC Sports also announced on TODAY that it will broadcast a four-game slate on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which the NBA has traditionally celebrated with a full schedule of games.
The matchups on Jan. 19, 2026, are as follows:
- Milwaukee Bucks at Atlanta Hawks, 1 p.m. ET (Peacock exclusive)
- Oklahoma City Thunder at Cleveland Cavaliers, 2:30 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock)
- Dallas Mavericks at New York Knicks, 5 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock)
- Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons, 8 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock)
Which Other Days Will NBA Games Be on NBC?
NBC Sports is also debuting “Sunday Night Basketball” across NBC and Peacock in 2026.
After “Sunday Night Football” and NBC’s NFL playoff coverage end for the season, “Sunday Night Basketball” will launch on Feb. 1, 2026.
It will pause on Feb. 8 and Feb. 15 due to NBC broadcasting the Super Bowl, the NBA All-Star Game and the 2026 Winter Olympics, and then will resume on Feb. 22. “Sunday Night Basketball” will run through April 5, with some nights occasionally featuring doubleheaders after a one-hour studio program.
NBC Sports will broadcast up to 100 regular-season games, including five per week during some portions of the season. There will be consistent coverage on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays.
What Else Can Fans Expect from NBC Sports’ NBA Coverage?
Basketball immortal Michael Jordan, whose Chicago Bulls were a staple of the NBA on NBC in the 1990s, will be a special contributor to the coverage.
The broadcasts will also use the iconic “Roundball Rock” theme song by John Tesh that was a staple of NBC’s NBA games for years.