The NBA released its 2022-23 schedule on Wednesday, and there are plenty of noteworthy national TV games.
Unsurprisingly, the defending champion Golden State Warriors are all over the schedule. The team has 18 games on ESPN and ABC, 12 on TNT, and 12 on NBA TV. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics are also a popular option for the networks, with 16 appearances on ESPN and ABC, nine on TNT, and 12 on NBA TV. The Los Angeles Lakers are also featured quite heavily, with 16 games on ESPN and ABC, 11 on TNT, and 12 on NBA TV.
Turner’s schedule begins on October 18th with a TNT doubleheader of 76ers-Celtics and Lakers-Warriors, while ESPN’s schedule begins on October 19th with a doubleheader of Knicks-Grizzlies and Mavericks-Suns. The first NBA TV games of the season come on October 22nd, with a doubleheader of Spurs-76ers and Grizzlies-Mavericks.
All of the networks have their share of marquee games too. ESPN and ABC have five games on Christmas Day (76ers-Knicks, Lakers-Mavericks, Bucks-Celtics, Grizzlies-Warriors, and Suns-Nuggets), with the middle three airing on both ABC, bookended by ESPN games. ABC has an additional ten games on Saturday, which includes a tripleheader on January 28th (apparently, the first non-Christmas network tripleheader in two decades), and five more on Sundays. TNT has its traditional MLK Day doubleheader (Heat-Hawks, Suns-Grizzlies), bookended by games on NBA TV (Celtics-Hornets, Rockets-Lakers). NBA TV will also air games from Mexico City (Heat-Spurs, December 17th) and Paris (Bulls-Pistons, January 19th).
As usual, TNT has the All-Star Weekend festivities (February 17th-19th) and ABC has the NBA Finals. This year, ESPN has the Western Conference Finals, and TNT has the Eastern Conference Finals.
You can check out the full schedule for ESPN and ABC here, TNT here, and NBA TV here.
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.