THE NBA RETURNS TO NBC AND DEBUTS ON PEACOCK WITH "NBA TIP-OFF" DOUBLEHEADER ON TUESDAY, OCT. 21

NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder Host Kevin Durant and Houston Rockets on Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. ET followed by LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers Hosting Stephen Curry and Golden State Warriors at 10 p.m. ET - Both Games on NBC and Peacock

On-Site Coverage from Oklahoma City Begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock with Thunder Championship Banner Raising and Ring Ceremony

Cavaliers-Pistons and Nuggets-Timberwolves Doubleheader Tips Off Peacock NBA Monday on Oct. 27

NBC and Peacock Home to First-Ever Martin Luther King Jr. Day Quadrupleheader on Jan. 19, 2026

Complete NBC/Peacock NBA Schedule to be Released This Thursday, Aug. 14

STAMFORD, Conn. - Aug. 12, 2025 - Reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and LeBron James are among the stars who will launch the NBA's long-awaited return to NBC -- and its debut on Peacock -- on Tuesday, Oct. 21, with an NBA Tip-Off doubleheader. NBC Sports and the NBA announced this news and additional spotlight games this morning on the TODAY show.

In the first game, 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 Durant, who is making his Rockets debut, 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, Okla. 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.

In the second game, Curry, Jimmy Butler, and the Golden State Warriors travel to Los Angeles to face James, Luka Dončić, 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, Calif. Host Ahmed Fareed and analyst Tracy McGrady will anchor studio coverage on site.

Both games will be shown on NBC and Peacock.

In addition to NBA Tip-Off games, NBC Sports and the NBA also announced the debut games for Peacock NBA Monday and the four games comprising the first-ever quadrupleheader on Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- Jan. 19, 2026. The complete NBC Sports' 2025-26 NBA schedule on NBC and Peacock will be released this Thursday, Aug. 14.

Peacock NBA Monday will debut with an exclusive streaming doubleheader on Monday, Oct. 27, when Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers face Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich., at 7 p.m. ET followed by Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves hosting Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., at 9:30 p.m. ET.

In an NBA first, NBC Sports will present a quadrupleheader on Martin Luther King Jr. Day - January 19, 2026 - featuring stars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Trae Young, Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell, Cooper Flagg, Jalen Brunson, Jaylen Brown, Cunningham, and more.

1:00 p.m. ET Milwaukee Bucks at Atlanta Hawks (Peacock exclusive)

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 NBA games presented by NBC Sports will stream nationwide on Peacock all season long.

NBC SPORTS' NBA PROGRAMMING RECAP

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.

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.

Following 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.

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' 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.

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In July 2024, NBCUniversal and the NBA announced an 11-year agreement to present NBA and WNBA regular-season and playoff basketball games across numerous platforms beginning with the 2025-26 season. For more information on the agreement, click here.

NBC Sports has announced that Jamal Crawford, Reggie Miller, Grant Hill, Brad Daugherty, Derek Fisher, Robbie Hummel, Austin Rivers, and Brian Scalabrine will serve as game analysts; Carmelo Anthony and Vince Carter as studio analysts; Maria Taylor and Ahmed Fareed as studio hosts; and Mike Tirico, Noah Eagle, Terry Gannon and Michael Grady as play-by-play voices. Jordan Cornette, Ashley ShahAhmadi, and Zora Stephenson were announced as courtside reporters and Grant Liffmann as an NBA Insider. Michael Jordan has been announced as a special contributor.

Emmy Award-winning producer Frank DiGraci is NBC Sports' NBA coordinating producer. In a nod to its original era of NBA coverage from 1990-2002, NBC Sports is bringing back Roundball Rock, one of the most iconic and beloved theme songs in sports history, and will use an AI-generated voice of the late Jim Fagan, a longtime NBC Sports narrator whose voice was synonymous with its NBA coverage and promotion.

On Peacock, NBA fans will be able to enjoy new intuitive and interactive features that amplify the streaming experience and celebrate the dynamic culture around the sport, league, teams and players, including Peacock Performance View and Peacock ScoreCard, alongside existing features Can't Miss Highlights on mobile and Catch Up with Key Plays, plus Courtside Live coming in the second half of the season.

ABOUT NBC SPORTS

NBC Sports connects sports fans to the moments that matter most with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. As the sports division of NBCUniversal, NBC Sports produces, programs, and promotes premier content across numerous linear and digital platforms, including NBC and Peacock. NBC Sports possesses an unparalleled collection of media rights agreements, partnering and presenting many of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the NFL, NBA, WNBA, Notre Dame, Big Ten Conference, Big East Conference, Big 12 Conference, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, USGA, PGA of America, The R&A, Churchill Downs, Premier League, and many more. It is renowned for making big events bigger and has produced some of the most-watched sporting events in U.S. media history, including Olympic Games, Super Bowls, and Sunday Night Football, primetime television's No. 1 show for 14 consecutive years.

--NBC SPORTS--