On the Bench<\/a>\u201d: \u201cThere are 1,230 NBA games during a regular season, so to have some small percentage of them done in a very unique way kind of gives an ability to stand out amongst the volume that is the regular season with a unique broadcast.\u201d<\/p>\nFlood on the NBA being back on NBC: \u201cThe fact that the NBA is going to be on broadcast network TV, still the broadest reach of anything in media, every Tuesday night, bar a couple during the regular season, is really cool. That is so big for just exposing the NBA to more folks and getting a better, deeper pool of fans going towards the Playoffs, where it really builds up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Predictions for the 2025-26 NBA Season<\/p>\n
Miller on the potential of an Oklahoma City Thunder dynasty: \u201cAre we seeing the formation of maybe a young Chicago Bulls team here in OKC with Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] being \u00e0 la [Michael Jordan] and [Jalen Williams] being \u00e0 la Scottie Pippen and Chet [Holmgren] as [Dennis] Rodman? They have the makeup, the coaching pedigree. They\u2019re very deep. And from everything I\u2019ve been reading and watching, they seem very hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller on the New York Knicks: \u201cThis is the year for the New York Knicks. If the Knicks cannot get out of the Eastern Conference this year, something is wrong\u2026with the new coach in Mike Brown and the best clutch player from a year ago in Jalen Brunson, I think everything is set up for [them] to win the East.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford on Celtics star Jayson Tatum\u2019s recovery from injury: \u201cIf I\u2019m Tatum, I\u2019m playing the long game. I don\u2019t think the risk is worth the reward right now. He has a long career ahead of him, and I wouldn\u2019t risk it by coming back early just because he\u2019s feeling good and his love of the game. Personally, I hope that he takes his time and for the Celtics to get a chance to develop [Payton] Pritchard and see how he does in that starting role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tirico on the Detroit Pistons\u2019 2025 playoff performance: \u201cIn those spots, you find out who wants the ball and who doesn\u2019t. And if you watched those games, you saw Cade [Cunningham] develop into no doubt \u2018that guy,\u2019 and how the people around him continue to take a step up. [Jaden] Ivey can come in and be added to that group, and that\u2019s a big add. With the East, given everything Reggie has correctly said, I think this could be a very good year for the Pistons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller on Dallas Mavericks rookie and No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg: \u201cHe could not have asked for a better situation to be drafted in because he does not have to be the man, and he\u2019s coming into a situation where there are former champions that can help show him the way in Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. He doesn\u2019t have to come in and be a savior for a franchise\u2026Knock on wood, but if he stays healthy, he\u2019s going to win the Rookie of the Year\u201d<\/p>\n
Miller on the Denver Nuggets: \u201cIn terms of their chances of winning another championship, healthy and whole, I love the Nuggets\u2019 chances because they do have the best player on the planet in [Nikola] Joki\u0107.\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
NBC Sports\u2019 2025-26 NBA season begins with the American Express NBA Tip-Off doubleheader on Tuesday, Oct. 21.<\/p>\n
In the first game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder will raise their championship banner and receive their championship rings just before they host the Houston Rockets and Kevin Durant, who is making his Rockets debut against the franchise he spent the first nine seasons of his career with, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Mike Tirico (play-by-play), Reggie Miller (analyst), Jamal Crawford (analyst), and Zora Stephenson (reporter) will call the game from Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. A one-hour, on-site studio show will begin coverage at 6:30 p.m. ET featuring host Maria Taylor and analysts Carmelo Anthony and Vince Carter.<\/p>\n
In the second game, Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and the Golden State Warriors travel to Los Angeles to face Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and the Lakers in a Western Conference showdown at 10 p.m. ET. Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Grant Hill (analyst), and Ashley ShahAhmadi (reporter) will have the call from Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Host Ahmed Fareed and analyst Tracy McGrady will anchor studio coverage on-site.<\/p>\n
Both games will be shown on NBC and Peacock.<\/p>\n
This season, NBC Sports will present up to 100 regular season NBA games — including five games each week for portions of the season — with consistent coverage on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights, plus All-Star Weekend and the NBA Playoffs.<\/p>\n
Starting Oct. 27, Peacock NBA Monday will stream up to three NBA games nationwide on Monday nights throughout the regular season. A 30-minute studio program will lead into game coverage each Monday night.<\/p>\n
Following American Express NBA Tip-Off on Tuesday, Oct. 21, Coast 2 Coast Tuesday will begin on Oct. 28 and present doubleheaders on Tuesday nights throughout the regular season on NBC and Peacock. On most Tuesdays, an 8 p.m. ET game will be presented to NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones, and an 8 p.m. PT game to NBC stations in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. Both games will stream live nationwide on Peacock. A 30-minute studio program will lead into coverage each week on Peacock.<\/p>\n
After Sunday Night Football and NFL playoff coverage concludes in 2026, NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball across NBC and Peacock on Feb. 1, 2026. This year, Sunday Night Basketball will pause on Feb. 8 and Feb. 15, 2026, due to NBC Sports\u2019 coverage of Super Bowl LX, the NBA All-Star Game, and the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. It will resume on Feb. 22 and run through April 5. Sunday nights will occasionally feature doubleheaders. A one-hour, on-site studio program will lead into game coverage each week on NBC and Peacock. The show open will star four-time GRAMMY\u00ae Award-winning recording artist Lenny Kravitz.<\/p>\n
–NBC SPORTS–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe get front row seats for those of us who get to broadcast the games to watch the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-85995","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}