NBA goes back to NBC, debuts on Peacock opening night, Oct
The stars will be out on Oct. 21 as the NBA tips off its season and makes its long-awaited go back to NBC– plus the games are now streaming on Peacock.The NBA opens
its season on that October Tuesday with tip-off doubleheader on NBC and Peacock: The Houston Firecrackers at the Oklahoma City Thunder on the night that OKC raises its championship banner; then, among the NBA’s great competitions resumes as Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors take a trip to Los Angeles to handle LeBron James and the Lakers. Those games were announced today by NBC Sports and the NBA on the TODAY show (another 6 games pertaining to Peacock and NBC also were announced).
In the season opener, beginning at 7:30 ET, ruling MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates will get their champion rings from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver before the game, then view the first champion banner in Oklahoma City get raised to the rafters. In a bit of significant irony, the Thunder will then start the defense of their title versus the Houston Rockets and Kevin Durant– a player who was probably the best player ever to put on a Thunder uniform, but someone unable to get OKC that final step to a title (he left the Thunder to win two rings with the Warriors). This game is likewise a showdown of the leading two seeds in the Western Conference from a season ago.In the second game of the night, scheduled for 10 p.m. ET, Curry and LeBron renew their rivalry that consists of four NBA Finals series (and 22 overall Finals games). While those two aging stars stay a few of the biggest attracts the league, a lot of attention will be on their team’s other powerhouses– the Lakers’ Luka Doncic and the Warriors’ Jimmy Butler. Doncic, in particular, will pique the interest of a great deal of fans after his offseason conditioning and diet plan– pictures of him looking much thinner and in better shape went viral.Peacock NBA Monday NBC Sports and the NBA also revealed today the launching games for Peacock NBA Monday– weekly games solely streaming on Peacock– in addition to the 4 games for a quadrupleheader on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 19, 2026. Peacock NBA Monday will debut Oct. 27 with an exclusive streaming doubleheader, starting with Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers taking on Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons from Detroit, beginning at 7 p.m. ET. That will be followed by Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves hosting Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets in Minneapolis at 9:30 p.m. ET.Martin Luther King Jr. Day Quadrupleheader NBC Sports will present a quadrupleheader on Martin Luther King Jr. Day– Jan. 19,
2026– including a few of the most significant names in the league
, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Trae Young, Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell, Cooper Flagg, Jalen Brunson, Jaylen Brown and more. The games are: – 1:00 p.m. ET: Milwaukee Bucks at Atlanta Hawks(Peacock unique)- 2:30 p.m. ET: Oklahoma City Thunder at Cleveland Cavaliers (NBC/Peacock)- 5:00 p.m. ET:
Dallas Mavericks at New York Knicks(NBC/Peacock) – 8:00 p.m. ET: Boston Celtics at Detroit Pistons (NBC/Peacock )All season long, every NBA game presented by NBC Sports will stream nationwide on Peacock. The total schedule for the 2025-26 NBA on NBC and Peacock slate will be launched this Thursday.